Changing your smartphone or switching to a new model, such as the popular Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro, is always accompanied by a desire to adjust the device as quickly and painlessly as possible. The most valuable asset in a mobile phone is certainly a phone book, the loss of which can be a real disaster. Many owners still store important numbers directly on the carrier’s plastic card, which is a relic of the button-phone era, but still relevant to many.
Operating system MIUI, The software installed on your device offers powerful and flexible tools for managing personal data that often go underrated. SIM-cards to your phone’s internal memory or cloud account so you can be sure your data is safe.
The transfer procedure takes only a few minutes, but requires attention to detail, so as not to create duplicate records.We will discuss standard methods through the system application Contacts, and also touch on security and cloud synchronization, which is the standard for modern Android smartphones.
Preparation for data portability and verification SIM-map
Before you start to actively move phone numbers, you need to make sure that the physical medium is working correctly. SIM-The card is installed in the correct slot, especially if you are using a two-sim Redmi Note 8 Pro, because the system must see the source of the data. Sometimes after replacing the card, you need to restart the device to fully determine all the records stored in its memory.
It’s worth noting that SIM card memory has serious limitations compared to current storage standards: It can only store text numbers and short names, ignoring photos, email addresses and additional fields you may have filled in before, which is why migrating to your phone or Google account is a critical step to expanding the functionality of your phone book.
⚠️ Note: Before starting mass contact operations, it is strongly advised to back up current data if the phone already has any records so as not to accidentally overwrite them during the import process.
It is also important to check whether the synchronization of contacts in the system settings is enabled so that after importing the data immediately goes to the cloud, which will ensure the security of your data even in the event of loss or breakdown of the Xiaomi smartphone itself.
☑️ Import readiness
Import contacts through the standard application
The primary tool for managing calls and address book in MIUI is built-in by default and does not require third-party software installation. To start the process, open the Contacts app on the home screen or in the Tools folder. In the upper right corner of the interface, you will see a three-dot icon or gear that indicates the settings and additional actions menu.
After clicking on the menu, select Import Contacts, and the system will tell you to choose the source from which to read the data. SIM-If you have two SIM cards, the phone will suggest you choose a specific one (SIM 1 SIM 2), which is required to read the information.
- 📱 Click on the menu icon in the Contacts app».
- 📥 Select the “Import Contacts” option from the drop-down list.
- 💾 Specify the source «SIM-map and confirm the action.
- 🎯 Select destination to save: “Phone” or “Google».
The system will then ask where you want to save the imported numbers, and your Google account is the best choice, as it allows automatic synchronization, but if the Internet is temporarily unavailable, you can choose Phone to save the data to the local memory of the Redmi Note 8 Pro device.
What to do if the importation has not started?
Display and sorting after importation
Once the copying process is complete, you may find some numbers that don't show up or look incorrect. There's a Display section in the Contacts app settings that allows you to filter the records you show. Make sure you check the checkmarks for all sources, including those just imported from the SIM card.
Often, there is a problem of duplication, when the same number is recorded on the SIM card, in the memory of the phone, and in the Google account. MIUI system can automatically combine such duplicates, linking them into a single contact card with different numbers.
Sorting is also important for usability, and you can customize the order of the display by name or last name, and you can also choose which parameter is the main search option, which is especially true for large phone books, where manual search takes a long time.
| Parameter | Description | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Where the data is read | SIM-map |
| Appointment | Where data is stored | Google account |
| Name format | Order of words | Name of the family |
| Photo Photo | Image of contact | Downloaded from the network |
It is important to understand that after importing the original entries on the SIM card usually remain intact unless you have chosen the deletion option.This poses a risk of confusion in the future, so after successful transfer and verification, it is recommended to clear the SIM card memory.
Working with Google Contacts for Synchronization
Using the Google ecosystem is the most secure way to store a phone book. When you import contacts into a Google account on the Redmi Note 8 Pro, they automatically sync with the server, which means that when you lose your phone or buy a new device, just enter a login and password to restore the entire address book in seconds.
To manage more nuanced settings, you can use a separate Google Contacts app, which can be downloaded from the Play Market if it is not pre-installed. This app has a user-friendly web interface via a browser that allows you to edit, delete and sort numbers from the computer’s big screen, and changes will instantly be reflected on the smartphone.
⚠️ Note: When you delete a contact from your Google account, it will automatically be deleted from all devices where you log in to that account.
Regularly checking the “Current and Manage” section of the Google Contacts app allows you to find and fix errors, such as missing names or incomplete numbers, that may have “got” when transferring from an old SIM card.
Resolving problems with encoding and special symbols
When you transfer data from old SIM cards, especially if they were used on push-button phones from different manufacturers, you may have problems encoding. Instead of Russian letters, you may see strange characters or "krakozyabra" due to the different text encoding standards used by different hardware manufacturers.
Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to fix the encoding directly at the SIM level through the menu of Xiaomi’s phone, in which case it helps to manually brute-force and edit contact names after importing, if there are many contacts, sometimes it is easier to export them to a.vcf file through another phone, where they are displayed correctly, and then import this file into the Redmi Note 8 Pro.
The SIM card standard often limits the length of the contact name to 10-15 characters, and when you import it into your phone, that restriction is removed, and you can add full names, titles, and other important information to make your search more convenient.
Some special characters or emojis added on older devices may not be supported by the new Android version and appear as squares.This is normal and does not affect the functionality of the number, but requires manual removal of unsupported characters.
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Save contacts in vCard (.vcf) format periodically – this is a versatile format that is readable by any phone and computer, unlike proprietary MIUI backups.
Cleanup SIM-cards after successful transfer
Once you have made sure that all contacts are successfully transferred, displayed correctly and synced with the cloud, it is recommended to clear the SIM card memory.This will not only free up space (although it is already minimal there), but also prevent the accidental re-importation of the same numbers in the future, which could lead to duplicates.
To do this, go back to the Contacts app, select the menu, and find Delete Contacts or Delete All Contacts with SIM. The system will alert you to the irreversibility of action. Since you already have a copy in your phone and the cloud, deleting from a physical card is safe.
This procedure is especially important if you plan to use this SIM card in the future in another, perhaps simpler device, where there is no smart system for combining doubles.
Remember that a SIM card is primarily an identification tool on the operator’s network, not a reliable data store. Modern smartphones like the Redmi Note 8 Pro have gigabytes of memory, where storing thousands of contacts is no problem for performance.
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Keeping contacts on SIM-The map is considered an outdated method that carries the risk of data loss if the card plastic is damaged, so a full migration to the Google cloud is a mandatory recommendation for security.