How to transfer contacts from SIM to Xiaomi

Owning a modern smartphone involves constant data exchange, but when buying a new device or restoring the system, users often face the need to restore the phone book. SIM-transfer them to the account in the phone Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO This is a critical step, because storing data on SIM card plastic limits functionality and creates the risk of loss of information if the chip is damaged.

MIUI and its global version of HyperOS have built-in import tools that do not require third-party applications to be installed. The process is as automated as possible, but there are nuances that depend on the firmware version and regional settings. Proper porting will ensure synchronization with your Google account, which will allow you to keep important numbers from losing even if you completely replace the device in the future.

Before you start the import procedure, you need to make sure that the SIM card is correctly installed in the slot and is determined by the system. If you just inserted a new plastic from the operator, wait for the network signal to appear. In some cases, especially when using old large-format SIM cards with cropped edges, the contact can be unstable, which will lead to a data reading error. Make sure that the numbers are actually stored on the card, since modern operators often do not store them by default, and users enter the data immediately into the memory of the gadget.

⚠️ Attention: capacity SIM-This is a limited card, and it's usually a storage device. 250 before 500 The length of the contact name is often limited. 15-20 When you transfer long names, they can be cut off.

To get started, unlock your Xiaomi screen and head to your desktop.Look for the standard Contacts app, which usually has a blue icon with a human silhouette.If you use a Google launcher or third-party shell, the icon may be called Phone or Google Contacts, but we need a system app from MIUI. At the very least, search the system by entering the word Contacts.

When you open the app, look at the interface. At the top of the screen or in the side menu (depending on the version of MIUI), there are tabs or control buttons. You don't have to look for complex settings in the depth of the menu, all the necessary functions are brought to the surface. If you have a dual-sim device, the system can immediately suggest you choose which SIM card to read data from.

• 📱 Make sure that the SIM card is active and visible in the status bar.
• 🔐 Unlock the device so that the system allows access to data.
• 📂 Close background heavy applications to speed up the processor.

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Before starting a mass transaction, always back up your current contacts through the Import/Export menu, even if you plan to replace them.This will take 10 seconds, but save you from losing data in the event of a crash.

The basic process of transferring data in the MIUI and HyperOS shells is unified, but the visual arrangement of elements may vary slightly. The algorithm of actions is based on sequential transition through the contact management menu. Take your time, read the menu items carefully, as wording can vary in different versions of the firmware.

Open the Contacts app and find the menu button, which is usually represented by three dots in the upper right corner or three horizontal bars. Click on this to reveal the list of activities available. In the list that opens, you will need to find an item related to import and export data, which can be called Import / Export Contacts or simply Contact Management.

After entering the control menu, select the option “Import with”. SIM-The system can request confirmation of action or offer to select a SIM card if there are two (SIM 1 SIM 2) Then the phone will suggest you choose a destination for the numbers you save. It is critical to choose the right account so that the data is not lost.

At this point, you'll see a list of available storage facilities. It's usually a "Phone», «SIM-Google account (your gmail.com) is recommended, and this will automatically sync: if you lose your phone, the numbers will stay in the cloud, and the Phone option will save your contacts locally, and when you reset your settings, they will be lost.

⚠️ Attention: when choosing to save the phone, the contacts are tied to a specific physical device, and if the motherboard breaks, it will be impossible to restore them without first exporting them.

Once you select the location, you will start copying, a progress bar or counter (e.g., “15 of 150 moved”) will appear on the screen. Do not turn off the screen or start heavy games at this point, so as not to interrupt the process of writing data into memory.

Sometimes users are faced with a situation where after importing numbers do not appear in the general or call. This is a common problem of filtering the displayed contacts in MIUI. The default system can hide certain groups or show only selected contacts, creating the illusion of data loss. To fix this, you need to change the visibility settings.

