Mac storage basics · Photos, music and video
What are .AAE files next to my photos, and can I delete them?
Short answer: Small sidecar files recording edits made on an iPhone or iPad. They're tiny; deleting one keeps the photo but loses the saved edit information.
An .AAE file is a small sidecar that records edits made to a photo on an iPhone or iPad (crop, filters, adjustments). It appears when photos are copied out as files rather than through Photos.
They're tiny, so they don't matter for space. Deleting one keeps the original photo but loses the record of edits for apps that would read it; the photo itself is unaffected.