How to copy contacts to Xiaomi SIM card: the complete guide

Changing a phone or changing a carrier often requires users to move their phone book, and owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco devices are faced with the need to copy contacts from the device’s internal memory to the phone’s internal memory. SIM-And even though we've developed cloud technology and Google accounts, physical media is still the universal way to transfer data between any phone.

In the Android ecosystem, including the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS, import and export data is simple but has its own nuances. Standard tools allow you to quickly move records, but there are limitations on the amount of SIM memory and the length of names stored. Understanding these limitations will help avoid losing important data during the transfer.

In this article, we will take a look at all the ways you can copy numbers, from standard settings to the use of engineering menus, how to prepare data correctly, what formats are supported and what to do if a standard function is not available or not working correctly. A competent approach to reservation of contacts is the guarantee that you will never be left without communication at a critical moment.

Preparation for data transfer and compatibility check

Before you start copying, you need to make sure that SIM-The card is installed correctly and is determined by the system. In dual-symbol Xiaomi devices, it is important to choose the card to which you plan to record, since you will not be able to transfer both at once. Usually, the system offers to choose a slot during the operation, but it is better to switch the active card for calls to the desired one in advance.

You have to consider the technical limitations of old chips. SIM-cards are often limited 250 In addition, the format of the data storage on the chip is primitive: it supports only a phone number and a short name (usually up to a minimum of one). 14-16 All additional fields, such as email, address, photo or second number, will be irretrievably lost on export.

⚠️ Note: When copying long names in Russian in old SIM-maps may appear "crackers" or cutting the text to incomprehensible characters due to differences in encoding.

To minimize the risk of loss of information, it is recommended to pre-back up the entire phone book to a cloud service or file. This action will take a couple of minutes, but will become your insurance in case of a failure when writing to a chip. Modern Xiaomi smartphones allow you to synchronize contacts with your Mi Cloud or Google account instantly.

Standard method through the Contacts app

The easiest and most secure method of data transfer is built directly into the standard Contacts app, which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones. The interface may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the logic of actions remains the same for all models.

In the top right corner of the screen, look for a three-dot icon or a gear that indicates settings. In the list that opens, you need to select a item that is related to importing and exporting data. In different versions of the firmware, it can be called "Import / export contacts" or simply "Contact management." This is where the functionality is hidden.

After selecting the appropriate item, the system will suggest determining the direction of the operation. SIM-card or copy from phone to phone SIM». This will be followed by a source request if multiple accounts are saved (e.g. Google, SIM Choose "Phone" or the Google account you want to pick up the numbers from.

The system will automatically filter out contacts that are technically possible to write to a card (those that contain a phone number), you will be offered a list for selective copying or the option "Select all", after confirmation, the recording process will begin, which can take some time depending on the number of records, do not interrupt the process and do not turn off the screen until the success message appears.

Use of the MIUI Hidden Engineering Menu

In some cases, the standard menu may not display the export option, or the user prefers deeper system settings. For such situations, Xiaomi smartphones have a special engineering menu, accessible through code, which is considered more advanced and allows you to manage system functions hidden from the average user.

To enter the menu, you need to open the Phone app and dial a special combination of characters. In most cases, devices with MediaTek and Qualcomm processors use the code ##6484## or ##4636##. However, newer versions of MIUI often use a direct call to the import service via dialing to manage contacts and transfers.

There is a lesser-known but effective way to call the import/export menu directly, try dialing ##8255## (if GTalk is installed) or using the contact shortcut. Enter ##4636##, select Phone Information, then menus. While this is more commonly used to diagnose the network, in some firmware modifications it opens up additional synchronization features.

⚠️ Warning: Be extremely careful in the engineering menu. Changing unknown parameters can lead to unstable network operation or resetting of the phone.

If the direct code does not activate the export menu, you can use an alternative way through the settings of the export menu. SIM-Go to the settings. → The phone. → General information (or status) SIM-Sometimes there is an "Additional" button or direct access to contact management. SIM, duplicative functionality of the main contact menu.

Alternative methods and third-party applications

When Xiaomi's built-in tools fail for some reason, Google Play apps come to the rescue. There are many phone book management utilities that often have a more flexible interface and allow you to edit entries before writing to SIM, cutting long names automatically.

One popular solution is to use synchronization applications such as Copy My Data or SIM Card Manager & Backup, which scan the contact database, suggest selecting the desired entries, and write to a chip, bypassing some system limitations, and the user interface of such applications is usually intuitive and contains large control buttons.

Another reliable method is to use cloud services as an intermediary, so you can export contacts from your phone to a file format. VCF (vCard), save it to the computer and then insert SIM-The card is to another phone or using a card reader, load it there. SIM through USB-Card reader requires special hardware and software, which makes this method less popular for the average user.

It is important to understand that none of the methods of direct recording SIM-The card won't allow you to store multimedia data. SIM It is not technologically designed to store large amounts of information, so the only way to keep a full contact profile (photos, addresses, social networks) is to sync with a Google account or export to a file. VCF.

Common mistakes and ways to solve them

During the copying process, users often encounter a message «SIM-This happens when the number of contacts exceeds the physical limit of the chip, and the solution is pre-sorting: leave only the most important numbers on the SIM, and transfer the rest to the cloud or leave the phone in memory. SIM-map from old records before new import.

Another common problem is that names are not displayed correctly, and as mentioned earlier, it's encoding-related. If you see a set of characters instead of names, try changing the language of input or encoding in the contact app itself before exporting, which is rare in Android, and it's most often done by transliterating names (writing in Latin) before copying.

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Save a backup of contacts in the file VCF send yourself an email before any manipulations SIM-It'll take 1 minute, but it'll save you from losing data.

If the phone doesn't see SIM-In the context of contact management, check if it is active. In two-symbol models Xiaomi needs to make sure that the card is included in the settings Settings → SIM-Maps and mobile networks. Sometimes it helps to simply restart the device after installing the card.

The advantages of cloud synchronization over SIM

In the digital age, storing contacts on a plastic card is archaic. Xiaomi smartphones offer powerful synchronization tools through a Mi Account or Google account, allowing you to save unlimited records, restore them on any device, and even return remote contacts from the cart in the past 30 days.

Using the cloud eliminates the need to do mechanical copying every time you change your phone, and just type in your login and password, and the entire phone book will automatically load into the new device, and cloud contacts are easy to edit, combine duplicates, and sort into groups.

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Cloud synchronization is a modern standard that completely replaces the need to store contacts on the Internet. SIM-mapping, ensuring their safety and availability from any device.

However, the ability to migrate to SIM remains useful in emergency situations when there is no access to the Internet or account, and the phone needs to be urgently replaced with a button or other smartphone without the ability to quickly configure the cloud.