Where to store your phone calls on Xiaomi Redmi Note 8: 5 ways to find and recover

Have you been looking for a recording of an important conversation on your Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 but can't find it? Or want to set up an automatic recording but don't know where the files are saved? This problem is familiar to many Xiaomi smartphone owners - especially after MIUI updates, when standard file paths change and the records suddenly disappear from their usual folders.

In this article, we will analyze all possible locations for storing call records on Redmi Note 8 (including hidden system directories), learn how to configure automatic recording through built-in tools. MIUI, We also want to restore deleted files using third-party utilities, and we will focus on the features of the Note 8 model with firmware. MIUI 11-14, where the logic of saving records is different from new Xiaomi devices.

We warn you right away: if you have used third-party recording apps (such as Cube Call Recorder or ACR), files can be stored in unexpected places, as we will discuss below. And if the records are lost after resetting, do not panic: they can still be returned!

1. Standard place of storage of records in MIUI

By default, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 saves the call records in the system folder, but its location depends on the firmware version. In MIUI 11-12, the path looks like this:

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/sound_recorder/call_rec/

In MIUI 13-14, Xiaomi moved the files to a different directory:

/storage/emulated/0/Recordings/CallRecord/

To find these folders:

1. Open any file manager (e.g., the built-in Explorer or Total Commander).
2. Enable the display of hidden files in the manager settings (usually the item “Show hidden folders”).
3. Follow one of the paths mentioned above.

Record files have the.amr or.mp3 and are named by pattern: call_rec_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.amr, where YYYYMMDD — date, HHMMSS — talk-time.

⚠️ Attention: If the folder call_rec It's empty, but you've been recording it, so check the settings of the Dictator. MIUI Call recording disabled by default due to Android restrictions 10+.

Check the permissions for the Dictophone application in Settings → Apps → Permissions

Make sure that call recording is enabled in Settings → System applications → Recorder → Call recording

Update your firmware to the latest version of MIUI (older versions may not work)

Try to find records through a file search (type in.amr or.mp3)

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2. Alternative storage locations: where else records may be

If there are no records in standard folders, check these directories:

• 📁 Download folder: /storage/emulated/0/Download/ — Sometimes records are saved if you manually exported them from the application.
• 📁 Cash app: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.miui.voicerecord/ — There may be temporary files here.
• 📁 Google Drive or Mi Cloud: If sync is enabled, records can automatically be uploaded to the cloud (check in Google Drive» → «Backups or "Mi Cloud» → «Records»).
• 📁 folder DCIM: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/ — Rarely, but some apps save records here.

The records can also be stored in the Phone application database to extract them:

1. Install SQLite Editor from Google Play.
2. Open the database /data/data/com.android.contacts/databases/contacts2.db.
3. Go to the calllog table and find the column recording_uri — There may be links to the records here.

⚠️ Attention: To access the /data/data/ You need root access. Without it, you can't view this folder. ADB (guideline).

Yeah, I never found it.|Yeah, but he did.|No, I always did.|I don't record conversations.-->

3. How to enable automatic call recording on Redmi Note 8

If the recordings are not automatically maintained, check the settings:

1. Open the phone application (pipe icon).
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner → “Settings”.
3. Select "Call Record."
4. Activate the Auto Record switch.
5. Tell me which calls to record: all, only outgoing or incoming.

In some MIUI firmware, the call record may be hidden to unlock it:

adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy 1

This command must be entered through ADB (the ADB setup instructions are in the next section). After you do, restart your phone and check the settings again.

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If the recording doesn’t work even after you turn on the auto record, try installing a third-party app, such as Cube Call Recorder ACR. It bypasses Android’s limitations and records both ends of the conversation (your voice and the interlocutor).

4. Recovering deleted call records

If the records have been deleted, you can try to restore them with specialized utilities.The best options for the Redmi Note 8:

• 🔍 DiskDigger – Searches for deleted files by signatures (supports.amr and.mp3).
• 🔍 Recuva (via PC) – connect your phone in mode MTP And scan your internal memory.
• 🔍 GT Recovery – works without root, but takes a long time to scan.
• 🔍 EaseUS MobiSaver – a paid solution with a high recovery rate.

Instructions for recovery through DiskDigger:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Select “Full Scan” (requires root for deep search).
3. Mark the file types: Audio and AMR.
4. Wait until the scan is finished (it can take up to 30 minutes).
5. Save the files found on SD-map.

⚠️ Attention: The more you use your phone after deleting the records, the lower the chances of recovery. When you delete the file, only the link to it in the file system is erased, and the data itself remains on the disk until it is overwritten:

• Do not install new applications.
• Don't take any video/photos.
• Don't update the firmware.

5.Use ADB to search for records (for advanced)

If standard methods don’t work, you can try finding records through Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which is a good way to do it if you have experience with the command line.

Instructions:

1. Install ADB on your PC (download Google’s Platform Tools).
2. Enable USB debugging on your phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to become a developer), then Settings → Additional → Developers → Debugging over USB.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell su find / -name"*.amr" 2>/dev/null This will find all files with the.amr extension on the device.

If you have a lot of records, filter them by date:

find / -name"*.amr" -newermt"2026-01-01" 2>/dev/null

This command will only show files created after January 1, 2026.

To copy the found records on the PC:

adb pull /path/to/file.amr C:\Record calls\

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ADB is a powerful tool, but it requires caution: Do not delete or modify files in system folders (/system/, /vendor/).

6. Third-party recording applications: where they store files

If you are using third-party applications (e.g. Cube Call Recorder, ACR, Call Recorder by Lovekesh) rather than a standard Xiaomi voice recorder, the files may be stored elsewhere.

If you don’t remember which app you used, try searching for all the entries in the folders:

adb shell find /sdcard/ -type f \( -name".amr" -o -name".mp3" -o -name".3gp" -o -name".m4a" \)

This team searches for files with extensions typical of call records in all available non-root folders.

7. Frequent problems and their solutions

Here are the situations faced by owners of Redmi Note 8, and how to solve them:

• 🔇 Recording ends after 30 seconds: The problem is battery saving settings. Add the Dictator or Phone app to exceptions: Settings → Battery → Optimizing the battery → All applications → Select the application → No restrictions.
• 🔇 Recorded only my voice: This is the limitation of Android 10+. The solution is to use apps like Cube ACR, This is a limit that is circumvented through an additional microphone.
• 🔇 Records are not saved to the memory card: Check permissions for the application to write to external storage. Also, the card must be formatted as internal memory (c Settings) → Warehouse).
• 🔇 After updating MIUI records are missing: Xiaomi sometimes changes paths to files. ADB (Section 5) or check cloud backups.

If none of these things worked, maybe the problem is the hardware malfunction of the microphone.

1. Open the standard Dictophone and make a test record.
2. If the recording is not saved or the sound is distorted, the microphone is a problem.
3. If the recording is maintained normally, but calls are not recorded - the problem is in the settings or firmware.

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If you lose your MIUI recordings after the update, try to roll back to the previous firmware version. To do this, download the desired version from the Xiaomi Firmware Updater website and swipe through Fastboot or Recovery.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions