How to change region to Xiaomi with MIUI 12: all the ways and nuances

Changing the region on Xiaomi smartphones with a shell MIUI 12 is a task that users face when moving to another country, buying a device abroad, or wanting to access regional features. Although the manufacturer limits this possibility out of the box, there are several working methods, from official settings to technical workarounds. In this article, we will analyze all the current methods, their pros and cons, as well as critical nuances that are often missed even by experienced users.

It's important to understand: MIUI 12 (like the newer versions) links the region not only to geolocation, but also to Mi Account, firmware, and sometimes even hardware device identifiers, meaning that simply changing the language or time zone is not enough. Below you will find step-by-step instructions for different scenarios, including when standard methods don’t work.

Warning: Some methods require unlocking the bootloader or root rights, which can lead to a loss of warranty or unstable system operation.If your goal is simply to access Google Play or local services, perhaps alternative solutions are enough without deep changes to the firmware.

Why? MIUI 12 limits the change of region?

Xiaomi artificially limits the possibility of changing the region for several reasons:

• 📱 Localization: Features ranging from Mi Pay to regional themes are available in different countries, and changing regions without linking to an account can disrupt services.
• 🛡️ Compliance with laws: Some countries (e.g. the EU or India) have strict data processing rules that Xiaomi is required to comply with.
• 🔄 Update control: Region determines which firmware version the device will receive. MIUI Global and Chinese MIUI China is significantly different.
• 💰 Marketing strategy: Some features (such as Mi Cloud or Mi Video) have regional restrictions on licensing agreements.

In practice, this means that even if you are physically located in another country, the system can continue to use the settings of the original region – especially if the device was purchased through official channels (for example, Mi Store in China or Amazon India).

⚠️ Note: If your device was released for the Chinese market (C-suffixed models in the name, for example, Redmi Note 9 Pro C), changing the region to a global one can block access to some features, such as Google Mobile Services (GMS). In this case, you will need to install custom firmware with support GMS.

Change the region through the settings of MIUI 12

The easiest and safest method is to use built-in tools. MIUI 12.It's suitable for most global firmware versions (MIUI Global, but may not work on Chinese or regionally blocked devices.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Additional → Language and Region.
2. Tapping at Region (or) Country/Region English version).
3. Choose the country you want from the list. If you don't have a region, try changing the language to English first.
4. Confirm the change and restart the device.

After the reboot, check if your local settings have been updated on Google and Mi Account. If the region on Google Play has not changed, follow the additional steps:

• 🔄 Open the Google Play Store → Settings → General. → Country and profiles.
• 📌 If the country change button is inactive, less than 12 months have passed since the last change (Google restriction).
• 💳 Add a new payment method (such as a virtual card) from your target region.

This method works for most Xiaomi, Redmi and other devices. POCO s MIUI 12, but there are exceptions:

⚠️ Note: Some devices may not have access to Mi Cloud or Mi Community after relocating their region, due to Xiaomi services being tied to the original region of the account.

Alternative method: change the region through Mi Account

If the standard method didn’t work, try changing the region through your Xiaomi account, a technique that is especially useful for devices purchased in China or India, where regional restrictions are the most stringent.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to the Mi Account website and log in.
2. Open the Personal Info section (Personal Information).
3. Find a point. Country/Region and press Edit (Edit).
4. Choose the right country and save the changes.
5. On the phone, exit the account (Settings) → Xiaomi account → Get out and come back in.

After that, the region in the system should update automatically, but there are a few pitfalls:

• 🔒 If you created an account in China, you can block the change of region, and only if you create a new account, you can change the region.
• 📱 On some devices (e.g. Redmi) K30 Pro with Chinese firmware, this method only works after installing a global firmware ROM.
• 🔄 After changing the region in the account, you may need to reset the settings to factory (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting settings).

💡

If you change region in Mi Account, you will find an error "This operation is not supported", try using the error. VPN s IP-For example, if you want to change to the United States, connect to a U.S. server.

Important: If you use Mi Account to synchronize data (contacts, notes, photos), manual data transfer may be required after changing the region.

