How to transfer contacts from Samsung to Xiaomi: all the ways 2026

Contents

• Introduction: Why Transferring Contacts Is Not a Trivial Task
• Method 1: Sync through your Google account (most reliable)
• Method 2: Bluetooth Transfer – When there is no Internet
• Method 3: Copy on SIM- card (for older models)
• Method 4: Migration applications (Mi Mover, Samsung Smart Switch)
• Method 5: Manual export/import via VCF file
• Typical Problems and How to Solve Them
• Frequent Questions (FAQ)

Shifting contacts from the old Samsung to the new Xiaomi seems like a simple task — until you get nuanced. Some users lose some numbers, others get duplicates, and still others can’t find any saved contacts after the transition. All because different manufacturers store data in their own way: Samsung often uses its own Samsung Account, and Xiaomi by default links contacts to Mi Account or Google.

In this article, we’ll break down the 5 working methods for transferring contacts, from classic synchronization through Google to little-known life hacks with VCF- files, learn which method to choose depending on the phone model, Android version, and even Internet availability, and also how to avoid the typical mistakes that cause lost photos of contacts or lost formatting numbers.

Method 1: Sync through your Google account (most reliable)

If you use an Android smartphone, you already have a Google account, even if you didn't know it, and it's good for 90 percent of users because:

• 🔄 Automatic synchronization – contacts are updated in real time.
• 📱 Works on all models, from the Samsung Galaxy S5 (2014) to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra (2026).
• 🌐 It doesn’t depend on the manufacturer — the data is stored in the Google cloud, not on the phone.
• 📸 Stores not only numbers, but also photos of contacts, notes, birthdays.

How this works in practice:

1. On Samsung, open Settings → Accounts and Archiving → Account Management.
2. Select your Google account (if not, add it).
3. Activate the Contact Synchronization switch.
4. On Xiaomi, log in to the same Google account and enable sync in Settings → Accounts → Google.

An important caveat is that if your contacts are stored in Samsung Account (not Google), you must export them first.

1. Open the Contacts app on Samsung.

⚠️ Warning: If not all contacts are displayed on Xiaomi after sync, check the display settings. Go to Contacts → ⋮ → Settings → Show contacts and select your Google account. Sometimes only Mi Account contacts are default.

Method 2: Bluetooth Transfer – When there is no Internet

If you don't have Wi-Fi or mobile Internet, and you need to move your contacts quickly, Bluetooth is a lifeline, and it works even on the oldest models, but it has limitations:

• ⏳ Slow speed – 500 contacts can take 10-15 minutes to transfer.
• 📵 Volume limit – some phones don’t send more than 100 contacts at a time.
• 🖼️ No photos - only names, numbers and basic information are transmitted.

Step-by-step:

1. On both phones, turn on Bluetooth (in Settings → Connections for Samsung and Settings → Bluetooth for Xiaomi).
2. Make your phones visible to other devices ("Device Search" or "Visibility").
3. On Samsung, open Contacts, press ⋮ → Share → Bluetooth.
4. Select contacts (you can all at once) and send them to Xiaomi.
5. On Xiaomi, confirm the file acceptance (usually a VCF- file) and import it.

If you're showing Crystalline instead of Cyrillic after you're done, try:

• 📱 Rename the file before import (e.g., contacts.vcf).
• 🔄 Use a third-party import application, such as Contacts+.
• 📋 Export contacts to CSV via Google Contacts on PC and then convert to VCF.

💡

If Bluetooth doesn’t find the device, try restarting both phones and re-searching, sometimes turning off power saving mode on Xiaomi (in Settings → Battery).

Method 3: Copy on SIM- card (for older models)

This is the method that works for phones before the 2018 was released, when the SIM- cards were still supported to save contacts. Modern nano-SIMs don't usually have this feature, but if you have an old micro-SIM or mini-SIM, you can try it.

Advantages:

• 🔌 You don't need Internet or Bluetooth.
• 📱 Works even on broken-screen bricks (if the SIM- card is in good working order).

