How to Transfer Data from Samsung Phone to Xiaomi: A Complete 2026 Guide

The transition from Samsung to Xiaomi is not just a brand change, but a complete migration of digital life between two different ecosystems. UI Samsung and MIUI Xiaomi, branded services and even backup formats can turn a simple data transfer into a headache. In this article, we will analyze all the current ways to throw contacts, photos, messages and even app settings – from standard Google tools to little-known life hacks for advanced users.

Xiaomi is actively promoting its own services (such as Mi Cloud and Mi Mover), which are not always compatible with Samsung solutions, and some data — such as notes from Samsung Notes or call history — have no direct analogues at all in the Xiaomi ecosystem, and we took these nuances into account and prepared instructions that will help to transfer even the data that is usually lost when changing a brand.

1. Preparation of telephones before data transfer

Before migrating, there are several critical steps to follow on both devices, and neglecting preparation can lead to data loss, new applications crashing, or even the inability to recover some files.

On the Samsung phone:

• 🔋 Charge the battery to at least 50% – transferring data can take from 20 minutes to several hours depending on the volume.
• 📱 Update One. UI Up to the latest version through Settings → Update: Older versions may not support modern transmission protocols.
• 🔒 Make sure there is no lock from the manufacturer (e.g., the device is not locked, FRP If the phone is tied to a Samsung account, you will have to unlock it in advance.
• 📡 Connect to a stable Wi-Fi network – mobile Internet may not cope with large amounts of data.

On Xiaomi's phone:

• 📦 Free up enough space in memory – transfer 64 The data will require at least one 10-15% more free space.
• 🔄 Reset network settings in Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Reset network settings if the phone previously connected to the corporate VPN proxy.
• 🛡️ Temporarily disable Mi Protect and antivirus (if installed) – they can block file transfers as “suspicious activity».

⚠️ Note: If your Samsung has enabled data encryption (checked in Settings) → Biometrics and safety → Encryption), transfer via cable or local area network may take 2-3 This is a lot more time, and in this case, it's better to use cloud services.

Method 2: Transfer over Mi Mover (official solution from Xiaomi)

Mi Mover is a Xiaomi-branded tool designed to migrate data from other Android devices, and it supports the transfer of contacts, messages, photos, videos, music, and even some of the app settings.

First, the Mi Mover doesn't work with all Samsung models, like on One devices. UI 5.0 and later, there may be compatibility errors:

• 📝 Notes from Samsung Notes (they will have to be exported separately).
• 🎮 Game data (conservation, progress).
• 📅 Calendars if they are synced not to Google, but to your Samsung account.

Step-by-step:

1. Download Mi Mover on both phones: On Xiaomi: the app is preinstalled (find through search). On Samsung: download APK Official source (version must be at least 2.4.5).
2. Run the app on both devices and select: On Samsung: I'm a sender. On Xiaomi, I'm a receiver.

Xiaomi

Samsung

Contacts, Messages and Multimedia

Confirm the transmission. It'll take 10 to 40 minutes depending on the volume.

⚠️ Note: If Mi Mover fails to connect during transmission, try: 🔄 Reboot both phones. 📶 Shut down. VPN and proxy on both devices. 🔌 Use a different Wi-Fi router (some models block) P2P-linkage).

Disable the power saving on both phones|

Make sure there is enough space on Xiaomi|

Connect to a single Wi-Fi network (5 GHz)|

Close all background applications, especially messengers|-->

3. Method 2: Transfer through Google Account (the most reliable method) Sync through Google Account is the only way that is guaranteed to transfer contacts, calendars, mail and some settings without being tied to the phone brand: 📁 Photos and videos are synced only if the original quality Google Photos feature was previously enabled (otherwise compression up to 16 MP). 📱 Applications will recover, but without data (for example, progress in games or settings of messengers will have to be reconfigured). 🔄 The process can take several hours if the data volume exceeds 10 GB. Step instructions: On Samsung phone: Go to Settings → Accounts and archiving → Account management. Select your Google Account and enable sync for: Google Drive Calendar Contacts (if you need to move documents) Google Photos (if you need to transfer media files) Wait for sync to complete (check in Settings) → Accounts. → Google → On Xiaomi: When you first turn on, select “Recover Data” and log in to the same Google Account. If your phone is already set up, go to Settings → Accounts. → Google and enable sync. To restore photos, open Google Photos and wait for the library to load. If you only want to transfer contacts but they are saved to your Samsung account, follow the additional step: Export contacts from Samsung Contacts to.vcf: Settings → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Transfer the file to Xiaomi (for example, through Google Drive) and import it to Google Contacts. 💡If you have two-factor authentication on Google, create backup codes in your account settings before transferring data. SMS coded won't come to a new number.

Method 3: Transfer over a cable USB OTG (big-data)

Use of the USB OTG-A cable (or adapter) is one of the fastest ways to transfer large amounts of data (e.g., video to video). 4K or RAW-However, this method requires additional accessories and does not carry applications or system settings.

