Where to contact Xiaomi: search, hide and transfer numbers

Redmi and POCO smartphone owners often face the need to quickly find the right number among thousands of records or move the database when changing devices. The interface of the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS has its own features of space organization that can confuse a beginner who is used to “pure” Android. The standard “Contacts” application here is combined with dialing functions and call history, which requires understanding the logic of switching between tabs.

Searching for a particular subscriber can be done not only through the built-in string, but also through a system search that indexes the content of all applications. This is especially true when you remember only part of the name or phone number, but do not know which group it is stored in. Deep integration with cloud services allows you to find data even if it was deleted from the device itself, but remained in the backup.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all possible ways to access the phone book, filtering the displayed data and how to recover lost information. You will learn how to properly configure synchronization so that your numbers never disappear when you flash or break your gadget, and will also address issues of privacy and privacy from prying eyes.

Main application and system search

The primary and most obvious storage location for numbers is the standard app, which usually has a green icon with a human silhouette. On the desktop, it can be simply called “Contacts” or combined with “Phone” in a single shortcut. Inside this application, navigation is done through the bottom panel, where tabs are located for dialing, listing all subscribers, call history and favorites.

To quickly navigate to the right subscriber, use the top search bar, which ignores the register of letters and allows you to find entries by partial coincidence. Xiaomi’s smart search system can find contacts even by the first letters of the name or sequence of numbers in the number, which greatly speeds up the search process in a crowded phone book with hundreds of entries.

If a standard app has been removed or hidden, use global search, swipe down the center of the home screen, or click a special search button if it is displayed in the interface. When you enter the person's name, you will see the Contacts section, which will list all the matches from all synchronized sources, including your Google account and Mi Cloud.

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Use Google Assistant or Xiao AI voice search by simply naming the contact name so that the system itself initiates the call or opens a subscriber card.

It's important to understand the difference between on-premises storage and cloud storage. SIM-The card of the old phone, it may not appear in the general list until the moment of import. Modern Xiaomi smartphones by default offer to save all new entries to the Google account, which ensures their instant availability on any device after authorization.

Display settings and list filtering

Often users can't find the number they want just because they have a filter activated in the display settings that hides certain groups. SIM-To manage this functionality, you need to open the settings menu inside the contact app, which is usually called through three dots in the corner of the screen or the “More” button».

In the "Contacts Displayed" or "Contact Filter" section, you can choose the source of the data, and you can choose to show all numbers, only those with names, or only data from a particular account, and this feature is useful when you need to clear the list of delivery service system numbers or advertising calls, which are often disguised as regular records.

• 📱 All contacts – shows a complete database of all available sources (Google, Mi Account, SIM, Phone).
• 📇 Name-only – hides unknown numbers and service short codes, leaving only personal records.
• ☁️ By accounts – allows you to isolate the list, showing numbers only from the selected profile, for example, only workers or only personal ones.

Another important feature is to combine duplicates, so if you have the same person in your phone book twice from different numbers, the system can suggest combining those cards, which not only removes visual noise, but also makes the search more efficient, because the query will be processed across all the associated fields of the combined record.

Note that filter changes are instantaneous and only affect the current list presentation, without deleting the data itself. You can always return to full display by resetting the filter settings to the original position. This is a safe way to bring order to a chaotic list without risking loss of important information.

Work with SIM-mapping and importation

When switching to a new Xiaomi, the question of transferring contacts with the old one often arises. SIM-Unlike the current cloud-based methods, SIM-The card has limited storage and an outdated storage format that does not support additional fields such as email or addresses, but imports from it remain relevant for users of button phones or those who do not use cloud services.

To start the transfer process, open the Contacts app, go to the settings and select Import/Export Contacts. Here you will be prompted to select a source - "Import from" SIM-The system automatically reads all available records and offers to save them to the selected account, preferably in Google or Mi Cloud, to ensure their safety in the future.

Settings → Contacts → Import / Export → Import from SIM-card

After importation, it is recommended not to delete the numbers from the SIM-You can check the maps immediately, and first check for them in the cloud, make sure that all the special characters and formats of the numbers are correctly recognized, sometimes when you transfer them from old cards, you can have encoding errors, and instead of names, you can display unreadable characters that require manual correction.

If you plan to use the phone book only in the Xiaomi ecosystem, you can choose to save to your Mi Account. This will allow you to sync numbers with other devices of the brand, such as tablets or smart watches. However, for maximum compatibility with possible change of smartphone brand in the future, the universal standard remains synchronization through Google Contacts.

Hidden Contacts and Incognito Mode

MIUI and HyperOS have a contact concealment feature that allows you to remove certain numbers from public access, which is useful if you want to hide information from children or colleagues who are taking your phone to make a call. Hidden contacts are not displayed in the shared list until a special password is entered or a certain gesture is performed.

To hide the contact, open the card, click three dots in the corner and select Hide. The system will ask you to set the password to unlock hidden contacts if you have not done this before, and then the number will disappear from the list, and you can only find it through a special section or by entering the unlock code in the search box.

There's also Incognito mode, or guest mode, which completely isolates the phone's space, and in this mode, hidden contacts are not displayed at all, and even the history of calls from them is not kept in a public log, which provides a high level of privacy, but requires remembering how to activate the hidden mode.

If you want to block an unwanted subscriber, use the Blacklist feature in the Security app or directly in the contact card, and hiding is just a visual removal from the phone book for prying eyes.

Recovery of deleted numbers

Accidental deletion of important contacts is a common problem, but the Xiaomi and Android ecosystems have multiple layers of data protection. The first step should always be to check the shopping cart in the Contacts app. Deleted records often get there and are stored for 30 days, after which they are permanently deleted.

If you don't have the right number in the cart, you need to check your cloud backups. Go to your Google account settings on your computer or through your phone browser at contacts.google.com. From the menu on the left, select Recycle Bin or use the Cancel Changes feature, which allows you to roll back the status of your phone book to any point within the last 30 days.

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Regularly checking synchronization is the only way to guarantee data recovery in the event of a device loss or system failure.

Mi Cloud users can access similar functionality via the i.mi.com web interface. If you have used local backup through Services & Feedback or Mi Backup, the contact file may reside in the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder on the internal drive and can be restored via the system recovery menu.

Frequent problems and their solution

One common problem is contact desynchronization, where new numbers added to one device don't appear on another, most often due to Internet connection errors or account storage overflow, and in such cases, forced synchronization through the Accounts and Sync menu in the system settings helps.

Sometimes users find that contacts are displayed without names, only with numbers. This can occur when you update the system or change the region. To solve the problem, try clearing the cache of the Contacts and Contact Storage application through the Apps menu» → «All applications. Don't be afraid to clear the cache, it won't delete the numbers themselves, but it will force the system to re-index the database.

⚠️ Warning: Before performing Clear Data (not to be confused with cache cleanup), make sure you have a fresh backup.This operation will reset the application settings and may delete locally stored numbers that have not yet synced to the cloud.

If contact photos are missing, check the permissions for the application. Privacy settings should allow you to read and write files so that the application can upload images of avatars from the gallery. Failure to do so often results in a standard gray stub being displayed instead of the photo.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions