diff --git a/init.el b/init.el
index 7120b5b..40d29a0 100644
--- a/init.el
+++ b/init.el
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
 (setq display-line-numbers-type 'relative)
 (global-display-line-numbers-mode)
 
+;;disable file backups
+(setq make-backup-files nil)
+(setq create-lockfiles nil)
+
 ;;set up package management
 (require 'package)
 
diff --git a/init.el~ b/init.el~
deleted file mode 100644
index c18ea1d..0000000
--- a/init.el~
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-;;stop prompting when opening symlinked files (this is nice because my emacs config is symlinked)
-(setq find-file-visit-truename t)
-(setq vc-follow-symlinks t)