Where in Xiaomi are stored sound: all the ways to recorder, voice messages and system sounds

Why the recordings are “hiding” in MIUI

Have you recorded an important conversation on a Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 voice recorder, but can't find the file in the gallery? Or are you trying to recover a remote voice message from WhatsApp but don't know where to look? The problem isn't you - in MIUI firmware, the ways audio files are stored are scattered across several hidden folders, and their names depend on the system version and device model.

Unlike photos that automatically get into DCIM/Camera, Xiaomi audio recordings can be stored in 4+ different locations, from a standard voice recorder to a messenger cache. Moreover, after upgrading to MIUI 14, some paths have changed and old instructions from the Internet have ceased to work. In this article, we have collected the current routes for 2026 to all types of audio files, including system notifications and recordings of the on-screen voice recorder.

We warn you right away: some files are hidden from the user without root rights, and some folders (for example, Telegram cache) are encrypted, but even without root access, you can find 80% of the records - the main thing is to know where to look.

Xiaomi’s standard voice recorder: where 90% of users are looking (and why they don’t find it)

Most Xiaomi owners check the Recordings folder first, and it's a waste. Starting with MIUI 12, the standard recorder defaults to save files to:

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/sound_recorder/

But there are 3 pitfalls here:

• 🔍 The name of the folder depends on the region: on global firmware, it can be sound_recorder, Chinese for luyin.
• 📁 Files are sorted by date, but not by name: a record from 15.05.2026 will be called 20260515_143022.mp3, not “Meeting.mp3».
• 🔒 The folder is hidden in some file managers (for example, in the standard file manager). MI File Explorer needs to enable the display of hidden files).

If you didn’t find the entry here, check out the alternative paths:

⚠️ Note: If you connect your smartphone to your PC through MTP, folder MIUI You may not be able to see it in Windows Explorer. Use Total Commander or ES Show mode with hidden files.

2. Voice messages from messengers: WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber

The chat sounds are stored separately from the recorder, with each messenger using its own format and path, and the main difficulty is that the messenger cache is automatically cleared when there is a lack of memory, so old voice messages can disappear.

Here’s where to look for current files:

• 📱 WhatsApp: /storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Voice Notes/ (opus or.ogg files).
• 💬 Telegram: /storage/emulated/0/Telegram/Telegram Audio/ (Encrypted if Secret Chat is enabled).
• 🎧 Viber: /storage/emulated/0/Viber/media/Viber Voice Messages/ (file.m4a).
• 📩 WeChat (for Chinese models): /storage/emulated/0/Tencent/MicroMsg/voice2/ (file-extension).

Features of working with these files:

• 🔄 WhatsApp automatically converts voice messages to.opus to save space, and you'll need a player like this to listen to them on a PC. VLC.
• 🔐 In Telegram files from Secret Chat are stored in encrypted form and are not available without a password.
• ⏳ Viber posts are older 30 The days may be archived in /Viber/media/archived/.

💡

To prevent voice messages from being automatically deleted on WhatsApp, open chat → click on message → select Export → save file to Download or cloud.

3. System sounds and notifications: where ringtones and signals are stored

The alarms, notifications and calls in Xiaomi are divided into 2 categories:

1. Standard (stitched into firmware) - stored in /system/media/audio/ and not available without root.
2. Custom (downloaded by you) - lie in /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/ringtone/ or /storage/emulated/0/ZEDGE/ (if installed via the Zedge app).

To find the custom ringtone:

1. Open Settings → Sounds and vibration → Call melody.
2. Select your tune and click on “Information” (i icon).
3. The system will show the path to the file (for example, /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/ringtone/my_tone.mp3).

⚠️ Note: If you reset to factory settings, all custom ringtones are from the folder MIUI/ringtone To avoid this, transfer the files to the /Download/Audio/.

4. Screen recorder and call recordings: hidden folders

If you used the audio screen recording feature (available in Xiaomi starting with MIUI 12), the videos will be saved to:

/storage/emulated/0/Movies/ScreenRecords/

The audio track from these recordings can be stored separately in:

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/screenrecorder/audio/

With phone call records, it's more difficult:

• 📞 Standard recording of conversations (if included in Settings) → Recording of conversations: files are in /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/voicerecord/ (amr).
• 🚫 If the feature is disabled, you can only record a call through third-party applications (such as Cube Call Recorder), which save files to their folders.

Important: in some countries (e.g. the EU), recording calls without the consent of the interlocutor is prohibited by law; in Xiaomi, for European firmware, this feature is often disabled at the system level.

1. Make sure the feature is enabled in Settings → Record conversations

2. Check the /MIUI/voicerecord/ folder through the file manager

3. If there are no files, try third-party software (e.g. Automatic Call Recorder)

4. Check if microphone access is blocked for the Phone app-->

5. How to find remote sound recordings: data recovery

If the record is missing from the folder, you can try to restore it. Xiaomi has 2 features that complicate the process:

1. MIUI overwrites deleted files faster than standard Android (due to aggressive cache cleaning).
2. Messenger folders (such as WhatsApp) can use their encryption.

Step-by-step instructions for recovery:

1. 🛑 Turn off the internet immediately and don’t write new files – this will reduce the chance of overwriting.
2. 📱 Install a recovery app (such as DiskDigger or Recuva for PC).
3. 🔍 Select a section /storage/emulated/0/ and start a deep scan (may take a while). 1-2 hour).
4. 🎵 Look for files with extensions.m4a,.mp3,.amr,.opus.

For the messaging entries:

• On WhatsApp, remote voice messages can be restored from a backup (if any) to:

Telegram

⚠️ Note: If you have used the garbage cleanup function in MIUI, The chances of recovery are close to zero – the system physically resets the memory sectors.

6.Transfer of sound recordings to PC or cloud: secure backup

To avoid losing important records, you should set up automatic copying in advance. Xiaomi has 3 reliable ways to:

Method 1: Synchronize with Mi Cloud

• 🌥️ Go to Settings. → Accounts. → Mi Cloud → Backup.
• 📁 Enable the Multimedia option (includes recordings from a standard dictaphone).
• ⚠️ Cons: Free only available 5 GB and records take up a lot of space.