Buying a new smartphone, even one as budget-friendly and reliable as the Xiaomi Redmi 8, is always accompanied by a pleasant anticipation that quickly gives way to a slight panic over the need to transfer information. Many users delay updating the device precisely for fear of losing important contacts, photos or customizations of familiar applications. Fortunately, the Android ecosystem provides a lot of tools for migration, and Xiaomi owners have the additional advantage of specialized utilities.
The process of cloning data has become much easier in recent years, from a complex technical procedure to a sequence of simple actions that everyone can take. You don't need to be an IT expert to successfully activate your new gadget and fill it with content from an old device. In this article, we will discuss all available methods in detail, paying special attention to the standard solution from the manufacturer.
Before you start copying directly, you need to make sure that both devices are ready to go, which means that you have enough battery power, a stable Wi-Fi connection, and free space on the target device, and ignoring these basic requirements can cause the process to break down and damage files.
Preparing devices before data migration
The initial phase is fundamental to successfully completing the transfer operation. The first step is to charge both smartphones, as the process of transferring large amounts of information, especially through Wi-Fi Direct, can consume a significant amount of energy. If the battery runs out at a critical moment, you risk damaging databases or lost contacts.
The second important step is to clean up the space on the receiving device. While Redmi 8 usually comes with enough internal memory, it's best to make sure there's room for all your apps and media files in advance. Check the storage settings and delete unnecessary system files or temporary data.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to transfer data if one of the devices is in power saving mode, this may cause the Wi-Fi Direct connection to break and the transmission to stop.
It’s also worth checking the operating system version on both devices. Although current transfer protocols are compatible with different versions of Android, having up-to-date security updates and system patches minimizes the risk of compatibility errors. Go to Settings → About Phone → System Update to make sure the software is up to date.
The final step is to back up your data in case you're doing it, and even if you're confident in your actions, having a copy of your data in the cloud or on your computer will give you a sense of peace of mind, which is especially true for unique photos and documents that may not be recoverable.
Using the Mi Mover app for quick transfer
The most efficient and quick way to migrate for owners of Xiaomi equipment is to use the proprietary Mi Mover application. This utility is preinstalled on all modern smartphones of the brand and optimized for working with the MIUI shell. It allows you to transfer contacts, messages, call logs, photos, music, videos, documents and even installed applications along with their data.
You can run the program through the settings menu in the About Phone section or by finding an icon in the Tools folder. When you first start, the application will request permission to access files and geolocate, which is necessary to create a local data network. The program interface is intuitive and available in Russian.
The process starts with choosing the role of the device. On the old smartphone, you choose the "Sender", and on the new Redmi, you choose the "Sender". 8 — «The receiver. After that, the devices will find each other through the QR-code or search over the network. The speed of transmission can reach 20-40 MB/s, which is much faster than standard Bluetooth.
Importantly, Mi Mover allows selective data transfer, you can eliminate large video files or heavy games if you want to set up a new phone from scratch, saving only contacts and messages, and once you select categories, you will start a copying process, the progress of which is displayed in real time.
What do I do if the transmission is suspended?