Change of region through ADB (for experienced users)

If the official methods didn’t work, you can try to change the region using Android Debug Bridge (ADB). This method requires the inclusion of debugging USB Basic knowledge of working with the command line.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version until the notification "You've become a developer" appears.

USB debugging

• Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
• Turn on the debugging switch over USB.
• Connect your phone to your PC and execute commands in ADB: adb shell settings put global region [country code] Example for the United States: adb shell settings put global region US
• Reset the device.

List of country codes for the team:

• 🇺🇸 USA — US
• 🇬🇧 UK — GB
• 🇩🇪 Germany — DE
• 🇷🇺 Russia — RU
• 🇮🇳 India — IN
• 🇨🇳 China — CN

This method does not work on all devices with MIUI 12, as some models block the region's change through ADB. If the region has not changed after completing the commands, try an alternative method:

adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.Settings$RegionSettingsActivity

This command directly opens the regional settings menu, which can be hidden in the standard interface.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB Changes in system parameters can lead to unstable operation. MIUI. For example, on some devices after such a change in the region stops working. NFC Or Mi Pay. Before experimenting, back up through Settings. → Additionally. → Backup and reset.

Radical method: firmware global ROM

If all previous methods failed, the most reliable, but also the most risky option is to install global firmware, which is suitable for devices originally released for one region (for example, China’s Xiaomi without Google Play).

This will require:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the official Mi Unlock Tool. This erases all data from the device!
2. Download the global ROM for your model from the site MIUI Downloads.
3. Install firmware via Fastboot or Recovery (depending on the model).

Step-by-step instructions for Fastboot:

1. Download and unpack the archive with firmware (file with extension.tgz).
2. Connect your phone to your PC in Fastboot mode (clip Volume Down + Power when turned on).
3. Launch the file. flash_all.bat (for Windows or flash_all.sh (for macOS/Linux).
4. Wait until the process is completed (usually 5-10 minutes).

After firmware, the device will be reset to factory settings, and the region will automatically install according to the version. ROM (for example, Global or EEA).

💡

Global firmware ROM — The only way to get a full Google Play on Xiaomi’s Chinese devices (like Redmi) K30 Pro or Mi 10 Ultra).

Warnings:

• 🔧 Unlocking the bootloader resets all data without the possibility of recovery.
• 🛠️ Some models, for example, POCO F1) They may lose support for Widevine. L1 After firmware, which will worsen the quality of streaming on Netflix or Disney+.
• 📵 On devices with Snapdragon (for example, Redmi Note 10 Pro) after firmware may stop working 5G in some regions.

Problems after the change of the region and their solutions

Even if you've managed to change a region, there are some unexpected problems that can arise, and here are the most common ones and how to fix them:

1. Google Play or other Google services are not working

If, after changing the Google Play region, the Store issues an error “Service is not available in your region”, follow the following steps:

• 🔄 Clear the cache and data of Google Play Services (Settings) → Annexes → Application management → Google Play Services → Warehouse).
• 📌 Delete your Google account and add it again.
• 🛠️ If nothing helps, install Google Play manually through the APK-File (can be downloaded from APKMirror website).

2. Support missing 4G/5G

Some devices (especially those bought in China or India) may have mobile networks disappearing after a region change, because the firmware blocks frequencies not used in the original region.

Decisions:

• 📡 Set a global ROM (as described in the previous section).
• 🔧 Manually add it. APN Your operator (Settings) → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Access points (APN)).
• 🛠️ Use the app. MTK Engineering Mode (for MediaTek processors) or Qualcomm QPST (for Snapdragon) to unlock frequencies.

3. Not updated MIUI

If the updates stop coming after the region change, it means that the system still uses servers from the original region.

• 🔄 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Update the system and click on three dots in the upper right corner → Select a Service Package.
• 📥 Download the latest firmware version for your region manually from the site MIUI Download and install it.
• 🔧 If updates still don’t come, reset to factory settings (Settings) → Additionally. → Recovery and discharge).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)