Where on Xiaomi Redmi stored passwords from applications: a full analysis of system and cloud storage

Have you ever forgotten your password from a social network or a banking app, but your Xiaomi Redmi smartphone automatically substituted it when you log in? or worry that after resetting your phone, someone else's hands will be able to get your saved passwords? Unlike the iPhone, where everything is clearly sewn in iCloud Keychain, on Android — and especially on firmware. MIUI Xiaomi – Password storage mechanisms are scattered across several levels, from system files to cloud services.

In this article, we’re not just going to list where the passwords on your Redmi Note 12 are physically stored, POCO X5 We'll show you how to extract it (if you own the device) or delete it permanently before you sell the phone. Importantly, some of the methods require root rights, and some of the data is encrypted so that even with root, you can't read it without further manipulation. MIUI Never saves in the open – and why it’s both good and bad.

1. MIUI Account: Cloud-based password storage from Xiaomi

The first place to look is the Mi Account, which is linked to your Xiaomi Redmi. Unlike Google, which stores passwords in Smart Lock, Xiaomi uses its own sync system. It works automatically if you:

• 🔑 They logged in. MIUI on the first phone
• 🔄 Do not turn off synchronization in settings (Settings) → Mi Account → Synchronization)
• 📱 Used the standard Mi Browser browser or Xiaomi apps (e.g. Mi Home, Mi Fit)

To view the stored data:

1. Open the Settings. → Mi Account → Cloud. → Passwords and login details.
2. Sign in if you need to.
3. Here you will see logins and passwords from the Mi Browser browser, as well as some data from Xiaomi applications.

⚠️ Note: If you are selling a phone, be sure to untie Mi Account in Settings → Mi Account → Exit and reset to factory settings, otherwise the new owner will be able to recover your passwords through the cloud, even if you deleted them locally.

2.Google Smart Lock: How Android Stores Passwords from Third-Party Apps

Most passwords from apps (VK, Telegram, Bank Clients are not retained MIUI, And Google Smart Lock, the standard Android password manager, works on all smartphones, including Xiaomi Redmi:

• 📱 You are logged into a Google account on your phone
• 🔓 Do not disable autocomplete in settings (Settings) → Google → Managing a Google Account → Security → Passwords)
• 🌐 Used Chrome or other browsers integrated with Google

To view the saved passwords:

1. Go to passwords.google.com (sign up with the same account as your phone).
2. Or open the settings on the phone → Google → Managing a Google Account → Security → Passwords.

Here you'll see:

• 🔐 Passwords from websites (saved through the browser)
• 📱 Passwords from some apps (if they support autocomplete via Google)
• 📌 Password Notes (if you have added them)

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If you don’t see the password from the app in Google Smart Lock, try logging in again – sometimes the password is only saved after you re-enter it.

3. Local password storage in the Android file system

At the operating system level, passwords are stored in encrypted files that are restricted. - Xiaomi Redmi MIUI This data is scattered across several folders:

Even with root access, passwords can't be easily read: they're encrypted using Android Keystore, a hardware security module, but there are ways to extract them using specialized tools like Titanium Backup, or DB Browser for SQLite (to view databases).

⚠️ Note: Attempt to modify or delete files in /data/data/ without understanding the consequences, it can cause the system to fail. For example, a damage to settings.db will cause the phone to cyclically restart.

4.App passwords: Where hackers are looking for them

Many apps (especially banking or instant messengers) store authentication tokens directly in their folders on the phone. On Xiaomi Redmi, this data can be found along the way:

/data/data/[package_name]/

Where [package_name] — unique application identifier (for example, com.whatsapp for WhatsApp or en.sberbankmobile for SberBank Online).

Typical storage locations:

• 📁 /data/data/[package_name]/shared_prefs/ — xml files where session tokens can be stored
• 🗃️ /data/data/[package_name]/databases/ — SQLite database with logins (sometimes in plain form!)
• 🔑 /data/data/[package_name]/app_webview/ — cache of web views (for example, for embedded browsers in applications)

Examples of vulnerable applications (as of 2026):

• 💬 Some versions of Telegram stored session tokens in the shared_prefs No encryption (corrected in new versions)
• 🏦 Old clients of Alfa-Bank and Tinkoff kept the last 4 digits of the card in the open.
• 🎮 Gaming clients (such as Genshin Impact) sometimes left logins in the cache.

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Most modern banking applications (SberBank, VTB, Tinkoff) encrypt data at the Android core level. MIUI (for example, CVE-2023-2119), The attacker can intercept passwords at the time of entering them.

5. How to extract passwords with Xiaomi Redmi without root (legal ways)

If you don’t have root rights but need to restore access to your account, try these methods:

1. Check out Google Smart Lock (passwords.google.com)

2. Use the "Forgot Password?" function in the application itself.

3. View the saved data in Mi Account (if synchronization was enabled)

4. Try to restore access through email/SMS (if linked to an account)

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Method 1: Exporting passwords from Chrome

If the password is saved in the browser:

1. Open Chrome on your phone.
2. Move to the ⋮ → Settings → Passwords.
3. Click on the export icon (📤) and save the.csv file.

Method 2: Recovery with Mi Cloud

For data synchronized with Mi Account:

1. Go to i.mi.com from your computer.
2. Log in and go to the Cloud section. → Passwords.
3. Download the backup copy (if any).

Method 3: Use of ADB (for advanced)

With Android Debug Bridge, you can extract some data without root, but it requires enabled debugging. USB:

adb backup -f backup.ab -apk -obb -shared -all -system

This command will create a backup that may contain passwords (but they will be encrypted).

6.How to completely delete passwords before selling Xiaomi Redmi

If you're selling or transferring a phone, it's not enough to just reset your settings. Here's a full checklist to clean up:

1. Delete all accounts (Google, Mi, social networks) in Settings → Accounts.

2. disable sync in Mi Account and Google

3. perform reset to factory settings (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting settings)

4. After reset, do not connect to Wi-Fi - turn off the phone immediately so that there is no automatic synchronization.

5. If the phone was rooted, perform unroot (e.g., via Magisk)

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Why is a conventional discharge not enough?

• 🔄 Some data (such as Mi Account tokens) may remain in the section /misc and recover from discharge.
• 📱 On the phones with MIUI 12+ There is a Find Device feature that can lock the device even after a reset, if you do not untie the account.
• 🔓 Passwords saved in Google Smart Lock are synced again when you first connect to the Internet.

Additional measures for paranoids:

• 🔨 Fastboot (delete all data, including hidden partitions).
• 🔧 Use it. MIUI Cleaner for deep cleaning before resetting.
• 📦 If the phone supports, turn on the file system F2FS and formatting the internal memory.

7. Myths and Truths About Stored Passwords on Xiaomi

There is a lot of incorrect information on the Internet about how Xiaomi handles passwords.

What should really alert you:

• 🚨 After the update MIUI You notice that the phone asks for passwords again – it may have been re-initialized Keystore (in which case the old passwords are deleted forever).
• 🔍 Apps like Clean Master or DU Speed Boosters can access your passwords if you have given them administrator rights.
• 📡 On some firmware MIUI (Especially in Chinese versions, there is a hidden log collection service that can transfer password data (disables via Settings). → Additionally. → Confidentiality).

FAQ: Frequent questions about passwords on Xiaomi Redmi