Go to the Contacts app, click on three dots (menu) and select Settings or Contact Filter. In some versions of HyperOS, this item is set separately. Check if the tick is next to All Contacts or if the specific account you imported is selected, and if you selected only one account and saved it to another, the list will be empty.

• 👁️ Open the filter menu in the contact app.
• ✅ Make sure you check the box “Show all contacts».
• 🔄 If you have selected separate accounts, activate the appropriate one.

It’s also worth checking if Number Only mode or other specific filters that can hide entries without added tags are enabled. In rare cases, a simple device reboot helps, which forces the system to re-index the contact database and display new entries.

When you transfer data from a SIM card, there is often a problem of duplicate records, because the storage format on SIM is simplified and does not always contain complete data to identify the uniqueness of the contact, which can result in two Alexei or Mom and Mom (2) appearing in your phone book.

In Contacts, go to the settings and find “Clear Repetitive Contacts” or “Combine” and the system will analyze the database, find records with the same names or phone numbers, and suggest combining them into a single card, a secure operation that does not delete data, but only structures it.

In addition, it is recommended to periodically check contacts through the Google Contacts web interface (contacts.google.com), where the functionality of search and eliminate duplicates is implemented even more flexibly, you can sort the list, find extra entries and delete them, after which the changes are synchronized with the Xiaomi smartphone.

Users often wonder why you can't just leave things as they are and keep storing numbers on your SIM. The answer lies in the technological lag of SIM standards. The plastic we insert into a phone decades ago was designed solely for authentication on the operator's network, and the phonebook storage feature was added as a temporary solution in an era when phones didn't have memory of their own.

Modern Xiaomi smartphones have gigabytes of memory and powerful processors that can instantly search among thousands of contacts, sort them, search by context and associate with instant messengers. SIM-The card is a bottleneck that slows down the process, and it doesn't support a name search, it doesn't allow you to add an email, an address, a social network link, or a note to your contact.

In addition, with the transition to 5G and new communication standards, the role of the SIM card as a carrier of user data is completely gone. Operators are moving to eSIM, where there is no physical place to store contacts at all, and by moving contacts to the Google cloud or device, you ensure compatibility with any future technologies and gadgets.

⚠️ Note: If you sell or give away your old phone, make sure to reset after the contacts are transferred, otherwise the new owner will have access to your entire phone book if you only saved the data in the device's memory, not in the cloud. In conclusion, it should be noted that the procedure of transferring contacts from the SIM card to Xiaomi is a basic skill that every smartphone owner should master. This takes a minimum of time, but guarantees the safety of important data and its usability. Don’t neglect the automatic synchronization feature provided by the Android ecosystem. Check regularly to see if your contacts are synced in your Google account settings. → Accounts and synchronization → Google and make sure the slider opposite the Contacts item is active. This will allow you to restore the phone book on any device at any time, simply by entering the login and password. 💡Storing contacts in the Google cloud is the only reliable way to protect a phone book from loss when a smartphone is broken, stolen or replaced. Why are contact names displayed with numbers or codes after transferring? This can happen if the text encoding on the SIM card does not match the phone's encoding, or if the SIM card has special characters that the phone cannot properly display. Try editing these contacts manually. Is it possible to transfer contacts from iPhone to Xiaomi via SIM card? Technically it is possible, but not recommended. It’s better to use the “Move to iOS” app (it doesn’t work backwards) or, more effectively for Android, sync your iPhone contacts with your Google account and then log in to that account on Xiaomi. What to do if your phone is writing «SIM-Is the card crowded" when trying to import? "This means that the SIM card has reached a entries limit. You need to first remove some of the unwanted numbers directly from the SIM card through the contact management menu, freeing up space, or (correctly) copy them all to the phone, and then clear the SIM card completely. Will the contacts from the SIM card disappear after the transfer? No, the import operation creates a copy of the data. The original records will remain on the SIM card. If you want to clear the SIM card, you need to do this in a separate deletion procedure after checking the success of the copy.