Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face the need to move the phone book when changing devices or after resetting. Contact copying is one of the basic but critical procedures that allows you to keep connections with friends and business partners. Modern shells MIUI and HyperOS provide flexible tools for managing data, but the interface sometimes changes, which can confuse the user.
In this article, we will discuss in detail how to move records from the internal memory of the phone directly to the SIM-And then you'll learn how to use the built-in tools to migrate data without installing third-party applications, and this is especially true when you need to quickly move the "Sim" to a button phone or another brand's device without cloud synchronization.
It is worth noting immediately that SIM-The card has limited memory and supports only text data without photos and additional fields, so before starting a mass migration, it is important to understand the technical limitations of the carrier. Weβll look at not only the standard menu paths, but also the nuances of working with a Google account and Mi Cloud, which are often a more reliable way to store your content.
Preparation for data transfer and compatibility check
Before you start taking action, you need to make sure that your SIM-The card is ready to write new information. Old Mini-SIM cards or damaged chips may not display correctly in the system or have locked memory to write.Put the card into the slot and wait for the network to fully load so that the system correctly identifies the available space.
Then you should check the current state of the phone book. If you plan to copy numbers that already contain photos, long names or multiple numbers per person, be prepared to trim the data. The format of storage on a SIM card is extremely primitive compared to modern smartphone databases.
- π± Make sure that SIM-The card is installed in an active slot and is determined by the system.
- π Charge the device to minimum 30-40% c) Avoiding shutdown during recording.
- π Check where your current contacts are stored (in your phoneβs memory, on Google, or on the SIM itself).
It's important to understand the difference between storage. Data in a phone's memory or Google account can contain email addresses, addresses, and notes, whereas a SIM card will only retain a name and one primary number. Backup before any manipulation is the golden rule of digital hygiene.
Instructions: copying contacts from phone to phone SIM-map
The process of transferring numbers from the internal memory of a Xiaomi smartphone to a SIM card is performed through the standard Contacts app. The interface may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI or HyperOS, but the logic of actions remains the same for all models. Open the application with the phone tube icon or a person on the desktop.
When you start the app, find the settings menu, which is usually hidden under three dots in the upper right corner or under the menu button at the bottom of the screen, and you'll need to find the data management item, often called "Import/Export Contacts" or simply "Contact Management."
βοΈ Copy algorithm for SIM
In the menu, select the option βExport toβ SIM-map or "copy on" SIM-The system will warn you that some data may be lost due to format limitations. Confirm the action by pressing OK or Continue. If there are many contacts, the process can take several seconds, during which it is better not to touch the screen.
β οΈ Note: When copying long names (more than one) 10-15 The system will automatically trim the extra characters. Check the important contacts after the transfer.
If you have multiple numbers on your phone, you'll only have the first number on the list or the main number on your SIM card, and the rest of the data will be alerted, so duplication of records is inevitable if you don't do a pre-cleaning.
Import numbers from SIM-card in the memory of the smartphone
The situation when you need to transfer contacts from the SIM card to the phone is even more common, this is a standard procedure when you first turn on a new Xiaomi or Redmi device. The algorithm of actions is the opposite of the previous one, but requires carefulness when choosing the target storage.
Go to the Contacts app and go to the settings menu through three dots. select Import/Export Contacts, and then click Import from SIM-The system will tell you to choose where to save data: to the internal memory of the phone, to the Google account or to the Mi Cloud.
It is recommended to choose a Google account, as this will ensure automatic synchronization and data retention even when the device is lost. Once the recipient is selected, the system will show a list of all the entries found on the SIM card. You can select individual numbers or click "Select all" for mass transfer.
- βοΈ When importing, select a Google account for automatic synchronization.
- π Use the βSelect Allβ feature to quickly migrate your entire phone book.
- π After import, check for duplicates that could have formed during the merger of the bases.
Some versions of the shell may require permission confirmation, allow the application to access contacts and memory if requested, and copying is almost instantaneous, as the amount of data on the SIM card is usually small.
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Import contacts directly to your Google account, not to your phoneβs memory, and this will allow you to restore the phone book on any device by simply entering your username and password, even if your SIM card is lost.
Working with SIM-card format limitations
Users often wonder why photos, email addresses and second numbers have disappeared after copying to a SIM card.This is not a Xiaomi system error, but a severe technical limitation of the GSM standard itself.
The maximum length of a contact name on a SIM card is often limited to 14-20 characters. If the name "Alexander Pushkin" doesn't fit, the system can shorten it to "Alexander Serg" or trim it in letters, making it difficult to search, and encoding the characters can lead to "krakozyabr" instead of the letters of the national alphabet.
| Parameter | Phone Memory / Google | SIM-map |
|---|---|---|
| Photo of contact | Supported | Not supported |
| Number of rooms | No restrictions. | Usually 1 contact. |
| Email, Address, Site | Supported | Not supported |
| Length of name | Up to 100+ characters | Limited (10-20 SIMV) |
That is why modern mobile experts recommend using a SIM card only as a temporary transport medium, not as a primary storage, and backing up to cloud services is the only sure way to keep a complete contact structure.
β οΈ Note: Do not keep a single copy of an important phone book only on the phone. SIM-If you damage the chip or lose it, you lose all the data without the ability to recover it.
Syncing with Google and Mi Cloud: an alternative to copying
Instead of physically copying to a SIM card, Xiaomi smartphone owners are much more likely to learn cloud sync, eliminating the need to perform manual import and export operations every time they change phone.
To activate the feature, go to your phone's settings, look for Accounts and Sync. Make sure your Google account is added to your system. Go inside your account and make sure the switch opposite Contacts is activated (blue or green).
What to do if the synchronization is not working?
The advantage of cloud storage is that it's intelligently merging duplicates, so if you imported contacts from a SIM card and then you switched on sync, it's going to offer you to combine the repeating records, and that's what keeps the phone book in perfect order.
In addition, contacts.google.com allows you to edit numbers from your computer, recover remote contacts from the past 30 days, and export the database in CSV or vCard formats for transfer to other services, which is much more powerful than a primitive SIM card storage.
Elimination and recovery of data
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where contacts have been copied but are not displayed in the call list, or the copying process is interrupted. Most often, the problem lies in the display settings. In the Contacts app, click on three dots or the menu button and select Display Settings or Contacts to Display.
Make sure to check the box opposite to βAll Contactsβ or specifically opposite yours. SIM-If you select "Phone Only", the numbers on the SIM will not be visible. It is also worth checking whether the "Photo Only" mode is turned onΒ».
- π Check the display filter settings in the contact menu.
- π Perform Forced Synchronization through Account Settings.
- π Make sure you're on SIM-The card has a free space (usually 250 slots).
If your contacts are gone after you upgrade, don't panic. Go to the Google Contacts web, click Settings and select Undo Changes, and you can roll back the phone book an hour, yesterday or a week, recovering the lost data.
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Cloud sync via Google account is the most reliable and functional way to store contacts, completely replacing the need to use the Internet. SIM-maps.