How to change the country to Xiaomi: official and alternative methods

Changing your region on Xiaomi devices is a procedure you might need to do when you move, buy a gadget abroad, or access local services. However, missteps often result in Mi Account blocking, loss of warranty, or functionality restriction. In this article, we’ll look at all the working ways to change the country, from official MIUI settings to circumventing regional restrictions through VPNs and alternative accounts.

Many users face the problem when, after buying Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO abroad, the device is “tied” to a foreign region, which manifests itself in the form of incorrect Google Pay, the lack of Russian in some applications or the inability to pay through the Mi Store. It is important to understand that Xiaomi tightly controls regional settings through the Mi Account, so simply changing the language on the menu is often not enough.

In this article you will find:

• 🔧 The official way to change the country through settings MIUI (restrictively)
• 📱 Bypassing regional locks for Google Play and Mi Store
• ⚠️ Risks and consequences of incorrect change of the region (account blocking, loss of warranty)
• 🔄 Alternative methods for devices with a locked loader

⚠️ Warning: Change of country on Xiaomi devices with global firmware (MIUI Global) and associated Mi Account may result in a 30 day account lock.Before starting the procedure, make sure you have a backup of the data and access to the email associated with the account.

1. Official change of country in MIUI settings

The easiest, but also the most limited, way is to change the region directly to the device menu, a method that is suitable for smartphones with global firmware (MIUI Global) and non-country-specific Mi Account.

To change the region:

1. Open Settings → Additional → Language and Region.
2. Select the region (not to be confused with language!).
3. Scroll through the list and select the country you want (e.g. Russia or Turkey).
4. Confirm the change and restart the device.

⚠️ Limitations of method:

• 🚫 It does not work on devices with Chinese firmware (MIUI China).
• 🚫 Does not change the region in Mi Account – only local settings of the phone.
• 🚫 Can reset some system applications (such as Mi Video or Mi Music).

💡

If some apps (e.g. Google Play) are missing after a region change, check Settings → Apps → App Management → Show all apps and turn them on manually.

Change of country through Mi Account (with the risk of blocking)

If you need to change the region in your Xiaomi account (for example, to pay in the Mi Store or unlock the bootloader), you will have to edit the data in your personal account, which causes the account to be blocked for 30 days with frequent change of region, so you should use it only as a last resort.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to the Mi Account website and log in.
2. Please visit the Personal Info → Country/Region section.
3. Click Change and select a new country.
4. Confirm the change via email or SMS.

⚠️ What happens after the change:

• 🔒 The account will be blocked for a change of region for 30 days.
• 💳 Payment in the Mi Store will be available only under the rules of the new region (a local bank card may be required).
• 📱 Some services (such as Mi Cloud) may temporarily stop working.

3. bypassing regional restrictions without changing the country

If you just need to access local applications (like Google Pay or Yandex.Navigator), you can do without risking changing the region in Mi Account.

Method 1: Using VPN for Google Play

• 🌍 Install. VPN (For example, ProtonVPN or Windscribe and connect to the server of the desired country.
• 📱 Open Google Play, go to Profile → Settings → General. → Country and profiles.
• 🔄 If the country change button is active, select a new region (local address and payment method will be required).

Method 2: Create a second Google account

• 🆔 Add a new Google account in your phone settings (Settings) → Accounts. → Add an account).
• 📱 When registering, specify the country for which you need to unlock the applications.
• 🔄 Use this account only to download the desired applications.

4. Change of region on Chinese firmware (MIUI China)

The Chinese firmware (MIUI China) devices are rigidly tied to China and do not allow you to change the region through standard settings.

Option 1: Installation of global firmware

• 📱 Unlock the bootloader through the official Xiaomi tool (requires a tied Mi Account older than 30 days).
• 🔧 Install. MIUI Global via Mi Flash Tool (instructions at xiaomiflash.com).
• ⚠️ Risk: Loss of warranty and possible brick device in case of firmware error.

Option 2: Using Patched Firmware

• 🛠️ Install custom firmware (e.g. xiaomi.eu) where regional restrictions are removed.
• 🔄 Requires an unlocked bootloader and experience with TWRP.
• ⚠️ Risk: Violation of Xiaomi policy, possible bugs in the work of services.

Make a backup copy of the data|Check the current version of the firmware|Unlock the loader|Download the correct version MIUI Global for your model|Prepare the Mi Flash Tool-->

5. Consequences of incorrect change of the region

Before you change your country to Xiaomi, check out the following:

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g. Xiaomi 12 Pro or POCO F4 GT) Changes in the region may result in loss of support 5G Check compatibility before changing on FrequencyCheck.

6. Alternative methods for advanced users

If standard methods don't work, you can try more complex solutions, which require technical skills and can violate the warranty.

Method 1: Editing build.prop

• 🛠️ Use it. ADB Root Explorer to change ro.product.locale.region in the file /system/build.prop.
• 🔄 Example of the team: adb shell su -c "setprop persist.sys.locale ru-RU; setprop persist.sys.country RU"
• ⚠️ Requires root rights and unlocked bootloader.

Method 2: Use the Mi Unlock Tool (to unlock the bootloader)

• 🔓 Download the official tool and log in to Mi Account.
• 📱 Connect your phone in Fastboot mode (clip Volume Down) + Nutrition).
• 🔄 Follow the instructions of the program (the process takes up to 72 hours).

💡

The safest way to access local services is to use a second Google or VPN account, and changing your region to Mi Account should be a last resort because of the risk of being blocked.

FAQ: Frequent questions about changing the country to Xiaomi