What Is an .AAE File?
You copied photos off your iPhone and each picture came with a matching .aae file. It holds your edits — not the photo itself. Here is what it is for and when you can safely ignore or delete it.
What an AAE file is
An .aae file is a small XML sidecar that Apple's Photos app creates to record the non-destructive edits you made to a photo — crops, filters, exposure, red-eye. The original .jpg or .heic is left untouched; the .aae stores your changes as instructions so they can be undone later. That is why it always shares the photo's name, like IMG_4021.jpg and IMG_4021.aae.
Why it shows up on Windows
When you import iPhone pictures to a PC, Windows copies the sidecar too but has no idea what to do with it. On the iPhone or a Mac the edited version is shown automatically; on Windows you usually see the unedited original plus a useless .aae.
Can you open it?
You can — it is plain text. Rename a copy to .xml or open it in Notepad and you will see the edit metadata, but it is not human-useful and it does not contain the picture. There is no reason to open one normally.
Is it safe to delete?
Yes, on a PC. Deleting the .aae only discards the edit history — the photo file itself is safe. To keep your edits, edit and re-export the photo on the iPhone/Mac (which bakes the changes into a new JPEG) before importing.
FAQ
Does the .aae file contain my photo?
No. The picture is in the .jpg or .heic. The .aae only stores the list of edits you applied.
Can I delete .aae files on my PC?
Yes. You only lose the ability to undo edits later; the photo is unaffected.
How do I keep my iPhone edits on Windows?
On the iPhone, re-export or share the edited photo so the edits are baked into a new JPEG before importing.