If the process is stuck at a certain percentage, don't panic. Often it happens when you transfer a large number of small files. Wait for a timeout or try to restart the application on both devices, pre-turning off the screens. Synchronization via Google Account A classic method that remains relevant for any Android model, including Xiaomi Redmi 8. Synchronization through Google allows you to save the most important data - contacts, calendar events, notes and settings - in the cloud. This provides access to information from any device after entering the login and password. To start the process on the old phone, you need to go to the server, "Contactivate the data on Google accounts", after the company's are activated. On the new device, when you first set up or through the Settings menu → Accounts and sync, you need to enter the same Google account. The system will offer to restore data from the backup. This method is ideal for those who regularly change smartphones, since it does not require both devices to be nearby at the time of transfer. Data type The Google Mi Mover Method Contact Speed Automatically Full Transfer High Photo / Video Google Photo (compression) Originals Depend on the Application Network Only the APK + Data Average SMS Messsage Requirested Full Portability Ming Method at the time of transfer. The Google Mi Mover Method Contact Speed Contact Speed Contacts are Automatically Transferred by the original photos, if they are not fully synchronized in Google Photos, which are not available in the original storage, which are not available in full, and Google Photos are not shared in full. In this case, Mi Mover is preferable for local transfer of media files without loss of quality and traffic consumption.Manual transfer of media and documents Sometimes automatic systems fail or the user wants to transfer only specific folders, for example, downloaded files from messengers. In this case, the most reliable way is to manually copy through a computer or use a file manager with support. FTP/Wi-Fi. Connect your old smartphone to your computer through USB-cable (MTP). Copy the folders. DCIM (Camera, Pictures, Download and Music to your PC hard drive. 8 and move the files to the appropriate internal memory directories, an alternative is to use cloud storage from third-party vendors, such as Yandex.Disk or Dropbox. By uploading files to an app on one phone, you can instantly download them on another. This is document-friendly, but can be slow for video in the video. 4K. ⚠️ Note: When manually copying hidden folders (starting from a dot), make sure your file manager is configured to display hidden system files, otherwise you may lose settings of some applications. Android/media and Android/data, Where app cached data, such as music on Spotify or offline maps of the navigator, are often stored, and transferring it can save time for re-loading content. WhatsApp and Telegram Special attention should be paid to the transfer of correspondence in messengers, as they are not always fully copied by standard means of the system. Telegram stores the entire story on the server, so just type in a phone number on a new device to access all the chats. WhatsApp is more complicated. To fully transfer your correspondence history, including media files, you need to use the built-in backup function. On your old phone, go to Settings. → chat → Backup chats and create a copy in Google Drive. 💡When you install WhatsApp on a new phone, the app will prompt you to restore your history from Google Drive. Make sure you use the same phone number and the same Google account as the old device. If you use Mi Mover, it can also port WhatsApp data, creating a local backup and restoring it to a new device, which can be faster than downloading gigabytes of data from the cloud, especially with slow internet. Make sure there is free space on the drive, otherwise the backup process will end in error. Frequent problems and ways to solve them Despite the debugging of processes, users may encounter difficulties. One common problem is the “Not enough space” error on the receiving device. In this case, you should interrupt the process, delete some unnecessary files or applications from Redmi 8 and start the transfer again. Another common situation is the breakup of the Wi-Fi Direct connection. This can occur due to interference in the air or aggressive energy saving policy. Try to be closer to the router or, ideally, use the mode of direct transfer without the participation of the new Mover device, if they do not open the new version of the application after the new Mover, they do not open the Android version. Go to the Play Market and update all installed programs to the latest versions. 💡Most portability errors are solved by simply restarting both smartphones before trying again. In rare cases, you may need to manually reset your network settings. → Connection and sharing → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile network and Bluetooth.This action will remove stored Wi-Fi passwords but can fix connection issues.Q&A (FAQ) Is it safe to use Mi Mover to transfer passwords and banking apps?The Mi Mover app transfers data locally and does not store it on Xiaomi servers. However, for security reasons, banking applications and some secure programs may not be portable or require re-authorization. MIUI, will be restored after logging into the account. How long does it take to transfer 64GB of data?The time depends on the number of files and the connection speed. Using Mi Mover and Wi-Fi Direct, 64GB of data can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour to transfer. If there are many files and they are small (for example, thousands of photos), the process may be slower due to the time for indexing. SIM-- A card from an old phone before transferring? SIM-You don't need a card, you don't need a data transfer, you do it through the software interfaces and Wi-Fi, without affecting the physical communication module. SIM-The map in the new Redmi 8 can be re-switched after the data migration is complete. What if the new Redmi 8 is already configured and has data on it? If you’ve already started using a new phone, Mi Mover can still be used, but it will offer to replace existing files or skip them. For the complete purity of the experiment, it is recommended to reset the new phone to factory settings before the start of the mass migration, but this is not strictly a prerequisite.