Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face an unfortunate situation: after updating the system or resetting the settings, the list of contacts suddenly begins to sort in the Latin alphabet, which creates a noticeable discomfort, as finding the right subscriber turns into a long process of scrolling through, and the usual structure of the phone book is disrupted. Instead of the expected sections “A”, “B”, “B”, “C”, which is especially annoying if you have hundreds of numbers in memory.
The problem lies not in the breakdown of the device, and in the settings of the system application Contacts or global parameters of localization of the shell MIUI and HyperOS. Android operating system allows you to flexibly configure the display of data, but sometimes after the update, the priority language of sorting automatically becomes English. Fortunately, you can return everything to its place on your own without resorting to complex technical manipulations or firmware.
In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to correct this situation, how to change the sorting settings in the application, how to check the system language parameters, and what to do if standard methods do not work. We will look at the nuances of working with cloud services and local copies so that your data remains safe and secure during the setup process.
Checking system settings of language and region
The first step to take before tampering with individual applications is to check the global settings of the system, often when the region of the smartphone is set to the country where the Latin alphabet is used, or when Russian is not the first language of choice, it makes the system think that English should be the priority for data sorting.
To check, go to the Settings menu and find the Additional section or select Language and Input immediately. In the list that opens, make sure that Russian is at the first position. If it is not there, add it and drag it to the beginning of the list by clamping the corresponding menu icon or using the Add Language button. Xiaomi is sensitive to the order of languages: the one above is considered the main one for the interface and system functions.
Also, you should pay attention to the region settings. When you are in the Settings menu, select Region and set the value to Russia or Belarus (or your country of residence), changing region often automatically restarts the system services responsible for indexing contacts and forcibly switches the alphabet to Cyrillic, a basic but critical stage of diagnosis.
⚠️ Warning: After a region change, some system applications may require re-acceptance of the terms of the user agreement. MIUI.
If the situation has not changed after the region change and the priority of the language, the problem is likely to lie deeper - in the cache of a particular application or its internal sorting settings, in which case, move to the next section of the instructions.
📊 What is your current order of sorting in contacts?
In Russian (A-Y)
In English (A-Z)
Chaotic
I can't find the settings.
The most common reason for incorrect display of names lies in the settings of the Contacts application itself. The MIUI shell allows the user to choose for themselves how the phone book should be formed: by name or by surname, and which alphabet to use for navigation.
Open the standard Contacts app (yellow or blue handset). Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the screen or the gear icon to get into the settings menu. Find a section that could be called Display Settings, Contact Display, or simply Sort. That's where the switch that's responsible for sorting order is.
Inside this menu, you'll see the options "By name" or "By last name." Below should be a setting related to the language or alphabet. Choose "Russian" or "Cyrillic". If there is no such direct choice, try changing the order of sorting from "Name, Surname" to "Family, Name" and back again - this action often forcibly updates the database index and returns the Russian alphabet to the side navigation bar.
- 📱 Open the Contacts app on the home screen.
- ⚙️ Click on the menu (three dots) and select Settings».
- 🔤 Find the item "Sort" or "Display Order».
- ✅ Make sure that you choose the Russian language or the format "Family, Name».
It’s important to understand that changes take effect instantly, but if you’re syncing with a Google account, it may take a few seconds to update the list.If the switch is already in the right position and the alphabet isn’t changing, try forcefully updating the list by pulling a finger from top to bottom across the contact list screen.
Cleaning the cache and application data
Sometimes a software failure causes the settings to get stuck in an intermediate state. Even if you see the right language selection on the menu, the actual contact database can use the old indexing rules, in which case the solution is to clear the cache and, if necessary, the application data.
To do this, go to the system settings of your smartphone, then select the App section and click All Apps. In the list that appears, find Contacts. Don't confuse Contacts and Phone with Contacts or SIM-In the card, we need a system application with a phone book icon. Inside the app menu, click Clear and select Clear Cache.
If cleaning the cache didn't work, you can try a more radical method - Clean everything (or "Reset"). Don't worry, your numbers are not going anywhere, as they are stored either on the back of the cache. SIM-It's either in the Google cloud or in the phone's memory as a separate database, and resetting the app will only return it to the factory settings, which often eliminates sorting errors.
⚠️ Before fully clearing the application data, make sure your contacts are saved to a Google account or exported to a.vcf file to avoid potential data loss in the event of a sync failure.
Once reset, reopen the app. The system can suggest choosing a contact display source (SIM, Phone, Google), select "All Contacts" or a specific account, then recheck the sorting settings as described in the previous section. A fresh start of the app often solves the problem of "stuck" English alphabet.
What to do if the contacts are lost after the reset?
