How ExifXplorer changes your files

Where edits are saved, what's never touched, and the safety nets.

Nothing changes until you save

Edits you make (a typed value, a batch edit, a dragged pin, a geotag) wait in ExifXplorer’s own library until you press Save changes or Save all. Until then you can Discard them and your files are exactly as they were.

Sidecar files or the photo itself

Choose in Settings ▸ Metadata, under Metadata writing:

• XMP sidecar files (the default). Edits go into a small .xmp file next to each photo, with the same name. The photo itself is never opened for writing. This is how Lightroom and Bridge work, and they read these files too. It’s the safest choice for RAW files.
• Write directly into the original file. No extra files: the metadata inside the photo is rewritten. The image data is never touched. The first time a photo is written this way, ExifTool keeps a copy of the original next to it, named like IMG_0001.RAF_original, so there’s always a way back.

The setting applies to every photo, and you can change it at any time.

What ExifXplorer never does

• It never edits pixels. There’s no developing, cropping or retouching.
• It never moves photos into its own folders. They stay where you keep them.
• It never sends your photos or their metadata anywhere. It goes online only for map tiles, place names for photos with GPS, and checking exifxplorer.com for updates.

Renaming and removing

Two actions do change files on disk, and both are reversible:

• Rename keeps each photo’s original name inside its metadata.
• Move to Trash sends photos to the macOS Trash, never deletes them outright, and can be undone.

Remove folder… in a folder’s right-click menu only takes the folder out of the library. The files stay on disk.