How to transfer all data from the old Xiaomi to the new: Full instructions

Buying a new smartphone is always a pleasant experience, but it inevitably entails the routine task of migrating user data. The gadget owner faces the need to transfer thousands of photos, contacts, correspondence history and app settings to avoid losing the digital thread of his life. Fortunately, the MIUI and HyperOS ecosystem offers powerful built-in tools that allow you to clone the device in just a few touches.

The migration process to Xiaomi is much easier than many other brands due to the deep integration of system services. You don’t need to be an IT expert to perform a full backup and recovery. However, there are nuances that can affect the speed of transfer or the safety of passwords from banking applications.

In this guide, we will take a look at all the available methods, from the Mi Mover utility to Google cloud services, and we will also touch on the topic of WhatsApp and Viber portability, since these messengers often cause the most hassle when changing devices.

Preparing devices for data migration

Before you start the action, you need to make sure that both devices are ready to work, the old phone should be at least 50% charged, and the new one should be fully charged, since the cloning process can be energy-intensive, and also check the availability of free space on the receiving device: the amount of free memory should exceed the amount of data you plan to transfer.

⚠️ Warning: Do not interrupt the file transfer process, even if it seems to be suspended. Interrupting during the copying phase of the system databases can lead to malfunction of the new smartphone.

Be sure to update the system software on both gadgets to the latest available version. Xiaomi developers regularly release patches that improve connection stability and data transfer speed over Wi-Fi Direct. Go to the Settings menu → About Phone → MIUI version and check for updates.

If the old device has password or pattern lock protection installed, make sure you remember the combination.In some cases, the security system may request identity verification before allowing access to sensitive data such as saved passwords in Google Smart Lock.

Using the Mi Mover app for full cloning

The most efficient and quickest way is to use the native Mi Mover app, which creates a direct Wi-Fi connection between devices, which ensures high speed transfer without using Internet traffic. The app is usually pre-installed in the Tools folder on all modern Redmi, Poco and Xiaomi models.

Run the app on both smartphones. Select Reciever on the new device and Sender on the old one. QR-code or connect to the access point you created. Once you have established the connection, you will see a list of data categories available for transfer.

• 📱 System settings: transfers the location of icons, wallpaper, alarm clock settings and calls.
• 📞 Contacts and Messages: Full Copy of Phone Book and History SMS/MMS.
• 📸 Multimedia: Photos, Videos, Audio Files and Documents from Internal Memory.
• 📲 Annexes: themselves APK-Program files (data within applications may require separate login).

Importantly, Mi Mover lets you select the specific apps you want to see on your new device, which is handy if you want to do a digital cleaning and not carry the garbage accumulated over the years using the old gadget.

Sync with Mi Cloud and Google Account

The alternative to direct transmission is cloud sync, which is ideal if you don't have both devices on hand at the same time, or if an old phone is already sold but you can access it temporarily. Google Account is the primary storage for contacts, calendars and notes.

To activate sync, go to Settings → Accounts and Sync. Make sure the switches opposite the desired points are activated. The data will instantly go to the cloud and automatically pull up to the new smartphone immediately after entering the username and password.

Mi Cloud offers additional features specific to the MIUI shell. Here you can save screenshots, voice recorders, Wi-Fi settings, and even the location of icons on your desktop. Free storage is limited to 5 GB, but for text data and settings, this is more than enough.

Transfer of WhatsApp and Viber correspondence

Messengers use their own backup mechanisms, ignoring standard backup methods. WhatsApp is critical to backup an old device to Google Drive. Without this step, it is impossible to restore the history of correspondence on a new phone.

Open WhatsApp on your old phone, go to Settings → Chats → Chat Backup. Press Backup and wait until the process is complete. Make sure that it is Google Drive that is being copied, not just local memory.

When you first launch WhatsApp on the new Xiaomi, the app will detect that it has a backup in the cloud, and you will be prompted to restore the chats, a process that requires that the new phone be added to the same phone number and Google account as the old one.

⚠️ Note: When you migrate WhatsApp via Mi Mover, your correspondence history is often not portable, even if the application itself is selected.Rely only on Google Drive cloud backup or local backup through the file manager.

For Viber, the procedure is similar: back up your app settings before resetting or moving. Unlike WhatsApp, Viber lets you choose the automatic copy-creation frequency, which can save the day if you forgot to do it manually.

Transfer of banking applications and authorizations

The most delicate part of migration is financial apps and two-factor authentication. Banking apps (Sberbank Online, Tinkoff, etc.) require re-authorization and device binding. Make sure you have access to your phone number in advance to receive a phone number. SMS-code.

Authentication applications like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator require a special approach. Simply migrating the application is not enough – security tokens are not automatically copied for security reasons. You either need to use the function of exporting accounts inside the authenticator itself on the old device, or you need to get backup codes for each service in advance.

Google Authenticator has a function of transferring accounts through the QR-Go to the menu, select "Move accounts» → «Export accounts on your old device and scan the code with new ones.This is the only safe way to save access without re-associating all sites.

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Take screenshots of important QR-login codes or save backup recovery codes in a safe place before resetting your old phone.

Alternative methods: PCs and local backups

If wireless transmission seems unreliable or too slow, you can use a computer. Connect your old phone to your PC in file transfer mode (MTP) and copy the DCIM, Download, Documents and Music folders to your hard drive.

Then plug in the new smartphone and move the files to the appropriate directories. This is good for multimedia, but it won't override system or application settings. To create a full local copy of the system, use the built-in MIUI backup feature.

Find the Settings menu → The phone. → Backup and restore. Create a backup for internal memory or SD-The backup file can then be transferred to a new phone and retrieved from it, and this way ensures that you save even rare system settings.

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The combined approach (Mi Mover for applications + Cloud for contacts + Manual photo transfer) gives the best result and minimizes the risk of data loss.

Frequent problems and ways to solve them

Sometimes users are faced with a situation where the process is suspended by a certain percentage, most often due to unstable Wi-Fi module or background processes consuming resources. Try to turn off mobile Internet on both devices, leaving only Wi-Fi.

If the new phone doesn’t see the old one, check if one of them is running Do Not Disturb or power saving mode, which blocks the network modules from running in the background.

In case of app recovery errors, check for Android versions compatibility. If the old phone ran Android 8 and the new one ran Android 13, some very old versions of the apps may not install automatically and require you to search for current versions on Google Play.

Questions and Answers (FAQ)