How to quickly and safely transfer data from Honor to Xiaomi: from contacts to apps

Moving from Honor to Xiaomi is not just a brand change, but also a need to transfer all the important data: contacts, photos, messages and even app settings. Many users face problems when trying to transfer information between these two ecosystems, especially if previously used exclusively Huawei or Honor devices with their branded services like Huawei Mobile Cloud.

In this article, we will discuss 5 working ways to transfer data, from the official Mi Mover tool to manually copying through a computer, which method is suitable for specific types of files, how to avoid data loss during transfer, and what to do if the standard methods do not work. Special attention will be paid to the transfer of data from Honor phones to the Xiaomi model 2023-2026 (Redmi Note 13, POCO X6, Xiaomi 14, etc., where conflicts can arise due to differences in Android versions and other versions of the device. MIUI.

Whether you’re planning a full migration or a selective transfer, here are step-by-step instructions for both Magic UI (Honor) and MIUI (Xiaomi) operating systems.

1.The official way: Mi Mover by Xiaomi

Mi Mover is a proprietary application from Xiaomi designed to wirelessly transfer data from Android devices (including Honor) to smartphones running MIUI. It supports the transfer of contacts, messages, photos, videos, audio files, notes and even some application settings. The main advantage is that it does not require root rights and works on most models released after 2018.

To use Mi Mover, follow the following steps:

• 📱 Install the Mi Mover app on both devices: Honor (from Google Play or APKMirror) and Xiaomi (usually preinstalled).
• 🔗 Connect both phones to the same Wi-Fi network (or create an access point on Xiaomi).
• 📲 On Xiaomi, run Settings → The phone. → Data Transfer (Mi Mover).
• 🔄 On Honor, select the role "Sender" and on Xiaomi, "Receiver." Scan. QR-code PIN join.
• 📁 Select data types to transfer (e.g. Contacts, Gallery, Messages) and confirm the transfer.

Charge both phones at least 50% | Make sure Xiaomi has enough free space | Turn off VPNs and firewalls | Backup Honor (in case of a crash) | Use stable Wi-Fi (not mobile internet)

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The speed of transmission depends on the amount of data and the stability of the network, and on average 10 GB of files are transferred in 15 to 30 minutes.

⚠️ Note: If you have Magic installed on Honor UI 7.0+ (or EMUI 12+), You may need to further allow access to files manually through Settings → Annexes → Mi Mover → Permissions. Without it, the app won't see media files.

Mi Mover|Google Account|OTG|Bluetooth |Cable |Computer |Never carried over

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2. Move through Google Account (for contacts, calendar and mail)

If you only need to migrate contacts, calendar events and email, the easiest way is to sync through Google Account, which works on all Android devices, including Honor and Xiaomi, and does not require additional apps.

Instructions:

1. On Honor, go to Settings → Accounts → Google and enable sync for Contacts, Calendar and Gmail.
2. Wait for the sync to complete (check in Settings → Accounts → Google → Account Management → Sync).
3. On Xiaomi, add the same Google Account through Settings → Accounts and Sync → Add an account.
4. Enable synchronization for the same data categories.

Advantages of the method:

• 🔄 Automatic update of contacts when changes occur.
• ☁️ Data is stored in the cloud and accessible from any device.
• 🚀 Speed – synchronization takes a few minutes.

⚠️ Note: If your contacts are saved to Huawei Cloud or locally on Honor SIM-maps, you must export them to your Google Account first. → Settings → Imports/Exports → Export to file VCF, Then import this file to Google Contacts via the web version of contacts.google.com.

3. File transfer via OTG cable or adapter

For transferring large amounts of data (tens of gigabytes of photos, videos or music), the best option is a direct connection via a cable. OTG or USB-This is 2-3 times faster than wireless alternatives and is independent of Internet speed.

