How to transfer photos from the cloud to the gallery of Xiaomi phone: all ways

Transferring photos from cloud storage to a local Xiaomi gallery is a challenge that almost every smartphone owner of the brand faces. Whether you use Google Photos, Mi Cloud or another cloud solution, the process of saving images to a device may not seem obvious, especially when it comes to mass uploading hundreds of files or maintaining the original quality of images.

In this article, we will analyze all the current ways to transfer photos from the cloud to the Xiaomi gallery, including nuances for different versions. MIUI (from MIUI 12 to MIUI 14), and consider common errors that may occur in the process, you will learn how to avoid duplicate files, why some photos may not appear in the gallery after downloading, and what to do if the cloud “hangs” when downloading. Special attention will be paid to the optimization of space on the device – because the transfer of a large volume of photos can quickly fill the internal memory.

Why Cloud Photos Are Not Shown in Xiaomi Gallery

One of the most common problems is that photos downloaded from the cloud do not appear in the standard Xiaomi gallery, and there are several reasons for this, and most of them are easy to eliminate:

• 📁 Incorrect save folder: By default, cloud services (such as Google Photos) save files to the Download or Pictures folder, which may not be crawled automatically by the gallery.
• 🔄 After uploading photos of the gallery, Xiaomi does not always immediately detect new files - it requires a forced update.
• 📱 No memory access rights: If you download a photo through a browser or third-party application, it may not have permission to write to the folder. DCIM.
• 🖼️ Unsupported format: Xiaomi gallery can ignore files in formats HEIC, WEBP or RAW, unless appropriate codecs are installed.

To check where files are saved, open Files (File Manager app) and manually find the Download or Pictures folder. If there are photos there but not displayed in the gallery, try moving them to the folder. DCIM/Camera — This is a standard location for images that is guaranteed to be scanned by the system.

⚠️ Note: If you use Mi Cloud, the photos downloaded through it are saved by default in the hidden.mi folder. To display them in the gallery, they must be manually moved to the.mi folder. DCIM or other visible directory.

Method 1: Transfer a photo from Google Photos to the Xiaomi Gallery

Google Photos is one of the most popular cloud storage for photos, and you can transfer pictures from there to Xiaomi in several ways. MIUI:

1. Open the Google Photos app on your Xiaomi.
2. Choose the album or individual photos you want to download. For mass selection, click and hold your finger on one of the pictures, then mark the others.
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Save to the device.
4. Wait until the download is complete. Progress will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.

By default, the photos will be saved to the folder. Pictures/Google Photos. But Xiaomi's gallery may not scan it automatically:

• 📂 Open the files. → find the folder Pictures/Google Photos.
• 📋 Select all the photos (long press). → Choose everything).
• 📤 Click Move and select the folder DCIM/Camera.

If the folders DCIM/Camera No, you can create it by hand. Once you move it, the photos should appear in the gallery through the 1–2 If that doesn't happen, restart the Gallery app or restart the phone.

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If the photos are stored in Google Photos in their original quality, they can be larger than 10-20 MB each. Before downloading, make sure that the phone has enough space, or use a memory card.

Method 2: Download photos from Mi Cloud to Xiaomi

Mi Cloud is a Xiaomi proprietary cloud that automatically syncs photos, contacts and notes to transfer photos from Mi Cloud to a local gallery:

1. Open your Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Select the Gallery and make sure that synchronization is enabled.
3. Click on Photo Management → Choose the right photos or albums.
4. Click Save to the device and wait for the download to complete.

Unlike Google Photos, Mi Cloud saves files to a hidden folder.mi/CloudPhoto. So they can be displayed in the gallery:

1. Open the files. → Turn on the display of hidden folders (three dots) → Settings → Show hidden files).
2. Find the folder.mi/CloudPhoto and copy the photos in DCIM/Camera.

If the.mi folder is missing, check if gallery sync is enabled in the Mi Cloud. Also make sure you are logged in to the same Xiaomi account that was used to upload photos to the cloud.

⚠️ Note: When you download a large number of photos from the Mi Cloud, you may experience an error "Not enough memory", even if there is free space on the device. In this case, try downloading photos in small batches (for 20-30 pieces).

Method 3: Transfer photos through the browser (universal method)

If you don't have access to a cloud storage app (like your work phone), you can download photos from your browser, and this method works for any cloud: Google Photos, Yandex Drive, Mail.ru Cloud, and others.

1. Open a browser (such as Chrome or Mi Browser) and log in to your cloud service.
2. Find the photos you need and highlight them (most services use a Ctrl combination to do this).+Click on PC or long-press on mobile version).
3. Click Download. Files will be saved to the Download folder.
4. Open the files. → Download, highlight the photos and move them to DCIM/Camera.

When downloading through the browser, pay attention to the following nuances:

• 🌐 Image quality: some clouds (e.g, VK Cloud) when downloading through the browser reduces the resolution of the photo. To maintain the original quality, use the official applications.
• 📦 Archives: If the service offers to download photos in the form of ZIP-archive, unpack it using the Files application (in MIUI There's a built-in archiver).
• 🔒 Avoid downloading photos over public Wi-Fi networks, especially if the photos contain personal information.

If the photos are not displayed in the gallery after moving, check their format. HEIC (iPhones are not supported by the Xiaomi gallery by default. HEIF Viewer from Google Play.

How to transfer photos from the cloud to Xiaomi memory card

If the phone's internal memory is full, you can save photos directly to the microSD.

1. Insert the memory card into the slot (most Xiaomi models support cards up to 1TB).
2. Open the Settings. → Memory and make sure the card is determined by the system.
3. When downloading a photo from the cloud, select the folder on the microSD in the save settings (for example, /storage/XXXX-XXXX/DCIM/Camera, where XXXX-XXXX — card).

If the cloud service doesn’t allow you to choose a save location (as is the case with Mi Cloud), do the following:

1. Download photos to your internal memory (they will be in your memory.mi/CloudPhoto).
2. Open the files. → Find the downloaded photos → highlight them.
3. Click Move and select a folder on the memory card (for example, DCIM/Camera).

To Xiaomi gallery display photos from memory card, make sure that the gallery settings include the option to Show files from the memory card. SD-For this, it's a map:

1. Open the Gallery → click on three points → Settings.
2. Find the Folder section and enable the display of folders from the memory card.

⚠️ Note: If you use a memory card in a format FAT32, It does not support files larger than 4GB. For storing large photos (e.g. in format) RAW) format the card in exFAT or NTFS (But keep in mind that MIUI may not support NTFS rootless).

Optimization of the place: how to transfer photos without duplication

When you move photos from the cloud to the gallery, it’s easy to experience duplicate files, especially if you’ve previously synced your photos with Mi Cloud or Google Photos.

• 🔍 Check existing files. Open the Gallery before downloading and make sure that the photos you want are not locally saved. Use the date or keyword search feature.
• 🗑️ Remove duplicates. After transferring, use applications like Files by Google or CCleaner that can find and delete duplicate files.
• 📊 Sort by folder. Create separate folders for photos from different clouds (e.g, Google_Photos, Mi_Cloud) And move the downloaded files there.

If you want to completely replace cloud-based copies with local ones, but are afraid of losing data, use the following algorithm:

1. Download all photos from the cloud to a separate folder (for example, Temp_Cloud_Photos).
2. Compare the contents of this folder to what is already in the gallery (for example, by date or file names).
3. Remove duplicates, leaving only unique pictures.
4. Move the remaining photos to DCIM/Camera.

To automate the process, you can use the Duplicate Files Fixer app, which scans the phone’s memory and finds identical files, even if they have different names.

Problem Solving: What to do if the photos are not downloaded

Sometimes, when you transfer photos from the cloud, you get errors, and let's look at the most common ones and how to fix them:

• 🚫 "Unable to download" in Google Photos: Check your Internet connection (switch from mobile data to Wi-Fi). Update the Google Photos app to the latest version. Clear the app's cache: Settings → Annexes → Google Photo → Memory. → Clear the cache.
• ⏳ "Download is "hanging" in Mi Cloud: Restart the Mi Cloud app. VPN or proxy if used. Try downloading photos via browser (cloud.mi.com).
• 📵 "Lack of memory": Free up space by removing unnecessary files or applications. Use a memory card (if supported); download photos in small batches (10-20 pieces each).
• 🔒 "No access to the folder": Check permissions for the application (such as Files or browser) in Settings → Permits, if used MIUI 13/14, Enable access to All files for the application.

If the problem persists, try an alternative download method, such as using the web version (photos.google.com) instead of Google Photos, and the official website for Mi Cloud.

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If the images are not displayed in the gallery, 90% In some cases, the problem is solved by moving files to the folder. DCIM/Camera or forced updating of the gallery cache.

FAQ: Frequent questions about moving photos from the cloud to Xiaomi