Owning a modern smartphone involves constantly working with a huge amount of data, where contacts play a key role in communication. POCO Often, you have to transfer the phone book to the physical. SIM-This is a card that allows you to keep access to the numbers even if you reset your settings to factory or lose the device itself.
Shell copying procedure MIUI or the new HyperOS has its own features, different from stock Android. SIM-The card has limited memory to store records, often without supporting long names or additional contact fields. Below we will discuss in detail the algorithm of actions that will help you move data safely without losing important information.
Before you start active actions, you need to make sure that the card is correctly installed in the slot. If the device supports two SIM cards, the system may request clarification of which one (SIM 1 or SIM 2) should be exported. Ignoring this point can lead to the data being written to the wrong card that you planned to use in the new phone.
Contact preparation and format verification
Before a mass transfer, you should review the phone book entries, and users often store numbers from different sources: a Google account, a device memory, or a Mi Account profile. To copy them successfully, all records must be collected in a single repository available for the standard Contacts app.
And look at the structure of names. SIM-The cards use the old encoding standard, long names can be cropped and special characters can be displayed incorrectly, and it is recommended to shorten the names of companies too long in advance or add clarifications at the end of the name if this is critical to identifying the subscriber.
Itโs also worth checking for duplicates. Xiaomi smartphones have a bundle feature built in, but before exporting, itโs best to make sure that one person isnโt recorded twice with different numbers, which will help avoid confusion after importing on another device where automatic merging may not work.
โ ๏ธ Note: When copying the SIM-The card is stored only the main phone number and name, and the photos, email addresses, positions and second numbers will be irretrievably lost during the transfer.
Make sure yours is yours. SIM-The old cards can hold 250 records, whereas the modern ones can hold up to 500. If your phone book exceeds this limit, the system will suggest you to choose contacts manually or copy only a part of them, ignoring the rest.
Step-by-step instructions for copying through the Contacts app
The most reliable and quickest way to transfer data is to use the built-in functionality of the system, which does not require an Internet connection and works even in flight mode, which eliminates interruption due to incoming calls.
To start, open the standard Contacts app (an icon with a human silhouette) at the bottom of the screen or in the top corner (depending on the MIUI version), find a menu button marked with three dots or stripes, and click on it, you will see a drop-down list of actions.
- ๐ฑ Select โImport and Export Contactsโ to access data management.
- ๐พ Click on the option "Export to" SIM-The card (may be called "Copy on the map") SIM-mapยป).
- ๐ The system will automatically analyze the list and show the number of copies available for copying.
Once you select a source (usually an All Contacts or a specific account), the processing process will begin, a progress bar will appear on the screen, and do not interrupt the process or turn off the smartphone screen until the notification of successful completion of the operation appears.
โ๏ธ Pre-export checklist
If you have a dual-sim phone, the system will ask you which card to use. Read the operator name and slot (SIM 1 / SIM 2) carefully, so as not to make a mistake. Once confirmed, the data will start recording, which can take from a few seconds to a couple of minutes depending on the volume of the phone book.
Alternative methods and work with Mi Cloud
Xiaomi ecosystem owners often use Mi Cloud for backup. Although there is no direct cloud-to-simki export feature, you can use the cloud as an intermediary. First restore contacts from Mi Cloud to your phoneโs memory, and then follow the standard export procedure described above.
Another option is to use third-party apps from GetApps or Google Play. There are utilities like SIM Card Manager or Copy My Data that provide an advanced interface for working with the phone book, which are especially useful if the standard MIUI menu is hidden or malfunctioning for some reason.
For advanced users, the.vcf method of transmitting via Bluetooth is available, but this is not a direct copy to the SIM chip. However, if the goal is to transfer to a button phone, it is sometimes easier to transfer the file than to copy to a SIM card with its limitations.
Why are some contacts not copied?
Cloud technology is preferable to physical storage on card plastic, synchronizing with Google Contacts allows you to instantly restore the base on any new smartphone immediately after login, which is not offered by the old SIM technology.
