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.

How do I keep my iPhone edits when importing to Windows?

Set the iPhone to export a compatible baked-in copy (Keep Originals off), so the JPEG already includes your edits instead of a separate .aae.

Can I Delete .AAE Files? (iPhone Photo Edit Files Explained)

You copied photos off your iPhone and every picture came with a matching .aae file cluttering the folder. An .aae holds your edits — not the photo itself. Here's what it's for and when you can safely 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.

How to view a .aae file by OS

iPhone/iPad or Mac: you don't open the .aae itself — Photos reads it automatically and shows the edited version of the matching .jpg/.heic. Keep the pair together.

Windows: Windows can't apply the edits, but you can read the file — it's plain XML; open it in Notepad to see the edit instructions. To keep the edited look on a PC, on the iPhone set Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Keep Originals off so it exports a baked-in JPEG.

Common problems

On a PC the .aae is useless on its own and your imported photo looks unedited — that's expected, because the edits live in the sidecar. Export the edited copy from the iPhone/Mac instead of relying on the .aae.

Can I Delete .AAE Files From My Photos?