Where to store contacts on Xiaomi: a complete guide to all places and ways to restore

Have you ever lost contacts after resetting or changing your phone? On Xiaomi smartphones, contacts can be stored in five different places — and not always where you expect. In this article, we’ll take a look at all possible locations: from the obvious (how to do it). SIM-map) to hidden (e.g. backups to MIUI You will learn how to check each storage, how to move contacts between them and what to do if they suddenly disappear.

The thing about MIUI is that it can automatically sync contacts with different accounts, and sometimes it works too well. For example, once you log in to a new Google account, your phone can hide old contacts by replacing them with a blank list, and we'll show you how to avoid those situations and where to look for "lost ones." And if you use Redmi, POCO or Black Shark, don't worry: all of these brands work on the same platform, and the instructions will work for them too.

Important: If you plan to reset your phone to factory settings or change firmware, check all the contact repositories first. MIUI doesn’t always warn you that local contacts (those that aren’t tied to your account) will be permanently deleted.

1. Local contacts: where the phone book is stored directly on the device

Local contacts are those records that are stored directly in the phone’s memory, not in the cloud or on the phone. SIM-In the map. MIUI They're stored in the Contacts app database (or People in English:

/data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db

Access to this folder is only possible with root or ADB permissions, but there is an easier way to check for local contacts:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Tap on three points (⋮) top-right → Contact management.
3. Select Local Contacts (or Phone Contacts).

If there are records here, they are only stored on your Xiaomi and are not synced to the cloud, and this is the riskiest storage option: if you reset your phone or break, those contacts will be lost forever.

💡

To export local contacts, go to Contact Management → Import/Export → Export to.vcf. Save the file to a memory card or to the cloud.

⚠️ Note: If the Contact Management menu does not include Local Contacts, then all your contacts are linked to accounts (Google, Mi or Google). SIM). There are no local phone records.

Contacts to SIM-map: how to see and move them

SIM-The cards can store a limited number of contacts (usually up to 250 entries) and are not always visible by default on Xiaomi, you need to enable manual display:

1. Open Contacts. → three-point (⋮) → Settings.
2. Put your hands on the contact line.
3. Activate the switch next to SIM-map SIM 1/SIM 2, if you have two cards).

Contacts with SIM display with the chip icon 🪪. They have two key limitations:

• 📛 You can save only a name and one number (without additional fields such as email or address).
• 🔄 When transferring to another phone, there are often problems with encoding (instead of Cyrillic – Krakozabra).

To transfer your SIM contacts to your phone or to the cloud:

1. In Contact Management, select Import/Export.
2. Tap Import with SIM-Maps and where to save (for example, in a Google account).

3. Google Sync: How to Check and Recover Contacts

If you use a Google account, your contacts are automatically synced to Google servers, which is the most reliable way to store them, to check if sync is enabled:

1. Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync (or Passwords and accounts in newer versions of MIUI).
2. Select your Google account.
3. Make sure the contact switch is active.

If sync is disabled, but you remember that contacts were previously on Google, try forcefully updating the data:

Settings → Accounts → Google → Your email → Synchronize

To recover contacts from Google after a phone reset:

• 🔄 When you first turn on your phone, log in to the same Google account you used before.
• 📥 Wait for automatic synchronization (can take up to 10 minutes).
• 🔍 If contacts do not appear, check the basket on contacts.google.com - they are stored there for 30 days after removal.

4. Xiaomi Cloud (Mi Account): Where to look and how to enable backup

Xiaomi offers its own cloud-based contact storage, the Mi Cloud, which operates independently of Google, and many users don't even know that their contacts are synced there.

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account.
2. Sign in to your Xiaomi account (if you haven’t signed in earlier).
3. Tap Mi Cloud → Synchronization.
4. Make sure the contact switch is on.

If sync is active, your contacts are automatically backed up to the Xiaomi cloud to restore them to the new phone:

• 📱 Sign in to the same Mi Account when setting up your device.
• ⚙️ Enable contact synchronization in Mi Cloud.
• 🔄 Wait 5-15 minutes (depending on internet speed).

An important nuance: if you delete a contact on your phone, it will disappear from the Mi Cloud (unlike Google, which has a shopping cart).

Settings → Memory → Backup → Local Backup

Sign in to Mi Account on your phone

Open the Mi Cloud → Synchronization

Make sure that "Contacts" are included

Check the date of the last synchronization

Export contacts to.vcf file (just in case)-->

5. MIUI backups: where are stored and how to extract contacts

MIUI automatically backs up data, including contacts, if Automatic Backup is enabled, and these copies are stored in two locations:

To retrieve contacts from local backup:

1. Go to Settings → Memory → Backup.
2. Select the last copy (by date).
3. Restore and tick the Contacts.
4. Confirm recovery.

If the phone doesn’t turn on, but you have access to internal memory via TWRP or ADB, you can manually copy /MIUI/backup/AllBackup to your computer, and you’ll need MIUI Backup Extractor (available on the XDA Developers forums) to retrieve data from it.

⚠️ Warning: Restore from backup will overwrite current contacts. If your phone has important records, export them to.vcf first.

6.How to Find Lost Contacts: 4 Steps to Recover

If your contacts suddenly disappear, don't panic.

1. Check all accounts: Open Contacts → Contact Management and see which sources are active (Google, Mi Account, SIM).
2. Look in the basket: 🗑️ Google Contacts has a shopping cart (stores deleted records for 30 days). 🧹 There is no Recycle Bin in Mi Cloud, but you can recover it from backup.

Check the hidden contacts

MIUI

Contacts.

Settings

Show contacts without numbers

Use third-party tools

Dr.Fone

GT Recovery

root

If contacts are missing after the MIUI update, try resetting the Contacts app settings:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Contacts → Storage → Clear data

Then restart the phone and wait for the synchronization to happen again.

💡

The first thing to do when contacts are lost is to check if they are hidden in the display settings, often solved by turning on all sources (Google, Mi Account, SIM).

7 How to Transfer Contacts from One Xiaomi to Another: 3 Ways to Work

When changing a Xiaomi phone, you can do the transfer of contacts in several ways, depending on where they are stored:

The most reliable way is to use a Google account or Mi Cloud, as these services automatically update data. If you prefer local storage, export your contacts regularly to a.vcf file and save it to the cloud (for example, Google Drive or Yandex Disk).

To transfer via.vcf file:

• 📤 On an old phone: Contacts → Contact management → Export (select source and save file).
• 📥 On the new phone: Contacts → Contact management → Import (select the.vcf file).

Frequent questions about contacts on Xiaomi