How to transfer data from Xiaomi to Xiaomi: full instructions

Buying a new smartphone is always a joyful experience, especially when you upgrade to a more powerful model of the same brand. However, the joy is often overshadowed by the prospect of a long and tedious setup, installing apps and, most importantly, porting personal data. Fortunately, the MIUI and HyperOS ecosystem offers users sophisticated tools that allow you to migrate in just a few clicks. Unlike cross-platform transition, changing devices within the same brand goes as smoothly as possible and without losing important settings.

In this article, we’ll take a look at all the sync options available, from the Mi Mover app to Google’s cloud services. You’ll learn how to save not only contacts and photos, but also the location of icons on your desktop, Wi-Fi passwords and call history. Preparing both devices properly before you start ensures that you start using the new gadget right away, rather than spending an evening recovering lost information.

Preparation of devices before the migration

Before you run any portable tool, make sure both smartphones are in good condition and ready to transfer large amounts of information. First, check the battery level on both devices. It is recommended that the old and new phone have at least 50-60% charge, and ideally connect them to power sources. The process of copying data, especially via Wi-Fi Direct, can be energy intensive, and suddenly turning off any of the participants in the process will interrupt the transfer.

While modern algorithms can work with filled memory, having free space greatly speeds up file writing and reduces the risk of errors in the file system. If you plan to carry heavy videos or games, make sure that the amount of free memory on the receiving device exceeds the amount of data transferred by at least 10-15%.

Be sure to check the operating system version. While Mi Mover is compatible with most Android versions, using current MIUI or HyperOS updates on both devices minimizes the risks of database format incompatibility. Go to Settings → About Phone and update the software if necessary.

Using the Mi Mover app for fast transfer

The most effective and quick way to transfer data is to use the proprietary utility Mi Mover, which is preinstalled on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones. If for some reason the application is not in the standard set, it can be downloaded for free from the GetApps store or Google Play. The main advantage of this method is the transfer of data over a direct Wi-Fi connection between devices, without consuming mobile traffic and without requiring a connection to the router.

Run the app on both smartphones. On the new device, select Receiver and on the old one, Sender, the system automatically creates an access point or prompts you to scan. QR-When you successfully connect, you'll see a list of data categories that are available for migration, and you can select contacts, messages, call logs, system settings, applications and multimedia.

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When transferring via Mi Mover, do not lock your smartphone screens and keep them no more than 1-2 meters apart for a stable signal.

The Mi Mover portes not only installation files, but also, in many cases, data inside applications (cache, logins, game saves) unless the developer has banned data backup. However, banking applications and messengers with increased protection (for example, WhatsApp or Telegram) may require separate authorization or backup within the application itself.

⚠️ Note: When transferring data through Mi Mover, old files on the new phone can be replaced with new ones. If the new device already has important contacts or photos, it is better to make a separate backup copy of them first.

Sync with your Mi and Google account

Cloud sync is an invisible assistant that makes the process of changing your phone almost invisible to the user. If you have actively used a Google account on an old device, then most of your data (contacts, calendar, notes, passwords in Chrome) is already stored in the cloud. Just enter your Gmail address when you first set up a new Xiaomi smartphone, and the system will automatically prompt you to restore this data.

Xiaomi device owners should also pay attention to the Mi Cloud, which allows you to synchronize MIUI-specific data such as voice recordings, design themes, desktop icon layout and system settings. To activate, go to Settings → Mi Account and make sure that sliders opposite the desired categories are included.

For photos and videos, Google Photos is the best option. Turn on Autoboot and Sync on your old phone and wait until the process is over. On the new device, just log in to the same Google account, and your entire library will be available instantly, taking up minimal space in the device’s memory thanks to the “Saving Space” feature.

Transfer of messages and call history

One of the most delicate tasks when changing phones is to save the history of SMS correspondence and call log. Standard Android tools are not always willing to share this data between different devices, but in the Xiaomi-to-Xiaomi connection, there should be no problems. Mi Mover app can carry SMS and MMS along with attachments, as well as a full history of incoming and outgoing calls.

If you use third-party messengers, the situation is a little more complicated. WhatsApp requires you to back up chats on your old phone through the app settings (usually in Google Drive or locally), and then when you install WhatsApp on a new device, choose to restore from copy. A similar algorithm works for Viber and Telegram (although Telegram stores history on the server, secret chats are not portable anywhere).

It is important to note that porting your call history is especially important for those who use your smartphone for work purposes. Make sure that after the migration, the numbers are displayed correctly, not as a set of numbers without names. If this happens, just re-synchronize your contacts through your Google account in Settings → Accounts.

Migration of multimedia and documents

Photos, videos, music and documents make up the lion’s share of the memory of a modern smartphone. When transferring this data, it is important to save not only the files themselves, but also their folder structure, as well as metadata (date of shooting, geolocation). Local transfer via Mi Mover or cable (using the Type-C to Type-C adapter) is the most reliable way to preserve the original quality of media files without compression.

When using cloud services, you should consider the speed of the Internet connection. It can take several hours to download hundreds of gigabytes of data. 4K,RAW-photos) to a computer or external hard drive and then copy them to a new phone via a new one USB-cable.

Don’t forget to check the Download and Documents folder. Often there are important files that don’t fall into the gallery’s automatic sync. manually check these directories through File Manager Explorer and make sure that all the necessary PDF, DOCX, and APK files have been moved to the new device.

Transfer system and security settings

The convenience of Xiaomi’s ecosystem is that it can transfer not only content, but also “behavior” of the system. When using Mi Mover or recovering from the Mi Cloud, the new phone can be moved to the settings of alarm clocks, calendar, voice recorder, as well as the configuration of Wi-Fi networks (names and passwords), which allows the new device to immediately connect to known networks without entering passwords.

However, security issues require separate attention: biometrics (fingerprints, facial scanner) and PIN-The unlock codes are never transferred between devices for security reasons, and you'll have to re-register your fingerprints and configure facial recognition on a new device.

⚠️ Note: Two-factor authentication (2FA). If you use authentication apps (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator), be sure to export the codes or manually transfer them before resetting your old phone, otherwise you may lose access to your accounts.

It's also worth checking the notification settings. Sometimes, after you've moved it, you might get confused about which apps are allowed to run in the background. Go through the list of important apps and make sure they don't have power saving restrictions so you don't miss an important message.

Possible problems and solutions

Despite the fact that things are fine, there are sometimes crashes, and the most common problem is that the Wi-Fi Direct connection breaks while Mi Mover is running. This often happens when the phone is power-saving or "sleeping" on the screen, and it is recommended that aggressive battery optimization be temporarily disabled for the transfer application.

Another common difficulty is space scarcity: If a new phone has less memory than an old one (which is rare, but happens when switching to a compact model), the system will suggest selecting only a portion of the data, in which case it is critical to move contacts and messages first, and load photos and videos later through the cloud or computer, after cleaning up unnecessary debris on the old device.

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If the process is hanging on 99%, Don't panic. Often, it means that the system is completing file indexing. 10-15 minutes before the forced reboot.

In rare cases, you may need to manually reset network settings on a new device if the mobile internet is not working after the transfer.This is done via the Settings menu → Connection and Sharing → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile network and Bluetooth. Remember, this action will delete stored Wi-Fi passwords, but often resolves network issues after the migration.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)