How to transfer settings from one phone to another Xiaomi

Changing your mobile device is always stressful, with the fear of losing important contacts, photos or gaming progress. However, if you stay in the Android ecosystem and choose Xiaomi products, the migration process becomes as simple and automated as possible. Modern shells MIUI and HyperOS offer powerful built-in tools that allow you to clone an old phone almost one-to-one, even keeping the icons on the desktop.

In this article, we will take a look at all the ways you can transfer information, from using the Mi Mover app to Google and Xiaomi Cloud services. You will learn how to properly prepare both devices, which data is carried without loss and which require manual intervention. Proper preparation will save you hours of time and nerves when you first set up a new gadget.

Before you start taking action, make sure both smartphones are at least 60-70% charged. The process of copying large amounts of data can be energy intensive, and discharging one of the devices at a critical moment can interrupt the transfer, and it is also recommended to connect to a stable Wi-Fi network if you plan to use cloud methods or sync through your account.

Preparing devices for data migration

The success of the operation depends on the preparatory stage. On the old device, you need to conduct a storage audit: delete unnecessary files to speed up the process, and make sure that all system updates are installed. The new Xiaomi smartphone will start the initial setup wizard when it first turns on, which will prompt you to start transferring data.

The key is to log into the same Mi Account on both devices, which will allow you to synchronize contacts, notes, voice recordings and system settings before you start physically copying files, and if you don't have an account, it will take just a few minutes to create it, but it will make life much easier in the future.

⚠️ Warning: If your old phone has bank or government services apps installed, their security settings often block automatic porting.

It’s also worth checking if there’s space on the receiving device, and the amount of storage you’ll be using on the new phone should be larger than the amount of data you’re planning to transfer, otherwise the process may stop in the middle and you’ll have to choose what to copy.

Using the Mi Mover app to quickly copy

The most efficient and quick way to transfer settings from one phone to another Xiaomi is to use the Mi Mover utility, which is pre-installed on the default system and does not require installation from the store. It creates a direct Wi-Fi connection between devices, which allows for high speed transfer of even large files without using Internet traffic.

Run the app on both smartphones via Settings → About Phone → Mi Mover or find it in the Tools folder. On the old device, select the role of “Sender” and on the new device, “Receiver.” The system will automatically scan the available networks and prompt you to connect to the access point created by the new phone.

• 📱 Select the data type to transfer: contacts, messages, call history, system settings, images, music, videos and documents.
• 📲 Check the necessary applications: Mi Mover can even transfer data within some programs, if their internal architecture allows it.
• ⚡ Click the “Send” button and wait for the process to complete without turning off device screens or breaking the connection.

Importantly, Mi Mover can port not only files, but also desktop structure, and folders, widgets and wallpapers will all fall into place, making it feel like you’ve just changed the body of your phone, not the whole device, which is especially valuable for users who are used to certain ergonomics of control.

Sync with Mi Cloud and Google Account

An alternative to direct connectivity is cloud sync, which is ideal if you can’t keep both phones together for long periods of time, or if one of the devices is damaged (but turns on). Google Account is the standard for Android and stores contacts, calendar, mail, and installed app lists.

To activate backup, go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google. Here you can choose which data will be stored in the cloud. Similarly, Mi Cloud works, which often offers more free space for users of Xiaomi equipment, especially for items such as a gallery and voice recorder.

Using the cloud allows you to recover data even after a long time, just enter your login and password when you set up a new device, and the system will tighten all the saved parameters, which makes it the most reliable method for long-term storage of important information.

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Turn on the gallery sync in Mi Cloud in advance, which will free up space on your old phone and ensure that no photos are lost when you change your device.

Transfer of applications and their data

One of the hardest questions is how to keep progress in games and logins on social networks. Standard Android tools allow you to transfer yourself. APK-Application files, but internal data (cache, save) often stay in the old place for security reasons. MIUI It has a built-in full backup function.

To create a full copy, go to Settings → The phone. → Backup and restore. Here you can create a backup system that will be stored in internal memory or on the back of the system. SD-This file contains application settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and user program data.

• 📂 Backup on your old phone and copy the backup file to your computer or the cloud.
• 📥 On the new device, restore this file through the same settings menu, pre-copying it to the corresponding folder.
• 🔒 Some banking applications will require re-binding the device as they respond to a change. IMEI and hardware.

Note that messengers like Telegram or Viber store their correspondence history on their servers or require a separate backup inside the application itself, for example, WhatsApp needs to back up chats on Google Drive in advance so that when you install the application on a new phone it offers to restore the history.

Working with Multimedia and File System

Porting photos, videos and documents often takes the most time because of their volume. If you don’t want to depend on Internet speed, use a USB Type-C cable and a computer as an intermediate, or use the Explorer feature in Mi Mover.

When transferring media, it is important to keep the folder structure, especially if you have music sorted by album or documents categorized. Direct copying through Mi Mover maintains this hierarchy, unlike some cloud services that can "mix" files in a common pile.

⚠️ Note: When transferring files through your computer, make sure that the file transfer mode is selected on your phone (MTP), It's not just charging, otherwise the computer won't see the internal memory of the device.

For users shooting high-resolution 4K video at 60 frames per second, the data can reach tens of gigabytes, in which case it is recommended to use a connection to a PC via a USB 3.0 port or higher to reduce copy time from hours to minutes.

Solving problems and errors during transfer

Despite the automation, sometimes the process can go wrong, and a common problem is the "Not enough space" error or a sudden interruption of the connection. In such cases, do not panic: an interrupted transmission through Mi Mover can often be resumed by simply repeating the scan. QR-code.

If you find some apps not opening or crashing after porting, try clearing their cache or reinstalling the problem software manually from Google Play Market.Occasionally, older versions of apps conflict with the new version of Android on the receiving device.

• 🔄 Restart both smartphones and try to start the process again.
• 📶 Make sure your devices do not have Power Savings mode enabled, which may limit the Wi-Fi module.
• 🔐 Check if the old phone is not a data transfer restriction for background applications.

In the rare cases where a new phone system is unstable after a migration, it makes sense to reset to factory settings and start the transfer "clean" by selecting only the most important data to rule out the impact of old system errors.

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The most reliable method for full cloning of a smartphone is the use of Mi Mover over Wi-Fi Direct, since it does not depend on the speed of the Internet and copies the structure of the system.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)