What you need:

• 🔌 USB OTG-Type-C cable (for Xiaomi) and Micro-USB/Type-C (For Samsung, depending on the model).
• 📱 File Manager on both phones (e.g. Solid Explorer or standard Mi File Manager).
• 🔋 Charger – transferring large files drains the battery faster than usual.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Samsung to Xiaomi via OTG-Xiaomi will be notified «USB-plug-in».
2. On Xiaomi, select File Transfer (MTP) mode.
3. Open the file manager on Xiaomi and go to the section USB-The storage device (this is the memory of your Samsung).
4. Copy the right folders: DCIM — Photos and videos. Downloads — downloads. Pictures — images from messengers. WhatsApp/Media — WhatsApp media files (if necessary).

Xiaomi

DCIM/Camera

⚠️ Note: Do not copy the entire Android folder, which can lead to conflicts in the work of applications on Xiaomi. Instead, only transfer data from specific applications (for example, transfer data from specific applications, Android/data/com.whatsapp WhatsApp).

Transmission speed through OTG:

5. Method 4: Transfer over a memory card (for MicroSD-enabled phones)

If both of your phones support microSD cards, this may be the easiest solution, but there are a few pitfalls:

• 📱 Not all Xiaomi models have a microSD slot (for example, Xiaomi 13 Pro does not have one).
• 🔄 ExFAT maps (usually used for cards) >64GB may not read on older Samsung phones.
• 📁 The folder structure on the card may differ from the internal memory, which will lead to problems with the display of files in the gallery.

How to transfer data:

1. Insert the memory card in Samsung and copy the files to it through the file manager.
2. Securely remove the card (Settings) → Caring for the device → Memory. → Extract SD-map).
3. Insert the card in Xiaomi and copy files to internal memory (we recommend using folders). DCIM, Pictures, Music for correct display in the gallery).

If the card is not determined on Xiaomi:

• 🔄 Reformat it into FAT32 (But remember, this format does not support files. >4GB).
• 📱 Check if support is included SD-maps in Settings → Memory. → Settings SD-map.
• 🔧 Update Xiaomi firmware – in older versions MIUI There were memory card reading bugs.

💡

Memory cards are the slowest, but most reliable way to transfer, and they don't depend on the Internet, software compatibility, or battery power.

Method 5: Transfer over Smart Switch (from Samsung) followed by export

Samsung Smart Switch is a proprietary backup and data recovery solution. Although it doesn’t work directly with Xiaomi, it can be used as an intermediate step to create a backup, which is then transferred to a new device.

How it works:

1. Install Smart Switch on Samsung (usually preinstalled) and on PC (download from the official website).
2. Connect Samsung to your computer and create a backup: Select “Backup” in Smart Switch on your PC. Tick the data you want (contacts, messages, photos, etc.) Click “Backup” and wait for completion.
3. The backup file will be saved in.spb format (usually in the C:\Users\[Your name]\Samsung\SmartSwitch\backup).
4. To extract data from.spb, use third-party tools such as Smart Switch Backup Extractor (requires Python).

Xiaomi

⚠️ Note: Smart Switch backup files are encrypted and not opened by standard archivers. Do not delete the original.spb file until you are sure that the data is successfully retrieved!

The alternative is to export data directly from Samsung:

• 📝 Contacts: Export to.vcf via Samsung Contacts.
• 💬 Messages: Use the app SMS Backup & Restore to Create XML-copy.
• 📷 Photo: Copy the folder DCIM manually.

7. data transfer from specific applications (WhatsApp, Telegram, games)

Some applications require special attention because their data is not carried in standard ways.

WhatsApp

To transfer the history of chats and media files:

1. On Samsung, back up: Open WhatsApp → ⋮ → Settings → chat → Backup. Click on “Create a copy” (make sure the copy is saved to Google Drive).
2. On Xiaomi: Install WhatsApp and log in to the same account. When you request, restore chats from Google Drive.

If the copy in Google Drive is not restored:

• 🔄 Make sure that Xiaomi has the same version of WhatsApp as Samsung.
• 📱 Check that Xiaomi has enough space (a backup can weigh tens of gigabytes).
• 🔧 Reinstall Google Drive on Xiaomi – sometimes it helps to reset the app cache.

Telegram

Telegram syncs messages through the cloud, so it is enough:

1. Samsung to export media files (if necessary): Settings → Data and memory → Warehouse → Chat data export
2. On Xiaomi, log into the same account – the chat history will be automatically pulled up.

Games (Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty)

Most modern games link progress to an account (Google Play Games, Facebook, miHoYo, etc.) to migrate saves:

1. Make sure that the game on Samsung is linked to your account.
2. On Xiaomi, install the game, log in to the same account and wait for sync.
3. If the game does not support cloud saves, copy the folder with game data from the game. Android/data (see section OTG).

💡

For games with local saves (such as Minecraft), use a file manager with access to root folders (such as, FX File Explorer. Copy the folder. games/com.mojang new-up.

8. Frequent errors and their solutions

Even when you follow instructions, you can have problems, and we've collected some of the most common errors and ways to fix them.

If none of these methods worked, try a combination approach:

1. Move your contacts and calendars through your Google Account.
2. Copy photos and videos through OTG-cable.
3. Restore apps from Google Play manually.
4. Move game saves through the cloud or file manager.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions