A .aae file is a sidecar that stores edits you made to a photo in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac — not the photo itself
When you edit a photo in Apple's Photos app, the app doesn't overwrite your original image. Instead, it creates a small .aae file (Apple Annotation Exchange) that records every change you made: the brightness adjustment, the crop, the filter, the rotation. The original photo stays untouched. If you open the photo again, the app reads the .aae file and shows you the edited version.
The .aae file is invisible in the Photos app — you never see it listed separately. But if you connect your iPhone to a computer and browse the files directly, or if you export photos to a folder, you'll see both the original photo file (usually a .jpg or .heic) and its matching .aae file sitting right next to it.
This design means you can always undo your edits and go back to the original, even months later. It also means your edits stay with the photo if you move it between devices on the same iCloud account.
Key Takeaways
- A .aae file stores the edits you made to a photo in Apple's Photos app, not the photo data itself.
- The original photo file remains unchanged; the .aae file is just instructions for how to display it.
- You will not see .aae files in the Photos app, but they appear when you browse files on a computer or export photos.
- Deleting a .aae file removes your edits and reverts the photo to its original state.
- If you share a photo with someone who doesn't use Apple devices, the edits may not transfer unless you export the photo first.
Why Apple uses this system instead of just saving over the original
Keeping the original photo separate from the edits gives you flexibility. You can edit a photo ten different ways, save each version, and still have the unmodified original to fall back on. This is especially useful if you change your mind about an edit weeks or months later — you don't have to undo a chain of changes; you just delete the .aae file and the photo reverts when ready.
It also saves storage space. If you crop a photo, the .aae file only stores the crop coordinates, not a whole new copy of the image. The original photo stays the same size on your device.
This approach is common in professional photo editing software like Lightroom and Capture One, where non-destructive editing (keeping the original intact) is standard. Apple brought that idea to the consumer Photos app.
What happens when you export or share a photo with edits
When you share a photo directly from the Photos app to Messages, email, or social media, Apple sends the edited version — the app reads the .aae file, applies the edits, and sends the result. The person receiving it sees your cropped, filtered, brightened photo, not the raw original.
But if you export a photo to a folder on your computer, both the original photo file and the .aae file come along. If someone opens that folder on a Windows computer or an older device, they'll see the original unedited photo, because those systems don't know how to read .aae files. The edits won't be visible to them unless you export the photo as a flattened image first (which bakes the edits into the file itself).
To make sure your edits travel with a photo, export it as a JPEG or HEIC from the Photos app using the "Export" option. That creates a new file with the edits already applied, so anyone can open it and see what you edited.
When you might see or need to delete a .aae file
Most of the time you won't think about .aae files at all. But you might notice them if you:
- Connect your iPhone to a Mac and browse the DCIM folder in Finder
- Use a file manager app on your iPhone to look at the Photos library
- Export photos to a computer and see extra files you don't recognize
- Sync photos between devices and notice the edits aren't showing up on a non-Apple device
If you delete a .aae file by accident, your edits are gone and the photo reverts to the original. You can't undo this from within the Photos app — the edits are stored only in that .aae file. On a Mac, you can sometimes recover deleted files from the Trash, but on an iPhone, deletion is usually permanent.
You might intentionally delete a .aae file if you want to reset a photo to its original state without opening the Photos app. This is rare, but it's useful if the app is acting buggy or if you want to strip all edits before sending a photo to someone else.
How .aae files relate to iCloud and syncing
If you edit a photo on your iPhone and that photo is backed up to iCloud, the .aae file syncs too. When you open the same photo on your iPad or Mac, you'll see the same edits because iCloud has sent the .aae file to those devices as well.
This only works if all your devices are signed into the same iCloud account and have iCloud Photos turned on. If you use a different photo service like Google Photos or Dropbox, the edits won't sync — those services don't understand .aae files, so they'll only see the original photo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a .aae file on a Windows computer?
No. Windows doesn't recognize .aae files, so you can't open them directly. If you need to see your edits on Windows, export the photo from your iPhone or Mac as a JPEG or HEIC file first. That creates a new file with the edits baked in, which Windows can read.
Why do I see .aae files when I back up my iPhone to my computer?
When you sync or back up your iPhone to a Mac using Finder, the entire Photos library copies over, including the .aae files. This is normal and expected. The .aae files may support your edits are preserved in the backup.
If I delete the .aae file, can I get my edits back?
Not easily. Once the .aae file is deleted, the edits are gone. On a Mac, you might recover it from the Trash if you deleted it recently. On an iPhone, deletion is usually permanent. The best way to protect your edits is to export the photo as a flattened image before deleting anything.
Do I need to keep .aae files if I've already exported my photos?
Only if you might want to re-edit the photos later. If you've exported a photo as a JPEG or HEIC, the edits are already saved into that file. You can delete the .aae file and the original without losing the edited version. But if you think you'll want to adjust the edits again, keep the .aae file and original together.