How to transfer files from one Xiaomi to another: all the ways of 2026

File transfers between Xiaomi smartphones are often a headache for users, especially when it comes to tens of gigabytes of photos, 4K videos or work documents. In 2026, owners of Redmi devices, POCO and the Xiaomi 13/14 line have at least 7 proven ways to share data — from built-in Mi Share to little-known features of Nearby Share and direct cable connections. But which one is the fastest? Which keeps the original quality of files? And why sometimes transfers are cut off in half?

In this guide, we will take all the current methods into account the limitations of MIUI 14/15, compare their speed on real tests (see the table below), and show how to avoid typical errors. For example, did you know that when transferring over Wi-Fi Direct to Xiaomi 13 Pro, the speed can drop to 2 MB / s if you do not turn off power saving? Or that a USB-C cable allows you to transfer files at speeds up to 480 Mbit / s, but only with the right MTP protocol setting?

Whether you need to send 500 photos from your vacation or transfer 10 GB of video from the Redmi Note 12 to the new Xiaomi 14 Ultra, here you will find the best solution. And if you are interested in the nuances of a particular model, use the FAQ at the end of the article, where we have collected answers to questions on POCO F5, Redmi K60 and other devices.

1.Mi Share – Xiaomi’s built-in feature for file transfer

Mi Share (formerly Xiaomi Quick Share) is a proprietary data exchange protocol preinstalled on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones with MIUI 12 and later. It works on Wi-Fi Direct technology, which theoretically should provide speeds up to 10 MB / s. However, in practice, users face freezes and breaks - especially when transferring files larger than 1 GB.

To avoid problems, follow this algorithm:

• 📱 Activate Mi Share on both devices: Go to Settings → Connections and sharing → Mi Share and turn on the slider. Make sure visibility is set to "All devices".
• 🔍 Select files: in the gallery or file manager (Files by Google or standard file manager) MIUI File Manager) click "Share" → "Mi Share".
• 🔄 Confirm the connection: the second phone will request to receive files — confirm it. If the devices do not find each other, restart Mi Share on both smartphones.
• ⚡ Do not interrupt the process: when transferring large files (>500MB) turn off the power saving in the battery settings for the Mi Share app.

Turn off the power saving mode for Mi Share

Make sure that both phones have Wi-Fi enabled

Close background applications (especially messengers)

Check the free space on the receiving device-->

The transmission speed through Mi Share depends on the smartphone model and the version of MIUI. For example, on Xiaomi 13T Pro with MIUI 14, the average speed is 6-8 MB / s, while on Redmi 10A it drops to 2-3 MB / s. If the transmission freezes by 99%, try:

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI 15 (e.g. on the POCO F5 Pro) Mi Share may conflict with Nearby Share. Turn off Nearby Share in Google settings before using it (Settings) → Google → Devices and sharing).

2. Nearby Share is Google’s alternative to Xiaomi

Nearby Share (formerly Android Beam) is a universal protocol from Google that works on all Android devices, including Xiaomi. Unlike Mi Share, it supports file transfers between smartphones of different brands (for example, Xiaomi and Samsung), but the speed is usually lower – about 3-5 MB / s.

How to use Nearby Share on Xiaomi:

1. Make sure that both phones have the latest Google Play Services installed (update to Play Market if needed).
2. Activate the function: Settings → Google → Devices and Sharing → Nearby Share.
3. Select files in the gallery or file manager, click Share → Nearby Share.
4. On the second phone, confirm the file acceptance. Devices should be no more than 5 meters away.

The main disadvantage of Nearby Share is that it automatically compresses videos and photos when transmitting. For example, video in 4K resolution can be converted to 1080p if it is larger than 500 MB. To avoid this, archive files to ZIP before sending (use MIUI File Manager or RAR for Android).

Mi Share (Xiaomi)

Nearby Share (Google)

Bluetooth

USB-C cable

Cloud services-->

Bluetooth 3: Slowly but Stable

Transferring files via Bluetooth is the most versatile, but also the slowest way, rarely faster than 1-2 MB/s, but it works even without the Internet and does not require additional settings, it is the best option for transferring small files (<50 MB), such as contacts (.vcf) or documents (.pdf,.docx).

Instructions for transmission:

• 🔵 Turn on Bluetooth on both devices: Swipe down the notification bar and hold the Bluetooth icon.
• 🔍 On the sending phone, click "Device Search" and select the second Xiaomi from the list. Confirm pairing (password is usually 0000 or 1234).
• 📎 In the file manager, select the necessary files, click "Share" → "Bluetooth and select the associated device.
• ✅ On the receiving phone, confirm the receipt of files in the notification.

