Why I Can't Keep Contact on Xiaomi Redmi 9 Phone - All Reasons and Ways to Fix

Why the phone refuses to keep new contacts

You try to add a new number to the Xiaomi Redmi 9 phone book, but the system stubbornly ignores your actions: the save button is inactive, the contact disappears after the reboot or there is an error “Can not save”? This problem is familiar to many owners of smartphones on MIUI, the brand shell of Xiaomi.

Unlike hardware malfunctions (such as memory damage) that require repairs, 90% In cases where you can't keep your contacts, you can solve them yourself. 7 Key reasons, from simple memory overflows to conflicts with Google accounts, and we will give you step-by-step instructions for each. 9 (model M2003J15SC/M2004J19C), where the problem is often related to the version MIUI below 12.5.

Before you go to radical measures (like resetting), check the simple things: is there enough memory space, does not block the saving of a third-party application (for example, antivirus or contact manager), and is not turned on the power saving mode that limits the background processes, these points will also be discussed in detail below.

1. Overflowing memory of your phone or Google account

The most common reason is a lack of free space in internal memory or in Google cloud storage. On Redmi 9 with 32/64 GB of memory, the system reserves some space for cache and updates, so even with “free” 2-3 GB, there can be failures when saving new data.

How to check:

• 📱 Local Memory: Go to Settings → The phone. → Memory: If less than 10% is free, delete unnecessary files (especially from Download and Download folders). DCIM).
• ☁️ Google Account: Open Google One – If the storage is 100% full, contacts are not synced.
• 🗑️ App cache: Clear cache for Contacts and Google Contacts in Settings → Annexes → Application management.

Redmi 9 also has a bug where the system mistakenly shows “enough memory” but actually reserves it for the MIUI update. In this case, it will help to restart the phone or force the cache through the Recovery Mode (clamp Volume up + Power when the phone is turned off).

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If the problem persists after cleaning the memory, try to save the contact not to Google account, but locally to the phone memory. To do this, select the phone option instead of Google when creating a contact.

2. synchronization conflict with a Google or Mi Account

Xiaomi smartphones are by default tied to two cloud services: Google Contacts and Mi Cloud. If sync with one of them is blocked, new contacts may not be saved or duplicated, for example, if sync with Google is disabled, contacts will only be stored locally and disappear after the phone is reset.

How to set up synchronization:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Synchronization.
2. Select Google → Your Account → Enable the Contacts slider.
3. Repeat your account for Mi (if you use it).
4. Restart your phone and try to keep the contact back.

An important caveat: Redmi 9 with MIUI 11 and below sometimes loses access to accounts. If you don't save contacts after you turn on sync, do:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Google Contacts → Rights → Include all permissions.

Interruptions in the "Contacts" application

The com.android.contacts app (the standard MIUI phonebook) may crash after updates or because of conflicts with other programs.

• The "Save" button does not respond to pressing.
• The app closes when you try to add a contact.
• A message is called “Save Error” without specification.

Decisions:

1. Data Clearance: Go to Settings → Annexes → Contacts → Warehouse → Clear the data. ⚠️ Warning: this will delete all unsynchronized contacts! pre-export them to the file VCF via app menu.
2. App Update: Check for updates in Google Play (even for system applications).
3. Installing an alternative: Try third-party contact managers like Simple Contacts or Truecaller.

If the crash occurred after the MIUI update, try rolling back the Contacts version through Settings → Apps → Three Dots → Reverse Updates. On Redmi 9, this will only work for apps updated through Google Play, not system updates.

Limitations of the energy saving regime

The MIUI Ultra Battery Saver feature aggressively limits the background activity of applications, including contact synchronization. If you notice that the problem occurred after activating this mode, check:

• 🔋 Is the mode enabled in the Settings → Battery → Energy saving regime.
• ⚡ Is there a "Contact" app in the exclusion list (Settings) → Battery → Optimizing the battery → All applications → Contacts → No restrictions).
• 🔄 Automatic synchronization is blocked (in the same battery menu).

Redmi 9 also has a bug where the background processes are not restored after the energy saving mode is gone.

1. Turn off the power saving mode.
2. Reboot the phone.
3. Manually run synchronization in Settings → Accounts → Google → Synchronize.

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If you use power saving mode frequently, add Contacts and Google Contacts to the exclusion list, which will prevent you from losing new contacts.

5. Damage to the contact database

In rare cases, the contact database file (contacts2.db) is corrupted due to a sudden power outage or file system failure.

• Contacts are not displayed in full (for example, without names or numbers).
• New contacts are retained, but disappear after the reboot.
• The Contacts app gives the error "Database is not available".

For recovery:

1. Create a backup of contacts through Settings → System and Device → Backup → Local Backup.
2. Delete the database file: Use a file manager (e.g. Mi File Explorer) with root or ADB rights: - Go to /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/ - Delete the contacts2.db file - Reboot the phone.
3. If there are no root rights, reset the Contacts settings (as in Section 3) and this will result in a new database.

⚠️ Attention: Deletion of the file contacts2.db Without backup, you will lose all local contacts (Google syncs will recover after re-synchronization).

6.Problems with SIM-card-slot

If you are trying to keep in touch with SIM-map, not in your phone memory or Google account, the problem may be related to:

• 📶 Damage. SIM: chip-scratch or wear of contacts.
• 🔌 Slot malfunction: oxidation or contamination of contacts in the phone.
• 📱 Incompatibility: the old SIM-Cards (e.g. Mini-SIM) may not support maintaining contacts.

How to check:

Redmi 9 also has a bug when the phone doesn’t recognize it. SIM-map MIUI. In this case, resetting network settings will help:

→ SIM-maps and mobile networks → Network reset

7. MIUI software errors and ways to fix them

Some versions of MIUI (especially 11.0.8-12.0.3 for Redmi 9) contain bugs that prevent the preservation of contacts.

• The com.android.contacts error has stopped when you open the phone book.
• Contacts are saved but not displayed in the call list.
• The Contacts app is constantly restarted.

Solutions in order to increase radicality:

1. MIUI Update: Check for updates in Settings → About Phone → System Update. For Redmi 9, the current version is MIUI 13+.
2. Reset application settings: Settings → System and device → Additional → Reset application settings.
3. Install custom recovery (TWRP) and clean the cache: requires unlocking the bootloader.
4. Full phone reset: Settings → The phone. → Resetting settings. ⚠️ Warning: Before resetting, export contacts to file VCF Backup your data via Mi Cloud or Google Drive.

Critical information for Redmi 9: if the problem appeared after the update to the MIUI 12.5+, Try to roll back to the previous version via Fastboot. instructions are available on the Xiaomi forum EU.

Export contacts to the file VCF|Save a backup copy in Mi Cloud|Record your Google and Mi Account details|Check that you know the password from the Mi Account (linked to the phone)-->

FAQ: Frequent questions about keeping contacts on Xiaomi Redmi 9