APFOLDER File

What are APFOLDER files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an APFOLDER 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 APFOLDER files.

What is an APFOLDER file?

An .APFOLDER file is an Aperture Folder file.

Aperture Folder files are data elements used by Apple's Aperture software, a discontinued/professional-level photo organization and editing program for macOS. Folders in Aperture serve purely for organizing albums, projects, and other folders hierarchically within the Aperture Library. A folder never holds image files directly; all images are grouped in projects or albums which are themselves arranged inside these folders.

Aperture writes each folder's metadata into its library's internal database. The folder metadata includes identifiers such as a name, unique identifier, creation date, sort order, color label, and flags for favorite or hidden status. These metadata records are used by Aperture's interface to display folders in the Projects panel and to rebuild or reorganize the folder hierarchy when opening a library.

The file format is a binary property list beginning with the magic header "bplist00". It contains strings such as IMPLICITALBUMUUID, COLORLABELINDEX, SORTASCENDING, TUUID, ZFOLDERPATH, ZFOLDERTYPE, WVERSION, KIND, CUSTOM., among others, which correspond to fields in Aperture's internal schema. This signature pattern is used by format detectors (such as TRiD) to identify these folder metadata objects.

How to open APFOLDER files

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

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 18, 2026

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