Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the need to save important conversation, whether it is a business agreement or order confirmation. However, after the call is completed, many users are lost, not realizing exactly where the system saved the audio file. The standard MIUI interface and the new HyperOS have their own navigation features that can confuse even an experienced owner of equipment.
The search for the record depends on whether the fixation was done through the built-in call function or a third-party recorder. In most cases, the system automatically redirects the user to the desired folder, but if this does not happen, you will have to search the file manually through the system utilities. Below we will discuss all possible search options.
There are several main places where audio recordings of conversations can be stored, such as a built-in caller, a Dictophone app, a folder in a file manager, or even a cloud storage. Understanding the logic of how Android works on the Xiaomi shell will help you quickly find the right files without unnecessary fuss.
Search in the application Phone and Call Log
The most obvious and quick way to find a record is to check your call history directly in the Phone app. If you used the standard call recording feature, the system often links the audio file to a particular contact or number.
Find the conversation you want in the list. You can see a little voice recorder icon or a text label called Record under your subscriber name or phone number. You can click on that element to start playing right away. If you don't have the icon, try clicking on the number or contact name to reveal the detailed call menu.
⚠️ Note: In some versions MIUI (especially global) the entry icon may disappear from the log if the file has been moved or deleted from memory, even if the visual tag in the log remains.
In the call detail menu that opens, look for the Listen button or the speaker icon, and if you click on it, you'll be taken to the built-in player interface, where you can not only listen to a conversation, but also share or delete a file, which is the most convenient way to quickly check content without searching folders.
If the standard path didn't work, maybe it was a third-party application or the system settings were changed, so the file might not be linked to the log contact, so you should look at the next method of searching through the system's voice-note app.
Checking the Dictaphone application
The second place MIUI defaults to is sending all audio recordings, including conversations, is the Dictaphone app. Even if you didn't manually run it to record a conversation, the system call module often uses its database to store files. Open the Dictaphone app on your desktop or in the Tools folder.
Inside the app, go to the All Records or Conversations tab, and here files are often sorted by date of creation. Notice the file names: conversation records are usually date and time formats, for example, 20231025_143005, or tagged with a call.
- 📁 Sorting: Use date sorting filters to find the file created at the time of the call.
- 🎧 Listening: Click on the file to play directly in the app.
- 📤 Export: Through the menu (three dots) you can send a file to the messenger or save to the cloud.
It is important to note that in newer versions of the shell, access to the microphone and recording conversations is limited by Google's security policies. Therefore, in some regions, the Dictator app may not display phone records if they were made through a Google system call rather than Xiaomi, in which case the file should be searched deeper in the file system.
Why are the old records missing?
Search through Explorer (File Manager)
If visual search through applications has failed, you need to go to manual search in the file system. For this, use the built-in Explorer (or File Manager) application. This is the most reliable way to find a file, even if the links to it in the system are lost.
In the conductor, go to the Internal Memory section. You need to find a folder with the name MIUI. Inside it, look for a folder. sound_recorder. This is where all the audio recordings of the device are stored by default:
/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/sound_recorder/There may be subfolders inside this folder, for example, call_rec (recordings of conversations) or rec_rec (If you didn't find the folder MIUI, Try searching for the Recordings folder at the root of internal memory – in some versions of Android, the system stores audio there.
⚠️ Note: When connecting the phone to the computer USB folder MIUI It can be hidden or only available in file transfer mode (MTP). Make sure the connection mode is set up correctly.
For ease of search, you can use the file sorting function by date of change, which will help you cut off old files and quickly find a record made today, and also pay attention to the file extension: the standard format is.m4a or.mp3.
☑️ Search algorithm in conductor
Cloud storage Mi Cloud and Google Drive
Modern smartphones are often set to automatically sync data. If you have sync enabled, a copy of the record can be in the cloud, even if you accidentally deleted it from your phone.
Go to Settings → Mi → Cloud Account. Check if the sync is activated for the voice recorder or audio recordings. If so, the file can be stored on Xiaomi servers. You can use the web version of the service at i.mi.com to access files.
The second option is Google Drive. Many users set up automatic downloads of folders from audio to Google Drive. Open the Google Drive app and check the Backups section or folder where sync is configured from your device.
| Source | The path to the file | Probability of existence |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in bell | MIUI/sound_recorder/call_rec | Tall. |
| Third-party recorder | Recordings/Call | Medium |
| Google Phone | Phone/Call recordings | Depends on the version. |
| Third-party annexes | Android/data/[applicant name] | Low (complicated access) |
Cloud storage is especially important if you've changed your phone or reset your settings, and often the files are hidden in backups that users forget.
Features of Google Phone (Google Dialer)
On global versions of Xiaomi smartphones (Europe, India, Globals), the standard MIUI caller has often been replaced by Google Phone, which makes significant adjustments to the process of searching and storing records. The interface and paths to files here are different from the classic MIUI.
In the Google Phone app, the recordings are usually in the Recent tab, you click on a specific number, and then select Listen to the recording. Physically, the files in this call are stored along the way:
/storage/emulated/0/Phone/Call recordings/However, starting with certain versions of Android (11 and above), access to this folder for third-party applications and sometimes even for the user through Explorer can be limited by the Scoped Storage security policies.This means that you can hear the recording in the call, but not see the file in Explorer.
💡
If the file is not visible in the Explorer, try sending it through the call menu (three dots → Share) to any messenger or mail - so you will get access to the file.
Also, it should be borne in mind that when recording a conversation, a loud recording warning is always sounded for both interlocutors, and it is impossible to disable this warning using standard methods on global firmware, since this is a requirement of the legislation of many countries.
What to do if the record is not found
If none of the above methods helped find the file, there are several reasons why it could happen: the first and most common cause is memory overflow. If there is no free space on the phone, the system cannot save the new audio file, and the recording is interrupted or not created at all.
The second reason could be a permission conflict. Once you upgraded, the Phone or Recorder app might lose the memory permission. Check settings: Settings → Applications → All applications → Find the call → Permissions. Make sure that access to the memory and microphone is allowed.
- 🔍 Hidden Files: Enable the Display of Hidden Files in Explorer Settings.
- 🗑️ Recycle Bin: Check the Recycle Bin folder in the gallery or conductor, the file may have been deleted accidentally.
- 📱 Reboot: Sometimes a simple phone restart updates the media database and files become visible.
⚠️ Note: Using third-party software to recover deleted audio files often requires Root rights and does not guarantee results, as the memory sector may have already been overwritten with new data.
As a last resort, if you recorded through a third-party app (not a system app), look for the folder with the name of that app in the root of internal memory or in the Android/data folder. Access to the latter in new versions of Android is also limited, and you may need a special file manager to view, for example, Total Commander or Files by Google.
💡
Systematic folder checks MIUI/sound_recorder and Phone/Call recordings decide 90% trouble finding records.
Set up automatic recording and sorting
To avoid future search problems, you should set up automatic entry for certain numbers or all incoming/outgoing numbers immediately, which ensures that the file is created and placed in a place you know. Go to the settings of the Phone application (three dots or gear).
Find Call Record. You can activate Automatic Record here, you can choose to record all calls or only certain numbers, which is especially useful for business users who care about keeping all conversations in mind.
Also, this menu often indicates the path to the storage folder. Remember or write this path. In some custom MIUI builds, you can manually change the path by transferring the record folder to the SD memory card, which will make it easier to access the archive through the computer.