AAE files are small companion files that iPhone creates alongside your photos to store editing information
When you edit a photo on your iPhone, the device doesn't change the original image file itself. Instead, it creates a separate AAE file — the letters stand for Apple Annotation Exchange — that holds all the instructions for how you edited the photo: the brightness you adjusted, the filters you applied, the crop you made, and any other changes. The original photo stays untouched, and the AAE file acts like a set of notes that tells your iPhone (or other Apple devices) how to display the edited version.
AAE files are invisible to you in most situations. You won't see them in your Photos app or when you're scrolling through your library. They sit quietly in the background on your device, paired with the original image file. If you ever connect your iPhone to a computer or use a file manager app, you might spot them — they're tiny, usually just a few kilobytes, and they have names that match your photo files but end in .aae instead of .jpg or .heic.
Key Takeaways
- AAE files store editing instructions for photos, not the edited photo itself — the original image file remains unchanged.
- You normally won't see AAE files in the Photos app because Apple hides them, but they appear if you browse files on a computer or use a file manager.
- If you delete an AAE file, your edits disappear, but the original photo remains safe and unedited.
- When you share or export a photo from your iPhone, the AAE file stays behind — only the final edited image goes with the photo.
- AAE files only work with Apple devices and software; other phones and programs ignore them and show the original unedited photo instead.
Why iPhone uses AAE files instead of just editing the photo directly
Apple designed AAE files to protect your original photos. If the app or device applied edits directly to the image file, you could never get back to the original — every change would be permanent. By keeping edits separate in an AAE file, your iPhone lets you undo any edit at any time, even months later, and return to the exact photo you took.
This approach also lets you edit the same photo in different ways on different devices. You might crop a photo on your iPhone, then open it on your iPad and adjust the colors differently. Each device can read the AAE file and explore those edits, or ignore it and show you the original. The original photo file never changes, so you're never locked into one version.
When you'll actually see AAE files
In everyday use on your iPhone, you won't encounter AAE files at all. The Photos app hides them completely. But if you connect your iPhone to a Mac or Windows computer and browse the files using Finder or File Explorer, you'll see them sitting next to your photos. You might also spot them if you use a file manager app on your iPhone, like Files or a third-party app that shows all files on your device.
If you back up your iPhone to a computer using iTunes or Finder, the AAE files come along with your photos. They're so small that they barely take up any space — usually less than 5 kilobytes each — so they won't noticeably affect your backup size.
What happens if you delete an AAE file
If you delete an AAE file, all the edits stored in that file disappear. The next time you open that photo on your iPhone, you'll see the original unedited version. The photo itself is never damaged — you haven't lost the image, only the record of the changes you made to it.
This is actually useful if you want to start over with a photo. Instead of undoing edits one by one in the Photos app, you could delete the AAE file and begin fresh. However, there's no reason to manually delete AAE files under normal circumstances. They take up almost no space, and removing them only erases your editing work.
How AAE files behave when you share or export photos
When you send a photo to someone through Messages, email, or AirDrop, only the edited image goes with it — the AAE file stays on your iPhone. The person receiving the photo sees the final edited version, not the original. This is the intended behavior: you're sharing the result of your edits, not the editing instructions.
If you export a photo to your computer or save it to cloud storage like Google Photos or Dropbox, the same thing happens. The edited image file transfers, but the AAE file does not. This means the other person or service sees your finished photo, but they can't modify your edits or access the original unedited version through that AAE file.
AAE files only work with Apple devices and software
AAE files are an Apple format, so only Apple devices and Apple software understand them. If you open a photo on an Android phone, a Windows computer, or most third-party photo apps, the AAE file is ignored. You'll see the original unedited photo, not the version you edited on your iPhone.
This matters if you're sharing photos across different platforms. A friend with an Android phone won't see your iPhone edits — they'll see the original photo. If you want them to see your edited version, you need to export the photo as a finished image file (JPEG or HEIC) rather than relying on the AAE file to carry your edits.
How to find and manage AAE files on your iPhone
To see AAE files on your iPhone, open the Files app and navigate to On My iPhone, then Photos. You'll see folders for your photo library. If you have a file manager app installed, you can browse there too. Most people never need to manage AAE files — they work silently in the background and don't require any action from you.
If you're backing up your iPhone to a computer, the AAE files transfer automatically. You don't need to do anything special to preserve your edits. If you're concerned about storage space, deleting AAE files won't make any meaningful difference because they're so small. It's better to leave them alone so you can undo edits later if you change your mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I edit a photo on my iPhone and have the edits show up on my Mac?
Yes, if you use iCloud Photos to sync your library across devices. When you edit a photo on your iPhone, the AAE file syncs to your Mac through iCloud, and the Photos app on your Mac displays the edited version. The original photo file stays the same on both devices.
Why do some of my photos have AAE files and others don't?
Only photos you've edited on your iPhone get AAE files. If you took a photo and never made any changes to it, there's no AAE file because there are no edits to store. Once you edit any photo, an AAE file appears alongside it.
If I delete the AAE file, can I get my edits back?
No, deleting the AAE file permanently removes the record of your edits. The original photo remains safe, but the changes you made are gone. You can't recover them unless you have a backup of the AAE file from before you deleted it.
Do AAE files take up a lot of storage space on my iPhone?
No, AAE files are tiny — usually just a few kilobytes each. Even if you have hundreds of edited photos, the total space used by AAE files is negligible. They won't noticeably affect your iPhone's storage.
What if I want to send someone the original unedited photo instead of my edited version?
Open the photo in the Photos app, tap Edit, then tap Revert to remove all edits and see the original. Then share that version. Alternatively, you can undo your edits by tapping Edit and then Cancel, which restores the original without permanently deleting the AAE file.