How to change, delete or add a contact on Xiaomi Redmi 8T: instructions for beginners and experienced users

Xiaomi Redmi 8T is still a popular choice due to its price-performance balance, but even experienced users sometimes have questions about basic features. One of the most common tasks is editing contacts in a phone book. It would seem that could be easier? However, the MIUI interface has its own features that are not always intuitive, especially if you switch from another brand.

In this article, we will look at all possible scenarios: how to change an existing contact, add a new one, delete an unnecessary one, and configure sync with a Google or Mi Account account. Particular attention will be paid to the typical errors that cause contacts to be duplicated, disappear after a reset or not appear in messengers. If you are faced with a problem that changes do not persist or contacts “disappear” after an update, here you will find a solution.

Preparation: where are the contacts on Xiaomi Redmi 8T stored

Before you edit contacts, it's important to understand where they're physically stored.Redmi 8T has three main "storage":

• 📱 Local phone memory - contacts are only stored on the device, risk of loss when reset or breakage.
• ☁️ Google Accounts – synced to the cloud, available on any device after logging in to the same account.
• 🔄 Mi Account (Xiaomi) – Alternative synchronization through the Xiaomi ecosystem.

To check where a particular contact is stored, open the Contacts app, tap the profile you want, and look at the Account field at the bottom of the screen. If it says Phone is local storage, if Google or Mi, the contact syncs to the cloud.

Why does it matter? If you edit a contact that you saved on Google, the changes will apply to all the devices you log in to that account, and if it's local, it will disappear forever after you reset your phone, so we recommend you back up before any changes.

How to change your existing contact with Xiaomi Redmi 8T

The contact editing instructions vary depending on the version of MIUI, but the overall algorithm is the same.

1. Open the Contacts app (an icon with a person’s silhouette on the home screen or in the app menu).
2. Find the contact you want by searching or scrolling through the list.
3. In the upper right corner, click on the icon. ✏️ Edit.
4. Change the required fields: name, phone number, email or additional information (such as birthday).
5. Click Save in the upper right corner.

If the Save button is inactive (grey), check:

• 🔹 Whether at least one mandatory field (for example, name or phone number) has been filled in).
• 🔹 Are there any errors in the number format (for example, extra characters or spaces).
• 🔹 Does the change block antivirus or third-party contact app.

On the Redmi. 8T s MIUI 12 and above, when you edit a contact from your Google account, a notification may appear, "Sync is disabled." This means that the changes will only apply locally until you turn on the sync manually. To avoid discrepancies, check the sync settings in Settings in advance. → Accounts. → Google → Synchronization of contacts.

Adding a new contact: a step-by-step guide

You can create a new contact on Xiaomi Redmi 8T in several ways. Let's look at each of them.

Method 1: Through the Contact Application

1. Open Contact.
2. Slip on the icon + in the lower right corner.
3. Choose where to keep contact: Phone, Google or Mi Account.
4. Fill in the fields (name, number, additional information).
5. Press Save.

Method 2: From the call log

If you need to save a number after an incoming or outgoing call:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Go to the magazine tab.
3. Slip on the desired number and hold it for 1-2 seconds.
4. In the menu that appears, select Save to Contacts.
5. Fill in the data and save it.

Method 3: Through messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram)

Many instant messengers allow you to quickly add contact from the chat:

• 💬 On WhatsApp: Open a chat room → tap on the name of the interlocutor → Add in contact.
• 📤 In Telegram: open a profile → Add in contact.

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If you add a contact via the messenger fields are filled in automatically, check for errors. Often the number is saved in an international format (for example, +79XX...), which can cause problems with the number determinant.

Removing Contacts: How to Avoid Losing Important Data

Delete contacts on Redmi 8T with care, especially if they are synced to the cloud, and an error can result in data loss on all devices connected to the account.

To remove contact:

1. Open Contacts and find the profile you want.
2. Slip it on it, then press it. ✏️ Edit.
3. In the upper right corner, select 🗑️ Delete (or More) → Remove in some versions MIUI).
4. Confirm the action.

Attention! If the contact is synced to Google or Mi Account, it will be deleted from all devices that have synced, to delete only the local copy:

1. Open the contact and tap More → Export (save a backup in.vcf format).
2. Remove contact from the cloud via the Google Contacts or Mi Cloud web interface.

Synchronization of contacts: how to avoid duplicates and losses

Contact issues on Xiaomi Redmi 8T are most often due to mis-sync. Let’s look at typical scenarios and their solutions.

How to enable synchronization with Google

1. Go to Settings → Accounts → Google.
2. Choose your account.
3. Activate the Contact Switch.
4. Slip sync now.

How to sync with Mi Account

1. Open the Settings. → Accounts. → Mi Account.
2. Sign in to your account (if not authorized).
3. Enable the option of Contact Synchronization.

If contacts double after synchronization, use the built-in merging function:

1. Open Contacts. → More (⋮) → Contact management → Connecting contacts.
2. Select duplicate records and confirm the merger.

Backup of contacts: how not to lose data

Even if you use cloud sync, backing up periodically can help you avoid crashes. There are two reliable ways to do this on Redmi 8T:

Method 1: Export to file.vcf

1. Open Contacts. → More (⋮) → Contact management → Imports/Exports.
2. Select Export to file.
3. Please indicate which contacts to export (all or selected).
4. Save the file in the phone memory or on SD-map.

Method 2: Sync with Google Drive

If your contacts are linked to a Google account, they are automatically backed up in the cloud to check the backup:

1. Go to contacts.google.com.
2. In the menu, select More → Cancel the changes.
3. Check the available backup versions (stopped for 30 days).

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Backup contacts in.vcf format can be imported to any device, including an iPhone or a computer, and it's a universal way to transfer data.

⚠️ If you sell or transfer Redmi, 8T to another person, necessarily: 🔹 Remove all local contacts. 🔹 Disable sync with Google and Mi Account. 🔹 Perform reset to factory settings (Settings) → The phone. → Otherwise, the new owner will be able to restore your contacts through backups.

Frequent mistakes and their solutions

Even after editing contacts correctly, Xiaomi Redmi 8T users face unexpected problems, and here are the most common ones and ways to fix them.

1. Contacts are not saved after editing

Causes and solutions:

• 📵 Insufficient Memory: Clear the App Cache Contacts in Settings → Annexes → Application management → Contacts → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• 🔒 Restrictions of Rights: Check if access to contacts for the application is allowed (Settings) → Permits → Contacts).
• 🔄 Synchronization conflict: Disable and turn on sync again in account settings.

2. Contacts are displayed incorrectly (hieroglyphs, empty fields)

This is a problem when importing contacts from an old phone.

1. Export your contacts to the.vcf file.
2. Open the file on your computer using Excel or Google Contacts and check the encoding (should be UTF-8).
3. Import the corrected file back to your phone.

3 New contacts do not appear on WhatsApp/Telegram

The reason is usually because messengers only read contacts from a Google account.

• 🔹 Move your contacts from local storage to Google (export/import).
• 🔹 Update contacts in the messenger: in WhatsApp go to Settings → Contacts → Update.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions