Buying a new Xiaomi or Redmi smartphone is always a joyous event, but it is often overshadowed by the prospect of long hours spent migrating data. The owners of the popular Chinese company’s devices are more fortunate than users of many other brands, thanks to the migration tools deeply integrated into the MIUI and HyperOS shell. You do not need to search for third-party programs or manually rewrite numbers, since the regular tools allow you to copy all the contents of memory in minutes.
Synchronization has become as simple and easy to understand as possible, even for those who are not technically savvy users. Modern algorithms allow you to transfer not only contacts and photos, but also the structure of the desktop, passwords from Wi-Fi and even the location of application icons. The key here is the right method, which depends on the amount of information and the state of the old device.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods, from the built-in Mi Mover app to cloud services, learn how to avoid common errors, why connection is sometimes interrupted and how to prepare both gadgets for the procedure so that it goes smoothly and without losing important files.
Preparing devices for data migration
Before you start copying, you need to make sure that both devices are ready to go, and it's not just a formality, it's an important step that directly affects the speed of transmission and the stability of the connection, and ignoring the basic requirements can cause the process to stop in the middle, and you have to start over.
First of all, make sure that both smartphones have at least 50-60% battery charge, that large amounts of data, especially over Wi-Fi Direct, are consuming energy, and that if one of the phones goes to sleep or goes off due to a discharge, the connection will be severed and progress may be lost.
☑️ Ready for transfer
⚠️ Note: Do not connect your phone to your computer through USB-cable during wireless data transfer, this can cause driver conflict and interrupt the connection.
It's also worth checking if there's enough free space on a new device.If you're switching from a 128GB model to a 64GB model, you'll have to pre-clean the new phone or selectively transfer only the most important files.Ideally, Redmi should be reset to factory settings or have an empty internal drive for a clean system installation.
Use of the built-in Mi Mover application
The most efficient and quickest way Xiaomi engineers recommend is to use the pre-installed Mi Mover app, which is designed specifically for the brand ecosystem and allows data to be transmitted over a direct Wi-Fi connection without consuming mobile traffic and operating significantly faster than Bluetooth transmission.
To get started, open the app on both devices, usually in the Tools or Services folder, and if your old phone (especially if it's not Xiaomi) doesn't have an app, you can download it from Google Play or scan it. QR-The code that will appear on the screen of the new phone, and after launch, you have to choose the role of the device: "I am the sender" on the old gadget and "I am the receiver" on the new one.
Next, the new phone will create a Wi-Fi hotspot, and you'll need to find that network in the list of available connections on the old device and enter the password that's displayed on the screen, and once you pair it successfully, you'll see a list of data categories that you can transfer, and you can choose everything from system settings to app cache.
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If you have an old Xiaomi phone with MIUI 10 or lower, make sure the Mi Mover app is updated to the latest version via GetApps, otherwise new file formats may not be recognized.
Select the required items and click the "Send" button. Transfer speeds can vary from 10 to 40 MB/s depending on the processor model and supported Wi-Fi standards. During the process, do not switch between applications and keep screens on so that the system does not optimize background activity.
Transferring data through a Google account
For users who frequently change devices or want to have a reliable backup in the cloud, sync via Google Account is ideal.This method is versatile and doesn’t depend on the phone’s brand, making it a great choice if you’re switching from, say, Samsung or Honor to Redmi.
The idea is that your old phone uploads data to Google servers, and your new phone downloads it when you first log in, which involves contacts, calendar events, notes, passwords stored in Google's password manager, and a list of installed apps, and photos and videos are usually synced through Google Photos.
To start the process, go to the settings on the old device, select Accounts and Sync, and make sure the switches opposite the data you want are active. Press the sync button manually to make sure all the data has gone to the cloud. Then on the new Xiaomi, just log in to the same account when you first set up the system.
But there are some nuances to this approach, such as the MIUI interface settings, the widget layouts and the specific system settings are not portable through Google, and it’s also worth remembering that free space on Google Drive is limited to 15GB, so a full backup system with high-quality photos may not fit without buying additional space.
| Comparison parameter | Mi Mover | Google Account | Mi Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed. | High (up to 40 Mb/s) | Depends on the Internet. | Depends on the Internet. |
| We need the Internet. | No (works locally) | Yes. | Yes. |
| Transfer of MIUI settings | Yes. | No. | Partially. |
| Data limit | Only the phone's memory. | 15GB free of charge | 5GB free of charge |
Synchronization through the cloud Mi Cloud
Xiaomi’s ecosystem offers its own cloud service, Mi Cloud, which is deeply integrated into the system, a handy tool for those who want to back up settings, voice recordings, notes and screenshots on the company’s servers.
Unlike Google, Mi Cloud specializes in system data and multimedia. You can set up automatic uploads of photos to the cloud gallery, which will free up space on the device. When you log in on a new Redmi phone, the system will offer to restore data from the last available copy.
It's important to note that there's only 5GB of free space, which is pretty small by today's standards, but basic data like contacts and SMS is negligible, and to expand storage, you'll have to have a paid subscription, which may vary by region of use.
What to do if you forget your Mi Account password?
Problems with WhatsApp and messengers
The apps store their message history locally or in their clouds, and standard contact synchronization methods don’t affect them. WhatsApp has a built-in backup feature that is better activated before switching.
Go to the messenger settings, select Chats and then Chat Backup. Click Backup by selecting Google Drive as your storage location. Once you install the app on your new phone and enter the same number, the system will prompt you to restore your message history from the cloud. Without this step, the correspondence will remain on the old device.
⚠️ Note: When migrating via Mi Mover, WhatsApp chat history may not be fully transferred or require you to manually activate backups within the app itself after migrating.
Telegram and Viber are simpler: they store the entire story on their servers, you just install the app, enter the phone number and confirmation code, all chats, channels and groups will be automatically downloaded, although the media files will have to be downloaded again as you watch, unless the caching function is enabled.
What to do if the transfer is interrupted or has been made with errors
Even with reliable tools, there can be failures, and most often the problem is an unstable Wi-Fi Direct connection or an aggressive energy saving system that kills the transmission process in the background. If you see an error or a progress bar freeze, don't panic.
Try turning off mobile internet on both devices, leaving only Wi-Fi. VPN-services and antiviruses, if installed, as they can block local connection between gadgets, in some cases, it helps to reboot both smartphones before trying again.
If the problem only affects certain files (e.g., videos are not copied), check the file system format. Sometimes old files with corrupted metadata can cause the whole process to fail, in which case it is better to transfer the bulk of the data, and “problematic” files manually transfer through a USB cable or send yourself to the cloud storage.
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Connection stability is more important than speed: if Mi Mover is slow but error-free, it is better to wait until the end than to try to speed up the process by third-party methods.