How to transfer numbers from phone to phone SIM-Xiaomi map: The full guide

Changing a mobile device or moving to the Xiaomi ecosystem is often accompanied by the need to migrate user data, and the most critical stage for many remains the preservation of the phone book. Contacts are the foundation of digital communication, and losing them can be a serious problem, especially if you are used to storing them in the memory of an old device or on a computer. SIM-Modern smartphones offer many ways of synchronizing, but the classic method of transferring directly to the chip. SIM-The card remains relevant for compatibility with push-button phones or with frequent change of devices.

The process of copying records on the Android shells MIUI and HyperOS is implemented with enough flexibility, allowing you to manage the subscriber database through the standard application Contacts or system settings. You do not need to be an IT expert to perform this procedure, since the interface is as simple as possible for the average user. However, there are nuances associated with the encoding of names and limiting the length of records, which you should be aware of in advance to avoid distortion of information during transfer.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all available methods for saving your phone book to a SIM card in Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones. We will consider the regular system tools, work with cloud services and manual file management, and also pay attention to possible errors and ways to fix them.

Preparation of SIM-card and compatibility check

Before proceeding with active actions on data copying, it is necessary to make sure that the physical and programmatic readiness of the information carrier is ensured. SIM-The card, despite its miniature nature, is a full-fledged computer with its own file system, with strict limits. Unlike a smartphone memory, where a single contact can take up as much space as you want, the SIMKI chip has strict limits on the number of records and the length of characters in the name.

Modern Nano-SIM and Micro-SIM cards typically have a standard capacity that allows you to store 250 to 500 records, depending on the chip manufacturer and carrier. If your phone book has thousands of numbers, a full transfer to the SIM card is physically impossible without first sorting and removing unnecessary entries. In addition, older cards may not support storing names in UTF-8 encoding, which will lead to “currency jars” instead of letters when transferred to another phone.

⚠️ Note: Before starting mass copying, be sure to check the free space on the SIM-Attempting to write data to a crowded chip can cause process error or damage to existing records.

Also, it is worth considering that when transferring to a SIM card, additional fields such as email address, subscriber photo, job title or address are often cropped, only the primary number and name are stored, with the name often limited to 10-15 characters, so this method is best suited for backing up primary numbers or preparing a card for installation in a simple phone.

Import contacts from the phone memory to the SIM-map

The most common scenario is to transfer existing records from the internal memory of Xiaomi smartphone to the installed SIM card. the standard application “Contacts” in the shell of MIUI has built-in functionality for managing imports and exports, which is hidden in the settings menu. To start, make sure that the SIM card is correctly installed in the slot and is determined by the system.

Open the Contacts app and find the menu button, which is usually represented by three dots or horizontal bars in the corner of the screen. In the drop-down list, select Settings, and then go to the Import/Export Contacts section. Here the system will offer to select the direction of the operation: we need the option "Export to the port". SIM-card or copy from phone to phone SIM-map».

Once you have chosen a direction, the system will ask you to mark the contacts you want to move, you can select individual records or use the "Select All" function if the volume of your phone book allows you to put it whole on a chip, and the copying process can take some time, during which it is not recommended to remove the card or close the application.

• 📱 Open the Contacts app and click on the settings menu.
• 💾 Select “Import/Export Contacts” in the list of options.
• 📲 Please indicate the source of the phone and the recipient «SIM-map».
• ✅ Confirm your contact selection and wait for the process to be completed.

Importantly, when copying, the system can alert you that some data will be lost due to SIM format limitations. This is normal behavior, and to continue the operation, you must agree to the terms. Once completed, all selected numbers will be duplicated on the chip, and the originals will remain in the memory of the smartphone.

Use Google Contacts for Synchronization

The alternative to direct copying to physical media is the use of the Google Contacts cloud service, which is more modern and reliable, since it allows you to not depend on restrictions. SIM-Maps and stores full subscriber information, including photos and additional numbers. In Xiaomi smartphones, Google account is integrated at the system level, making synchronization almost invisible to the user.

To move numbers through the cloud, you first need to make sure that your phone settings are synced for your Google account. Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google and make sure that the slider opposite Contacts is active. Once enabled, all new numbers will automatically be saved to the cloud, and the old ones will pull up from it when you log in to the new device.

