AES File

What are AES files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an AES file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your AES files.

What is an AES file?

An .AES file is an AES Crypt Encrypted file.

AES Crypt Encrypted files are encrypted archives created by the AES Crypt program to secure any ordinary file using a password. These files protect the contents with strong encryption, so the data becomes unreadable without the correct password. People use this when they need to send or store data safely and ensure only someone who knows the password can decrypt and access the original file.

AES Crypt produces .aes files by applying the Advanced Encryption Standard in 256-bit key length (AES-256) combined with a message authentication code (HMAC-SHA-256) to detect tampering or corruption. Passwords are converted into encryption keys using the PBKDF2 key derivation function with HMAC-SHA-512 and a high iteration count (300,000 by default), greatly increasing resistance to brute-force attacks. Decryption always requires the same password or key file used during encryption; losing that password makes the content effectively unrecoverable.

AES Crypt supports multiple versions of its .aes stream format (version 0 through 3), where version 3 is the current format used for new writes. The header of the file begins with the ASCII string AES followed by a version byte and reserved byte. The format includes an "extension block" section, a KDF iteration count, an initialization vector, an encrypted session key block, and HMAC-SHA-256 for both the session key block and the main ciphertext payload.

Files start with the byte sequence 0x41 0x45 0x53 0x02 at offset zero (that is, ASCII "AES" then version 0x02, in the case of stream format version 2) which helps tools and software recognize .aes encrypted files as belonging to this AES Crypt format.

How to open AES files

Important: Different programs may use files with the AES file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your AES file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different AES openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 17, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of AES files. Remember, different programs may use AES files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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