If you can't see numbers after cleaning up, check if sync is enabled. Go to Settings. → Accounts and synchronization → Google. Make sure the Contacts switch is active. Click on three dots and select Sync Now».> Modern Xiaomi smartphones are closely integrated with the Google ecosystem. If your contacts are stored in Google Contacts, then the rules for displaying them may be dictated by the settings of the account or Google Contacts application itself, rather than the standard call. MIUI. This is especially true if you are using third-party launchers or alternative calling apps. check your sync settings. go to Settings → Accounts and syncs. Select your Google account and make sure the checkmark opposite the Contacts box is set. If sync is off, turn it on. Sometimes forced resynchronization helps: turn off the tick, wait 5 seconds and turn it on again, or click the Sync button in the account menu. Also, go to the Google Contacts app (a separate app with a human color icon) if it is installed. It also has display options in its settings, make sure that it does not have filters that hide certain groups, or a specific sorting order that conflicts with the system one. tr> Parameter Where to check Recommended value Language of the Settings system → Language and input Russian (first on the list) Region Settings → Additionally. → Region Russia / Belarus / Kazakhstan Synchronization Settings → Accounts. → Google enabled Sorting in the Contacts app → Settings → Sorting by name / Russian alphabet If contacts are stored only locally on the device (on the Internet). SIM-In a card or in a phone memory without being linked to the cloud, the settings of the Contacts app and system region are the priority, in which case the Google account does not affect the order of letters, and you need to focus on local settings. MIUI. Many Xiaomi users are not satisfied with the standard call and install alternatives such as Truecaller, Google Phone (in pure form) or Yandex with a number determinant. These applications have their own databases and their own sorting algorithms that ignore system settings. MIUI. If you use an app like this, you need to look for language settings inside the app, for example, in Truecaller you need to go to profile, then to the settings and find "Language" or "Display." In Google Phone, settings are usually inherited from the system, but may have limitations. Check the Settings section inside the caller app itself, and some optimizers or themes can change the look and feel of the contact list. If you recently installed a new theme from Mi Themes, try temporarily disabling it or returning a standard theme. An improperly assembled theme may contain errors in the listing scripts, causing the alphabet to “fly” into English. 📞 Open the used application for calls. 🛠 Find internal settings (usually in the profile menu or gear). 🌐 Check the section Language/Language Display/Display. 🎨 If you have a third-party theme, try to return the standard one. If the problem is only seen in a third-party application, and everything is displayed correctly in a standard Xiaomi call, then it is solely the settings of that particular application. Reinstalling an app from Google Play or GetApps often helps to reset erroneous configurations. fix problems after updating MIUI Or HyperOS, updating the operating system is always stressful for file structures. MIUI Or HyperOS can convert databases, at which point a temporary bug may occur when contacts are sorted incorrectly, usually going away by itself some time after the system completes the background optimization. However, if the persists problem persists for a few days, the indexing file may have been damaged during the update process, and if it helps to reboot to Safe Mode, press the off button, and when the screen switches off icon, press and hold it with your finger for a few seconds until you suggest that you go to Safe Mode, only system applications are loaded in this mode, if the contacts are displayed correctly, then the problem is caused by some third-party application you installed earlier. If the safe mode is English, the problem is deeper, try resetting the apps and resetting the phone. You can do this through the Settings menu. → The phone. → Resetting settings → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile networks and Bluetooth (although it’s more about the network, sometimes it helps to reset app settings through the special features menu). ⚠️ Warning: Don't rush to do a full Hard Reset just because of an alphabet problem. This is an extreme measure that will delete all your photos, apps and files. Use it only if other methods don't work. In rare cases, changing the system font helps. Go to Settings. → Screen. → Text size and font. Change the font to another (e.g. classic to Roboto or vice versa), apply the changes and check the contacts. Then return the font back. This action forcefully redraws all text elements of the interface. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) Why Xiaomi’s new update has made it to English? When you update your system, you often reset your language priorities or change your default region to global (International). The system starts using English as your primary sorting language. Check your region and language settings in the settings menu. Missing Russian letters in the navigation sidebar, what do you do? This means that the contact app has switched to Latin sorting. Go to the Contacts app settings and change the sorting order from "A-Z" to "A-Z" or change the display format from "Namename" to "Namename." Does changing the region affect how the phone works? How do you save contacts so they don't disappear when you reset? The best way is to sync with your Google account. Make sure your Google account settings have contact sync enabled. You can also export contacts to your.vcf file through the contact management menu and save them to the cloud or computer. Can a virus cause a change in the language of your contacts? In theory, malware can change your system settings, but in practice, changing the contact alphabet is almost always the regular behavior of the system after an update or a failure in your localization settings, not the action of a virus.