If your goal is to record the data SIM-The process, using Google as an intermediary, is as follows: first, you export your contacts from Google to the format. VCF You can use the methods described in the previous section to transfer them to the SIM, but most people just leave contacts in the cloud, which eliminates the need for manual transfer when changing their phone.

The advantage of using the Google ecosystem is that you can manage contacts from any computer, you can edit names, combine duplicates and sort records through the web interface, and all the changes will instantly affect your Xiaomi, which is especially useful when you edit data on a mass scale, when it is long and inconvenient to do it from your phone.

Work with VCF and Bluetooth files transfer

VCF (vCard) is a universal standard for sharing contact information between different devices and platforms. A file with the extension.vcf can contain one or many business cards and is easily transmitted via Bluetooth, messengers or email. Xiaomi smartphones have a built-in function to export the entire phone book to one such file.

To create a VCF backup, open the import/export menu in the Contacts app and select Export to.vcf. The system will prompt you to choose a save location, usually an internal memory in the MIUI or Download folder. Once you create the file, you can copy it to your computer, send it to the cloud or transfer it to another device via Bluetooth.

If you need to transfer your contacts to SIM-A card of another phone that is not a smartphone, you can import it first. VCF You can download a file on Xiaomi, and then copy it to the SIM file. To import, you just need to find the downloaded file in the File Manager and click on it - the system automatically prompts you to add contacts to the phone book.

Using VCF files is especially important when switching from button phones or devices of other operating systems, such as iOS or KaiOS. This is the most flexible way to pre-edit the list of contacts on your computer before downloading to a new smartphone.

Solution: name coding and cropping

One of the most common problems with moving contacts to SIM-The map is a distortion of Cyrillic names, and it's because of the differences in encoding, because modern smartphones use these names. UTF-8, while many SIM-cards, especially those released a few years ago, work with encoding GSM 7-bit or UCS2, Which can be incorrectly translated Russian letters.

So instead of "Alexander," you can get a set of incomprehensible characters or question marks. Unfortunately, with standard Android tools, you can change the encoding. SIM-The card is not possible, because it's a hardware characteristic of the chip. SIM-cards for a new one from your carrier, which will support modern coding standards.

⚠️ Warning: If contacts are not displayed correctly after transfer, do not try to edit them en masse on an old phone - this will not fix the encoding on the SIM.

The second common problem is the trimming of long names and surnames. As mentioned earlier, the field for the name on the SIM card is limited. Xiaomi’s system automatically trims or shortens all characters that go beyond the limit when exporting, so it is recommended to use short names when transferring to a SIM card so that the subscriber is accurately identified even in the truncated version.

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Advice: Before mass recording on SIM copy 1-2 Check the display on another device. If everything is correct, keep going; if not, change. SIM-map.

Removal of duplicates after transfer

After the completion of the procedure of copying contacts on SIM-A phone book often contains duplicates, and the same subscriber can be written as "Ivan (SIM)» and “Google” which creates confusion and clutters the interface.

Xiaomi smartphones have a built-in Connectivity feature. To activate it, open the Contacts app, go to the settings and select "Contact Duplicate Duplicates" and automatically analyze the database, find records with the same numbers or similar names, and suggest combining them into a single card.

This process is safe and does not lead to loss of information: when you combine all the numbers, addresses and mail from different cards, all the numbers from different cards are collected into one final record. Regular cleaning of duplicates helps keep the phone book in order and speeds up the search for the right subscriber.

• 🔍 Go to the settings of the application "Contacts».
• 🧹 Click on the item "Combining duplicates».
• 🤖 Wait for the automatic analysis of the system.
• ✔️ Confirm the merger of the same records found.

You can also manually combine contacts by opening a subscriber card, clicking on the menu (three dots) and selecting “Merge with another contact” which is useful when the system does not recognize the duplicate automatically, for example, if the numbers are written in different formats (+7 and 8).

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

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The most reliable way to store contacts is synchronization with Google Account, and transfer to the Internet. SIM-The card should only be used as a temporary measure or for compatibility with older devices.