You'll need:

• 🔌 Cable USB-C — USB-C (If both phones are supported OTG) adapter USB-C — USB-A + cable.
• 📂 File Manager on both devices (e.g. Mi File Manager on Xiaomi and Files by Google on Honor).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Honor to Xiaomi via cable. Xiaomi will receive a connection notification USB-Devices – Select File Transfer (MTP).
2. On Xiaomi, open the file manager and go to the section USB-device (or Honor).
3. Copy the required folders (for example, DCIM for photo, Download for downloads) for internal memory or SD-Xiaomi.
4. To speed up the process, use the Select Everything and Copy function with subsequent insertion.

1. Reconnect the cable (sometimes changing the port helps).

2. On Honor, enable Settings → System → Developer Mode → Debugging via USB.

3. Use the original Xiaomi cable (some cheap cables do not support data transmission).

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Transmission speeds through cable can reach 40-60 MB/s (depending on the USB version).

4. Wireless transmission via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct

If you don't have cable or stable Wi-Fi, you can use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct, which is a technique that is suitable for transferring small files (up to 1-2 GB), such as individual photos or documents, and for large volumes, they are inefficient because of the slow speed.

Bluetooth:

1. Turn on Bluetooth on both devices (Settings → Connections → Bluetooth).
2. Make Honor detectable and connect to it with Xiaomi.
3. In Honor file manager, select files → Share → Bluetooth and select Xiaomi.
4. Confirm acceptance on Xiaomi.

Wi-Fi Direct:

• 📶 Activate Wi-Fi Direct on Honor (Settings) → Wi-Fi → Wi-Fi Direct).
• 🔍 On Xiaomi, find the Honor device in the same section and connect.
• 📎 Use a file manager to send data (similar to Bluetooth, but faster).

⚠️ Note: When transmitted via Bluetooth, files may lose metadata (for example, the date of the photo creation.

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Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct are convenient for transferring small files, but are not suitable for full data migration. For large volumes, use a cable or Mi Mover.

5. Transfer over computer (Windows/Mac)

If none of the previous methods work (for example, because of incompatibility of Android versions), you can use a computer-based intermediary, which is universal and works even with outdated models.

You'll need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows or Mac.
• 🔌 Two. USB-cable (or one with a splitter).
• 📂 Copyware (e.g., Total Commander or Standard Explorer).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Honor to your computer and select File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Copy the folders you want (for example, DCIM\Camera for photos) to your computer’s hard drive.
3. Disable Honor and connect Xiaomi, also in MTP mode.
4. Transfer the copied files to Xiaomi (for example, to the Pictures or Download folder).

Advantages of the method:

• 🔄 Ability to edit files before perenosom (e.g., video conversion).
• 🛡️ Minimum risk of data loss (there is an intermediate copy on the PC).
• 📊 Convenient for sorting files (you can decompose in folders in advance).

6. data transfer from specific applications (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.)

Some applications (such as instant messengers or games) store data in closed folders that are not portable by standard methods.

WhatsApp:

• 💬 Backup your Honor chats through WhatsApp Settings → chat → Backup (save to Google Drive or locally).
• 📥 On Xiaomi, install WhatsApp, log in to the same account and restore chats from backup.

Telegram:

• ☁️ All chats and media files are automatically synced to the Telegram cloud.
• 📁 For local files (uploaded to Save Messages), copy the Honor Telegram folder to Xiaomi via cable.

Games (e.g. Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile)

• 🎮 Use an account link (Google Play Games, Facebook, Mi Account).
• 🔄 On Xiaomi, install the game, log in to the same account and download saves.

⚠️ Note: To transfer data from Huawei Health to Mi Fitness (Xiaomi), you will need to export the story to a.csv file via the web version of Huawei Health, and then import it to Zepp Life (the application for Xiaomi devices).

Frequent problems and their solutions

When transferring data from Honor to Xiaomi, users often encounter the following errors:

If none of the methods worked, try alternative transfer apps:

• 📱 Clone Phone (from Huawei but works with Xiaomi).
• 🔄 Send Anywhere (wireless transmission by code).
• ☁️ TeraBox (cloud storage with 1TB free).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions