Changing your smartphone or sharing your phone number urgently often puts you in the middle of a conversation about how to transfer data. For owners of the Xiaomi and Redmi ecosystem, Bluetooth is the standard and most affordable option. QR-The classic “blue tooth” does not lose its relevance due to its versatility and lack of need for an Internet connection.
While it may seem trivial to synchronize a phone book between devices, there are nuances to the MIUI shell. The transmission interface may be different from stock Android, and security settings sometimes hide the phone from prying eyes. Understanding these features will avoid the typical mistakes of devices simply not seeing each other or the transmission hangs down initially.
In this guide, we will discuss in detail the algorithm of actions that is relevant for most models, from the budget Redmi series to the flagship Mi. You will learn how to properly prepare contact files, adjust visibility and what to do if the standard transmission mechanism failed.
Preparation of devices and setting of visibility
The first step before any data transfer operation is to properly prepare both smartphones. Make sure that both devices — the one you will be transmitting and the one you will be receiving — have Bluetooth enabled, either through the notification curtain or by going to the Settings → Bluetooth menu. It is important that the screens of both devices are active, since in sleep mode MIUI can limit background search activity.
The critical point is to set up visibility. By default, many Xiaomi smartphones are hidden from detection by other devices for security reasons. To make your device available for pairing, you need to be directly in the Bluetooth menu. The visibility of the device to others is only stored while you are in this menu or for 120 seconds after you start searching. If you log out, the phone will again become invisible to external scans.
It's also worth checking whether Invisible mode or restricted access profiles are enabled. There's a separate Visibility switch on some firmware versions that need to be activated. Without this step, finding new devices on a second phone can go on indefinitely without results.
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For fast activation of visibility on Xiaomi, it is enough to simply open the Bluetooth menu – a separate “Visibility” switch in new versions of MIUI is often absent, since the login to the menu automatically triggers the detection mode.
The process of exporting contacts in vCard format
Before you send data over a wireless interface, you need to pack it properly. On Redmi and Mi phones, the standard Contacts app is responsible for this. Open it and go to the control menu, which is usually hidden behind three dots in the corner of the screen or the "More" button. Select Import/Export contacts to see the available options for working with the phone book.
For Bluetooth transmission, the most reliable format is vCard (files with the.vcf extension), which is a universal standard that is understood by almost all mobile operating systems, including iOS and Android versions. When choosing a source of export, specify “Memory of the phone” or «SIM-map, depending on where your numbers are stored, it is recommended to choose "All contacts" so as not to miss important entries.
Once you have selected contacts, the system will offer an export format. Choose vCard. Then the phone will ask where to save the file you created. The standard path usually leads to the root folder or the MIUI/Backup/AllBackup directory, but you can choose any convenient folder, such as Downloads. Once you have completed the process, you will have a ready-made file containing the entire phone book or selected numbers.
☑️ Pre-export verification
Device pairing and file transfer
Once the contact file is formed, it's a direct transfer step. Take the sender phone and find the name of the receiving Xiaomi smartphone on the list of available devices. Click on it to initiate pairing. Both screens will show a confirmation code that should match. Once the connection is confirmed, the status will change to Connected.
Now go to the file manager or gallery where the export file was saved. Usually, this is the Explorer application. Find a file with the.vcf extension, click on it and choose how to open or send. In the menu that appears, select Bluetooth. The system will suggest selecting a device from a list of previously paired or found nearby.
The receiving device will be asked to accept the file. You need to confirm receipt. The speed of transfer depends on the volume of the phone book: one record weighs a little, but several thousand contacts can be transmitted for several minutes. The progress bar will show the status of the process. It is not recommended to interrupt the transfer, since the file may become corrupted.
⚠️ Note: If the system says “Can’t find a recipient” when trying to send a file, make sure you don’t try to send the file through the Share menu directly to Bluetooth, bypassing the selection stage of a particular recipient device if there are several in range.
Importing the received data on a new device
Once the file is successfully transferred, it will be in the Download or Bluetooth folder on the receiving smartphone. However, the contacts themselves will not appear in the phone book. The vCard file is just a container that you need to open and recognize by the system. Find the resulting file through Explorer and click on it.
System system MIUI It automatically recognizes the format and suggests importing the data, and you'll be shown a list of contacts you've found, and you'll be asked to choose where to store them: in memory, on Google or on your phone. SIM-The best option for modern smartphones is to save to a Google account, as this provides synchronization and protection against data loss when resetting settings.
If automatic importing doesn't start, you can use the manual method. Go to Contacts, select the menu and Import/Export contacts, then Import from storage. The system will find all the.vcf files in memory and prompt them to process, a method often more reliable than direct clicking on the file.
What to do if the contacts are duplicated?
Typical problems and ways to solve them
Bluetooth technology, despite its maturity, sometimes works in an unstable way, and one of the common problems is that devices can see each other but can't connect, often with the cache of Bluetooth services. In this case, it helps to clean the cache of the Bluetooth application through the Settings menu. → Annexes → All applications → Bluetooth → Clear the cache. After that, the phone needs to restart.
Another common mistake is to interrupt the transmission by 99% or to report a format error, which can occur if the contact file is too large (e.g., contains high-resolution photos for each subscriber), in which case the file is larger than the protocol limits for one session, the solution is to break the phone book into parts: export the contacts in groups of 100-200 pieces.
Users also experience contact names being displayed incorrectly (crackers instead of letters). This is an encoding problem. When exporting in vCard format, make sure that the UTF-8 encoding is chosen if the app allows it to be configured. In standard Xiaomi exporter, this is usually set by default, but third-party apps can use old encodings.
| Problem. | Probable cause | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Devices can't see each other. | Hidden visibility mode | Find the Bluetooth menu on both phones |
| Error in file transfer | Large file size vCard | Break up the export into several smaller files |
| Contacts no longer available | No permission to record. | Check the permissions of the “Contact” application in the settings |
| Resetting connection | Interference or energy saving | Disable the power saving mode and bring the devices closer |
Alternative methods and comparison with Mi Mover
While the issue was Bluetooth, there are more modern and faster versions built into Xiaomi’s ecosystem: Mi Mover (or “Mi Moving”) uses direct Wi-Fi connectivity between devices. Wi-Fi Direct transfer speeds are ten times faster than Bluetooth, and allows you to transfer not only contacts, but also photos, applications and system settings in minutes.
The main advantage of Bluetooth in this context is the ability to transfer single contacts or small groups without installing additional applications and authorization. However, for a full migration to the new Redmi phone, using a specialized tool from the manufacturer will be much more efficient. Bluetooth is good as an emergency or point tool.
It’s also worth noting that if you have the same Google or Mi Account on both phones, contacts can sync automatically without any user action, and the Contacts tick must be active in your account settings, which is the most reliable way, independent of proximity.
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Bluetooth is ideal for fast transfer of 1-10 contacts “here and now”, but for full migration of data to the new smartphone Xiaomi better use Mi Mover or synchronization of Google Account.