How to change your account on Xiaomi phone: the complete guide

Changing the owner of a smartphone or having to separate personal and work data often leads to the question of how to change an account on a Xiaomi phone. the Android operating system, which is the basis of the MIUI or HyperOS shell, allows you to manage user profiles flexibly, but the process of leaving the old profile and logging into a new one requires care. Mistakes can lead to the locking of the device or the loss of important contacts and photos.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the differences between a Google account and a Mi Account, which are closely intertwined in the Xiaomi ecosystem.You will learn how to properly untie your device from the old cloud to avoid activation issues, and how to set up a new profile from scratch. Data security comes first, so you can’t ignore the steps to clean up sensitive information.

The procedure for changing an account can vary depending on the operating system version and regional settings of your smartphone. We will look at universal methods suitable for most Redmi, POCO and Xiaomi models, and pay attention to the nuances that users often miss.

Differences between Google Account and Mi Account

Before you start taking action, you need to clearly understand what profiles you work with. On Xiaomi smartphones, there are two independent but interconnected authorization systems in parallel. One is Google Account, which is responsible for synchronizing contacts, calendaring, installing applications from the Play Market and running Google services. The second is Mi Account, a proprietary Xiaomi system, necessary for the operation of the Mi Cloud, device search and some system functions.

Users often confuse these concepts, believing that leaving one profile will automatically untie the second one, which is a dangerous misconception: If you plan to sell a phone or transfer it to another person, you need to perform an untie procedure in both services. Ignoring Mi Account can lead to the fact that the new owner will face the activation lock screen, and ignoring Google account will trigger FRP (Factory Reset Protection).

Importantly, deleting Google’s account on Android 5.0 and above is a must before resetting. If you simply perform Hard Reset without first exiting, the phone will require you to enter the password from the last Google account you used when you turn on, which is designed to protect against theft, but creates problems with a legal change of ownership.

⚠️ Note: Deleting your Mi Account is only possible if you have an active Internet connection. If you try to delete your profile offline, the system will issue an error and the profile will remain linked to the device.

To check the current status of the binding, you can use the following table, which will help to identify where you are logged in:

Preparing for change of profile and data retention

Changing your account to Xiaomi means that the old user loses access to data stored in the cloud and on the device. So backup is a critical step. Before you start deleting profiles, make sure that all important photos, videos and documents are transferred to an external drive or uploaded to a cloud storage that you will have access to.

Special attention should be paid to passwords saved in the Chrome browser and Google password manager. Once you leave your account, access to them will be lost. It is also recommended to export contacts to the.vcf file if you are not sure that the sync was successful. Xiaomi owners have a built-in Mi Mover data migration tool that allows you to transfer information to another phone over Wi-Fi.

Another important thing is two-factor authentication, if your old account is enabled. 2FA, Make sure you have access to your phone number or backup codes. SIM-Recovering access without these codes will be extremely difficult and sometimes impossible without contacting in support.

How to Untie and Delete Mi Account

The best way to start the change of ownership is to remove the Mi Account anchor, which is a system profile that is more deeply integrated into the MIUI shell. To do this, open the Settings menu and find the top plaque with your account name or go to the Mi Account section.

In the menu that opens, scroll down to the very end, and you'll find the Sign Out or Delete Account button, and the system will require you to enter your Mi Account password to verify your identity, a mandatory security measure to prevent malicious users from deleting your profile in the event of a device being stolen.

Once the correct password is entered, the device will send a request to Xiaomi servers. If the Internet connection is stable, the profile will be deleted and the phone will report a successful exit. Now the device is considered “clean” from the point of view of the Xiaomi ecosystem, and the new owner will be able to link his Mi ID without conflicts.

Delete Google Profile on Android

The next step is to work with Google services, which is critical to bypassing FRP protection. Go to Settings, select Accounts and Sync (or just Users and accounts depending on the Android version).

Click on Delete Account, and the system will alert you that all messages, contacts, and other data associated with that profile will be deleted from the device. Confirm action. If there are multiple Google accounts on the phone, this procedure should be repeated for each of them.

⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete your Google account through your application settings or clearing Google Play Services data. This will not unplug your device and may disrupt your system.

In some versions, MIUI may differ. If you don't find the delete point in the general list, try going through Settings → Advanced Settings → Privacy → Special App Access, but the standard path through "Accounts" is the most reliable. Once you delete the last Google account, the phone will stop syncing any data with the search giant's servers.

Resetting to factory settings (Hard Reset)

Once you have logged out of all accounts, it is recommended to perform a full reset, this is guaranteed to delete all residual files, app cache and personal data that may have been saved on the internal drive. To go to recovery mode, press the Volume + button and Power on the phone turned off simultaneously.

When the Mi logo appears, release the power button, but keep the volume up until the Recovery menu appears. The volume buttons (up/down) control the choice and the power button confirms the choice. Select the language (usually English or Chinese if there is no Russian), then press Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.

Recovery menu:


1. Wipe Data




2. Connect with MIAssistant




3. Reboot




4. Power Off

The system will ask you to confirm the action, as this process is irreversible. Once the cleanup is complete, select Reboot → Reboot to System. The phone will reboot and start the initial setup as if it had just left the factory.

Set up a new owner account

When the phone turns on after the reset, you'll be greeted by a welcome screen. Choose a language and connect to the Wi-Fi network. At the stage of checking for software updates, you can agree or skip this step. Then the system will prompt you to copy the applications and data. If you set up the phone for a new owner, choose Do Not Copy or Configure as a new device.

Then you sign in to your Google account, enter your new user, that account will be the main one for the Play Market and sync, and once you log in, the phone will start loading the standard set of Google apps, and then the system may suggest you sign in to your Mi Account, and if the new owner plans to use the Xiaomi cloud or the Device Search feature, they will need to create or enter their Mi ID.

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When you first set up a new Google account, the system may suggest you restore a backup from another device, and be careful: if you choose an old copy, remote contacts and settings of the previous owner may return to the phone.

Once you have completed the setup, check the basic features: make a test call, check the loading of pages in the browser and install apps from the store. Make sure that the Settings → Phone no longer displays data from the previous owner. Now the device is fully operational.

Frequent problems and their solution

Users often face technical difficulties when changing their account, and one of the most common problems is the error “Can’t delete your account” or the endless rotation of the load indicator when trying to log out, usually due to an unstable Internet connection or temporary failures on Google/Xiaomi servers.

If standard methods don't work, you can try to delete your account through your browser on your computer. Go to your Google account security settings, find Devices and select Log out for the appropriate phone model. Then try repeating the deletion procedure on your smartphone itself, having previously updated the account page.

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The main problem with changing an account is blocking FRP, which occurs if the phone was reset without first logging out of a Google account, and you can only get around it legally by entering the password from the account that was synced last.

It's also worth mentioning that the phone requires a password from Mi Account after reset, even if you've tried to delete it, which may mean that the Device Search function was active at the time of reset, in which case you can't use the phone without entering the correct password, which proves that the security system is effective, but it's uncomfortable for forgetful users.