Changing your smartphone is often stressful because of the risk of losing important data, especially the phone book. Owners of new Xiaomi devices often wonder how to quickly and safely move their number list. Modern technology allows you to do this in minutes without losing data quality or confusion in duplicates.
There are several proven ways to migrate data, each with its own features and advantages, depending on which device you are switching from: Android, iPhone or an old button phone, and it is important to choose the best path so that you do not encounter coding problems or cropped names.
In this article, we will take a look at all the import options available, and you will learn about branded utilities, cloud services, and manual copying methods, which will allow you to choose the most convenient scenario for your situation.
Using the Mi Mover app to transfer from Android
The fastest and most efficient way for Android device owners is to use the built-in Mi Mover utility, which is pre-installed on all modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones, and is also available for download to other phones. It creates a direct Wi-Fi connection between devices, which ensures high transfer speeds without using Internet traffic.
The process starts with running the app on both devices, and the new phone needs to select the Receiver role, and the old phone needs to select the Sender role. QR-In the case of code or manual connection to the network, the system will suggest selecting data types to transfer.
- 📱 Select Contacts from the list of data transferred for the migration of the phone book.
- 🔒 The connection is protected by local encryption, the data does not go to the network.
- ⚡ Transfer speed is not limited by mobile operator tariffs.
It is important to note that when you transmit a large amount of data (thousands of numbers with a photo), the process can take some time: do not interrupt the connection and keep the screens on, and after the operation is completed, all the records will be automatically distributed to the corresponding fields in the new phone book.
Synchronization through Google Account
Google’s ecosystem offers one of the most reliable ways to save and transfer contacts. If you’ve used an Android smartphone before, your numbers are likely already stored in the cloud.
When you first set up a new Xiaomi phone, the system will prompt you to log in. If you missed this step, go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google. Make sure the switch opposite Contacts is active. This will trigger automatic download of all saved records.
What to do if no contacts appear?
If numbers don't show up after syncing, check the display filter in the Contacts app. Click three dots in the corner, select Display Settings, and make sure the tick is in front of your Google account, not just Phone or «SIM». The main advantage of this method is the constant relevance of data. Any change made from a computer or other device will instantly affect your Xiaomi. ⚠️ Warning: Make sure that your old device has your contacts saved in Google, not just your phone’s memory. Check this by opening contacts.google.com from your computer. Move your contacts from your iPhone to Xiaomi. The Mi Mover app has an iPhone version that allows you to transfer not only contacts, but also photos, calendars and notes. The process is similar to transferring from Android: installing an application, scanning the code and selecting data. An alternative method involves using iCloud. You can export contacts from the iCloud site in vCard (.vcf) format and import them to Xiaomi. To do this, go to the iCloud settings on your iPhone, select export, and then send the file to your mail or messenger. 🍎 Open the file.vcf on the new Xiaomi phone. 📥 The system will offer to import the found contacts. ✅ Select an account to save (Google or Mi recommended). Note that when you switch from iOS to Android, some metadata may be lost or changed in the display format. The universal language for phone books is the vCard format. This method is ideal if you need to transfer contacts manually or create a backup without being linked to the cloud. The file with the extension.vcf contains all the contact information in text form. To create such a file on an old device, go to the Contacts app, open the management menu and select Export Contacts. Save the file to internal memory or memory card. Then copy this file to the new Xiaomi in any convenient way (Bluetooth, USB, Messenger. The way to import: Contacts → Settings (three points) → Import/Export of contacts → After selecting a file, the system will suggest determining where to save the data. You should choose a Google or Mi Account, so that in the future synchronization will work automatically. Saving the phone ("Device") is less reliable, because when you reset the settings, this data will disappear. SIM-Phone card and memory Sometimes it is necessary to transfer contacts with the phone. SIM-cards, especially when switching from button phones. SIM-The card has limitations: it only stores the number and name (often cropped to the 10-15 Symbols, no photos, emails, or addresses. To copy, insert a SIM card into the new Xiaomi. Go to the Contacts app, select settings, and click Import with SIM-The system will tell you to choose your destination, and once you've done the SIM card, you can take it out, the data will remain in the phone. | Source of data | (Capacity) | Quality of transfer | Reliability of storage | |:--- |:--- |:--- |--- | | Google Account | No restrictions. | Full (photo, postal) | High (cloud) | | SIM-map | ~250 contacts | Low (name/number only) | Low (physical wear and tear) | | Phone memory | Depends on the model. | Complete. | Average (reset risk) | | File.vcf | Depends on the location. | Complete. | High (primarily) | ⚠️ Note: Never keep important contacts only on the SIM-If you lose a card or switch to a map 5G-If you previously saved numbers to an old smartphone, you can also export them to a.vcf file and transfer them as described in the previous section. Direct copying from the phone’s memory to another phone’s memory without an intermediate file or cloud is not possible. Removing duplicates and combining records After transferring contacts from different sources (for example, partially from the SIM, It's a lot of duplicates. Xiaomi and Android have built-in tools to solve this problem. In the Contacts app, find the "Combine Duplicates" feature. The system will automatically find entries with the same numbers or names and suggest that they be combined. This will clear the phone book and make it instant, and you can manually combine contacts by selecting specific pairs of records. 🔍 Open Contacts and click on three dots in the corner. 🧹 Select “Consolidate duplicates” or “Contact management». ✅ Confirm the merger of the proposed pairs. 📊 Where do you most often move your contacts? with Google Account SIM-Through the vCard file of the iPhone via Mi Mover, cleaning the phone book regularly not only improves visual perception, but also speeds up the search and dialing system. Deleting unnecessary entries frees up space in the app's cache. Solving frequent import issues Users may encounter situations where contacts are not displayed or partially downloaded. Often the problem lies in the display filter. In the Contacts app, click on the menu and make sure that the All Contacts display is selected, not just with the SIM Another common mistake is to misencode a file that is.vcf that is created on a device with a different language setting, and names can turn into a set of characters, in which case re-exporting with the correct encoding will help. UTF-8 reference-stack. ⚠️ Note: If contact photos are missing after transfer, check the Contacts app access rights to the gallery and storage in the Settings section. → Annexes → Contacts → Permissions. In rare cases, cleaning the cache of the Contacts and Contacts (system) app helps. It won't delete your numbers, but it will reset the display settings and force the system to re-index the database. How do you move contacts if the old phone's screen is broken? If the sensor is not working, but the image is, connect it. USB-mouse-wise OTG-This will allow you to control the phone and enable sync with Google. If the screen is black but the phone is turned on, try connecting it to your computer and using software to control Android (for example, for example, the phone is turned on, ADB), If previously the debugging was included USB. Is it safe to use third-party applications for portability? Using unknown apps from the Play Market carries risks of personal data leakage. It is better to use proven tools: Mi Mover, Google Contacts or standard vCard import. They have the necessary security certificates and do not transfer your phone book to third parties. What to do if contacts are copied with the country code +7 instead of +380 or another? It depends on the format of storing the number in the source file or database. You can massively fix it through special applications for editing contacts (Contact Editor), which allow you to replace the prefix in all records simultaneously on a mask.