Addressing export challenges
Often, users are faced with a situation where the export button is inactive or the process is completed by error. The first reason is the lack of contacts in the phone memory. If all numbers are stored only in a Google account, you must first make them visible in local storage or select the source of Google when exporting, if the system allows direct export from the cloud (depending on the firmware version).
The second common problem is a damaged phone book file or version conflict, in which case cleaning the Contacts app cache helps. Go to Settings โ Apps โ All Apps โ Contacts โ Memory and click Clear Cache.
The third reason is the technical failure of the SIM-If the card is very old (released over 10 years ago), it may not physically support recording new contacts in a modern format.
| Problem. | Possible cause | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| The Copy button is grey | No selected contacts | Check numbers manually |
| Crooked names | SIM character limit | Reduce names to 10-12 characters |
| Recording error | SIM memory is full | Remove old unnecessary numbers |
| No photo available. | Technological limitation | Impossible to save on SIM |
If none of these methods work, try to get them out. SIM-You can wipe the contacts with a liquor wipe and put them back in. Sometimes the oxidation of the contacts leads to read/write errors.
Limitations and technical nuances SIM-map
It is important to understand that the data storage technology SIM-The Subscriber Identity Module was developed in the early days of mobile communication, and the chip's primary purpose is to identify the subscriber on the network, and storing the phone book is a secondary and stripped-down function.
There is a strict limit on the number of characters in a name. Usually it is 14-16 characters in the GSM encoding. If you write the contact as "Director of Sales of Chamomile LLC", on the SIM card it will turn into "Director of Department...." Cyrillic characters can also be coded differently on different phones, which leads to "brownberry" instead of letters.
Besides, SIM-The card only stores one number for one name, and if you have a mobile, work, and home, only one of them (usually the first on the list) will be recorded on the SIM, and the remaining numbers will be lost when you transfer them, which is why modern smartphones recommend storing data in your account.
โ ๏ธ Attention: Do not use SIM-The card is the only storage of important numbers, and the plastic can demagnetize, lose contact, or physically break down, causing all data to be lost without any possibility of recovery.
Read and write speeds on SIM-The card is much lower than the internal memory of the smartphone, and when you try to copy a few hundred contacts, the phone may think for a minute, at which point the interface may hang, which is normal behavior of the system when working with a slow carrier.
Import contacts from SIM-cards to a new phone
Once you've successfully copied, you're going to have to transfer the data to the new device. SIM-The system will automatically detect new contacts or prompt to import them when the first start of the setup wizard.
If no automatic offer is made, the algorithm is mirrored to export. Open Contacts, go to the settings menu (three dots) and select Import and Export. Next, click Import with SIM-mapยป.
The system will suggest choosing a destination, a place to save numbers, and the best way to choose is to choose a phone or a Google account, which will allow you to edit names, add photos and attach additional numbers, which was not possible at the SIM level.
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Tip: Once you import contacts to your new phone, back up your Google Account immediately, and this will create a dual security: a physical copy on SIM and a cloud copy.
The import process is faster than export, as the data is simply read and written into the smartphoneโs fast memory. Once completed, be sure to check selectively several contacts to make sure that the display of names and numbers is correct.
Synchronization as a modern alternative
In the era of cloud computing, copying SIM-It looks archaic, but sometimes necessary, but it's much more efficient to set up automatic synchronization for everyday use, and that will save you the need to move in the future.
To set up, go to Settings โ Accounts and Sync. Make sure the switch opposite Google or Mi Account is active and the account details are ticked against Contacts. From now on, every change to the phone book will be instantly saved online.
The advantage of this approach is obvious: you can lose your phone, smash it, or even drop it in water, but when you install it, you can also use it. SIM-If you put your card on any other device and you enter your password, all your numbers will be back in a few minutes.
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Using cloud synchronization is more reliable and functional than storing on the Internet SIM-map, as it saves full contact profiles and access to them from any device.
Remember to check the sync status periodically. Sometimes the system may turn it off to save traffic or battery. Make sure that the Data Transfer section allows background sync for Google and Xiaomi services.