⚠️ Attention: On Xiaomi with MIUI 14+ When you transmit via Bluetooth, you may have a "failed to send a file" error, so to fix it, restart both devices and re-pair the pairing.

To speed up the process, you can use Bluetooth 5.0+, which supports Xiaomi 12/13/14, Redmi K50/60 and POCO F4/F5. However, even in this case, the speed will not exceed 3 MB / s due to the limitations of the OBEX protocol used in Android for file sharing.

4. Wi-Fi Direct: High speed without internet

Wi-Fi Direct allows you to transfer files at speeds up to 10-15 MB / s (on Xiaomi 13 Ultra with Wi-Fi 6E - up to 20 MB / s), without requiring a connection to the router. This method is ideal for transferring large amounts of data (5-50 GB), but has nuances:

• 📶 On both phones, turn on Wi-Fi Direct: Settings → Wi-Fi → Wi-Fi Direct (on some models, the path may be different: Settings) → Connections → Wi-Fi Direct).
• 🔄 One device has to create an access point, the other one has to connect to it. MIUI This is done automatically when selecting files for transfer.
• 🚀 For maximum speed, turn off adaptive brightness and energy saving in the battery settings.

The main problem with Wi-Fi Direct on Xiaomi is to automatically shut down after 5-10 minutes of inactivity.

1. Before transfer, go to Settings → Battery → Power Saving Mode and select Performance.
2. Turn off the “Automatic Wi-Fi Disconnect” function in Settings → Wi-Fi → More

5. USB-C cable: the fastest way (up to 480 Mbps)

Using a USB-C cable (or USB-C adapter → USB-C) is the fastest and most reliable method of transferring files between Xiaomi. Speeds reach 40-50 MB / s (the theoretical maximum for USB 3.0 is 640 MB / s, but in practice is limited to a smartphone controller). For example, 10 GB of video can be transferred in 3-5 minutes.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect both smartphones with a USB-C → USB-C cable (or use an adapter if you have one of the Micro-USB devices).
2. On the receiving phone, select the "File Transfer (MTP)" mode in the notification panel.
3. On the sending phone, open File Manager, select files and click Copy.
4. In the Devices section, select a second smartphone (it will appear as an external drive) and paste files into the desired folder.

Important nuances:

• 🔌 Use a quality cable with support USB 3.0/3.1 (They're usually marked with a blue connector. Cheap cables limit speed to USB 2.0 (40 MB/s).
• 🔋 Charge both devices by at least 30% – transferring large amounts of data consumes a lot of energy.
• 📁 If files are not copied, check to see if the record is blocked on the receiving device (sometimes due to encryption). MIUI).

1. Reconnect the cable.

2. On the receiving phone, select the "Midia Device (PTP)" mode, then return the "MTP" mode again.

3. Update firmware - in MIUI 15 Recognition errors corrected USB-device.-->

6.Cloud services: Google Drive, Mi Cloud, Telegram

If physical file transfer is not possible (e.g., devices are located in different cities), you can use cloud services.

To transfer via Google Drive:

1. Upload files to the cloud via the Drive app or web version.
2. On the second phone, open Google Drive, find the files and download them (click on three dots → Download).

⚠️ Note: When uploading photos to Google Photos in High Quality mode, they are compressed to 16 MP resolution. To maintain original quality, select Original Quality (requires cloud space).

7.LAN (FTP-server SMB)

For advanced users, there is a way to transfer files over a local network using FTP or SMB protocols. This is true if both devices are connected to the same router. The speed depends on the speed of Wi-Fi (up to 50-100 MB / s on Wi-Fi 6).

How to set up FTP-server:

• 📡 Install the app FTP Server (e.g., Solid Explorer or FX File Explorer).
• 🔑 Launch it. FTP-server in the application (usually the "Start" button in the "Network" section").
• 🌐 On the second phone, connect to the server via any file manager by entering the view address. ftp://192.168.x.x:2221 (IP The port will be displayed in the server application).
• 📥 Copy the files you need through the file manager interface.

For SMB (more stable, but more difficult to set up):

1. On the sending phone, install MiXplorer or Total Commander.
2. Turn it on. SMB-server in the application settings (section "Network" → SMB").
3. On the second phone, connect to the network disk via \\192.168.x.x\shared (login/passwords are specified in the server settings).

💡

Local area network is the best choice for transferring large archives (>10 GB) between devices on the same network, but the setup requires minimal technical training (knowledge) IP-addresses, ports).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions