How to Include Russian Alphabetical Order in Xiaomi Contacts: Instruction + Error Solving

The problem of sorting contacts by the Russian alphabet on Xiaomi smartphones is one of the most common complaints of users: instead of the usual order from “A” to “Z”, names can appear in the Latin alphabet, chaoticly or even grouped according to unexplained criteria, especially after updating the MIUI, resetting settings or transferring data from another device.

The reason for this is because the MIUI shell works by default, and it uses universal sorting, which doesn't always handle Cyrillic correctly, and fortunately, there are a number of ways to fix this, from changing regional settings to manually editing contact tags, and in this article, we'll look at all the working methods, including hidden settings and workarounds for older firmware versions.

Why are Xiaomi contacts not sorted in Russian alphabet?

The main reason is a conflict of language standards: the MIUI shell uses Unicode sorting by default, which organizes characters by their codes, rather than by the alphabet of a particular language, and as a result, the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet ("A", "B", "B") can appear after the Latin ("Z") or even special characters, and this is not a bug, but a feature of implementation.

Other possible causes:

• 📱 The region of the device is not set to Russia/Ukraine/Belarus. Even if the interface language is Russian, the region affects the sorting.
• 🔄 Importing contacts from third-party sources (Google, SIM-map, VCF-file) with the original order maintained.
• 📲 Update MIUI, After which the user's sorting settings are reset.
• 🤖 Application conflict, for example, if standard Contacts and Google Contacts are used simultaneously.

MIUI 12/13/14 is partially solved, but older versions (e.g. MIUI 10-11) require manual adjustment, and some models (e.g. Redmi Note 8 Pro or Poco X3) may have trimmed settings due to regional limitations.

Method 1: Changing the region of the device

The most reliable method is to change the region of a smartphone to a country with the Cyrillic alphabet, which will force the system to use local sorting rules, and importantly, this method can affect the operation of certain services (for example, Google Pay or banking applications).

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Additional → Language and Region.
2. Select Region (not to be confused with Language).
3. In the list, find Russia, Ukraine or Belarus and confirm the choice.
4. Reset the device (required!).

After the reboot, check the sorting in the Contacts app. If there are no changes, clear the app cache:

• Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
• Find Contacts, click Warehouse → Clear the cache.

💡

If some features (such as voice assistant) are lost after the region change, return the old region and use alternative sorting methods.

Method 2: Manual editing of contacts

If the region change didn't work, the problem could be in the records themselves: MIUI sorts contacts by the first character in the Name field, but sometimes takes into account hidden tags (for example, when importing from VCard), the solution is to edit the names manually.

How to do this:

1. Open the Contacts app and select a problem contact.
2. Click Edit (pencil icon).
3. Make sure that the first character in the Name field is a Cyrillic letter (e.g., “Alexander” and not “Alexander” or “ Alexander”).
4. Remove all unnecessary symbols before the name (spaces, dashes, brackets).
5. Save the changes and check the sorting.

For mass editing, use export/import:

Export contacts to VCF file| Open file on PC in text editor | Correct names (remove Latin before Cyrillic) |Import back to phone | Check sort-->

Critical detail: If the name has Latin letters BEFORE Cyrillic (e.g., "Dr. Ivanov"), the contact will be sorted by Latin. Delete all prefixes.

Method 3: Configure the Contacts app

Some versions of MIUI have hidden sorting options that are not visible in the main settings.

1. Open Contacts and tap three points (⋮) top-right.
2. Select Settings → Display contacts.
3. Check the Sort by – if there is an Alphabet or Local Order option, select it.
4. Also turn off the option to Show contacts with the surname primero (if any).

If you don’t have these options, try an alternative route:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Contacts → Permissions.
2. Make sure all permissions are enabled (especially Contacts and Storage).
3. Clear the app data (Warning: This will delete all local contacts that are not synced to your account!).

Method 4: Sync with Google Account

If your contacts are stored in Google Contacts, they are sorted according to your account settings, so you can get them in order:

1. Open the website contacts.google.com on PC.
2. Press the gear. ⚙️ → Settings → Language and region.
3. Choose Russian language and region of Russia.
4. Return to the contact list and click on three points (⋮) → Change the order → Select "By name (A-Y)».
5. Wait for the synchronization (it can take up to 10 minutes).

On a smartphone:

• Go to Settings → Accounts → Google.
• Make sure that the contact sync is enabled.
• Forced update data: Open Contacts → Swipe down for updates.

⚠️ Note: If contacts are duplicated after synchronization, turn off the option “Show contacts from the sync” SIM-maps in the settings of the application "Contacts».

Method 5: Using Third-Party Applications

If the standard methods don't work, install an alternative contact app.

• 📌 Simple Contacts – a minimalist application with flexible sorting.
• 📌 Contacts+ — Supports manual adjustment of display order.
• 📌 Truecaller – automatically grouping contacts alphabetically (but requires access to the phone) SMS).

Instructions for Simple Contacts:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. At the first start, give access to contacts.
3. Go to Settings → Display → Sort.
4. Select “By name (A-Y)” and turn off “Surname Grouping”.
5. Make Simple Contacts the default app: Settings → Apps → Default → Contacts.

The advantage of this method is that it is independent of MIUI firmware, and even after the system update, the sorting will remain correct.

💡

The application side is the only reliable way for users of older versions of MIUI (up to the 10th) where there are no built-in sorting options.

Solving problems after changes

If after all the manipulations, the contacts are still displayed incorrectly, check:

If the problem persists, try resetting the Contacts app settings:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Contacts → Storage.
2. Click Reset Settings (not “Clear Data”!).
3. Reboot your smartphone.

⚠️ Note: On some devices (e.g. Xiaomi Mi) A1/A2 with pure Android) the problem is solved only through Google Contacts. MIUI These models do not work.

FAQ: Frequent questions about sorting contacts on Xiaomi