Disadvantages:

• 🚫 Limitation on the number of contacts (typically 250-300).
• 📵 Only name and number (no post, address, photos) are saved.
• 🔠 Problems with Cyrillic (sometimes names are displayed as?????).

How to transfer contacts via SIM-card:

1. On Samsung, open your contacts. → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Exports to SIM-map.
2. Choose your contacts (or all) and confirm your export.
3. Remove the SIM- card and paste it into Xiaomi.
4. On Xiaomi go to Contacts → ⋮ → Imports/Exports → Import with SIM-map.

⚠️ Warning: If after importing to Xiaomi, the contacts are displayed in hieroglyphics, the problem is the SIM- card encoding. Solution: export the contacts with Samsung to a VCF- file (method 5) and transfer it to Xiaomi via the USB- cable.

Method 4: Migration applications (Mi Mover, Samsung Smart Switch)

Smartphone makers offer their own data porting tools, like Mi Mover for Xiaomi, Samsung Smart Switch for Samsung, and these apps can transmit not only contacts, but also photos, messages, apps.

Mi Mover (from Xiaomi):

• 📲 Only works when Xiaomi is first enabled (no starts after setup).
• 🔗 Requires a USB- OTG cable or Wi-Fi Direct.
• 🚫 Does not support Samsung older than 2019.

Samsung Smart Switch:

• 📱 Can be used at any time (not just when set up).
• 🔌 Transmits data over cable or wirelessly.
• ⚠️ Sometimes forgets photos of contacts.

How to transfer contacts via Samsung Smart Switch:

1. Install Smart Switch on both phones (you can download from the official website).
2. On Samsung, select Send Data, on Xiaomi, Receive Data.
3. Connect your phones via USB cable (you need a USB-C to USB-C or OTG adapter) or via Wi-Fi.
4. Select Contacts and start the transmission.

Alternative applications (if official applications do not work):

• 📱 Copy My Data (free, no registration)
• 🔄 CLONEit (even transmits call history)
• 📎 Send Anywhere (generation of 6-digit code for transmission)

Method 5: Manual export/import via VCF file

A VCF (or.vcf) file is a universal format for storing contacts, similar to CSV, but specially sharpened for address books, and its advantage is that it stores all the information: multiple numbers, email, addresses, photos (in base64 format).

How to export your VCF contacts to Samsung:

1. Open Contacts. → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Exports.
2. Select Export to the VCF file (sometimes called Export to Memory).
3. Save the file to internal memory or to a SD- card (e.g., as samsung_contacts.vcf).

How to import VCF to Xiaomi:

1. Transfer the file to Xiaomi via USB- cable, Bluetooth or cloud (Google Drive, Telegram).
2. Open the file through Explorer (it will automatically prompt imports to Contacts).
3. Or go to Contacts → ⋮ → Import/Export → Import from VCF and select the saved file.

A critical caveat: if you have multiple accounts on Samsung (Google, Samsung, phone), export them separately, otherwise duplicates may appear in the VCF- file.

If the file is not imported:

• 📄 Check the extension - it should be.vcf, not.txt.
• 📱 Try opening a file through Google Contacts on your PC and then syncing with Xiaomi.
• 🔧 Use an online converter (e.g., CoolUtils) to convert VCF → CSV → VCF (sometimes helps when a file is corrupted).

💡

VCF is the most reliable way to manually transfer, as the file can be edited manually (e.g. in Notepad), removing unnecessary contacts or correcting errors.

Typical Problems and How to Solve Them

Even with the correct transfer of contacts, unexpected errors can occur. Here are the TOP-5 problems and solutions:

If your contacts aren’t updated on Xiaomi, try:

1. Delete your Google account on Xiaomi and add it again.
2. Check if sync is enabled in Settings → Accounts → Google → Contact Sync.
3. Update Google Play Services to the Play Market.
4. Run the sync manually by swiping down on the home screen and clicking the Sync icon.

⚠️ Warning: If you used Samsung Account to store contacts, after switching to Xiaomi, they may disappear from the cloud after 30 days without activity. To avoid this, export them to VCF immediately after you buy a new phone.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)