How to quickly transfer photos from Xiaomi to your computer: all the ways of 2026

Transferring photos from Xiaomi phone to computer is a challenge that every user faces: someone wants to free up memory on a smartphone, someone needs to edit photos in Photoshop or Lightroom, and someone just backs up valuable frames. In this article, we will analyze all the current methods of photo transfer – from the classical connection to the Internet. USB up to modern wireless technologies.

It's important to understand that methods differ not only in speed, but also in convenience, USB-The cable is suitable for sending large amounts of data (hundreds of gigabytes), and Mi Drop or Google Photos are convenient for fast synchronization of individual images. 12 Pro+, POCO X5 Pro and Xiaomi 13 Ultra – All instructions are relevant to MIUI 14/15 Windows 10/11.

If you are looking for the easiest way – start with the section about USB-For those who prefer wireless technology, Wi-Fi Direct or cloud services are the best, and if you want to move a photo from a phone that doesn't turn on, read about Recovery Mode.

1. Classic method: transfer of photos through USB-cable

The fastest and most reliable method is to connect your phone to your computer through USB-C Micro-USB cable (depending on the model) can reach 480 Mbps (USB 2.0 or 10 Gbit/s (USB 3.1), which is critical when working with RAW-file-to-video 4K.

Here's the step-by-step instruction:

• 📱 Connect your phone to your PC using the original cable (cheap analogs may not support data transfer).
• 🔄 On the screen Xiaomi will appear notification “Charge through” USB». Put it on him.
• 🖥️ Select the "File Transfer" mode» (MTP). If this item is not available, go to Settings. → Connection and sharing → USB-plug in and plug in MTP.
• 📁 On your computer, open "This Computer" (Win)+E – Your phone will appear as a removable drive (usually called Xiaomi or Redmi).
• 📷 Go to the folder. DCIM → Camera (retains photos taken with the main camera) or Pictures (screenshots and uploaded images).
• 📤 Copy the files you want to use on your PC hard drive (just drag and drop or use Ctrl).+C → Ctrl+V).

Use the original Xiaomi cable

The phone has a screen unlocked.

File Transfer Mode (MTP) enabled

Drivers are installed on the PC ADB (If Windows does not recognize the device)

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The advantages of this method are: maximum speed, no data limits, no Internet connection, disadvantages: you need a physical connection to the PC, the cable can get damaged.

⚠️ If your computer can’t see your phone, try connecting the cable to another. USB-port (preferably) USB 3.0, marked in blue) Also check if the antivirus (such as Kaspersky or Avast) is blocking the connection - temporarily turn off the protection.

2. transfer of photos over Wi-Fi (without cable)

If you don’t have a cable on hand or want to transfer photos remotely (like a friend’s phone), you can use Wi-Fi Direct or local area network. MIUI 10 and newer.

The easiest way is to use the built-in function “Transfer files”:

• 📲 Open the Files app on your phone (yellow folder icon).
• 📷 Go to the Images section and select the photos you want (hold your finger in one picture, then mark the rest).
• 🔗 Press "Share» → «Pass the files».
• 💻 On your computer, open your browser and enter the address that will appear on the phone screen (for example, ftp://192.168.1.100:1234).
• 📥 Download files via the web interface (just drag them to the desktop).

The alternative is to use FTP-server via Mi File Manager:

1. Launch the Files» → «FTP» (menu on the right).
2. Click "Start" and the address will appear to connect.
3. On PC, open “Conductor” and enter the address in the path bar (for example, ftp://192.168.1.5:2221).
4. Log in (login and password from the phone screen) and copy files.

Po Po Po USB-cable

Wi-Fi (FTP, Mi Drop)

Cloud services (Google Drive, Yandex.Disk)

Other ways-->

The speed of transmission over Wi-Fi depends on the standard of the router:

⚠️ Note: If the phone and computer are connected to different networks (for example, a PC to Ethernet, and a smartphone to Wi-Fi), transmission over the Internet is not possible. FTP Solution: connect both devices to the same network or use the hotspot on the phone.

3. Cloud services: Google Photos, Yandex.Disk, Mi Cloud

Cloud storage is convenient because photos are automatically synced and accessible from any device. 5-15 GB) and Internet speed dependence.

Let’s look at three popular services:

📱 Google Photo

• 📤 Install Google Photos from Play Market.
• 🔧 In the settings, enable Backup and Sync (select Original quality to save without compression).
• 💻 On your computer, open photos.google.com, select a photo and click Download».

☁️ Yandex.Disk.

• 📲 Install Yandex.Disk and log in to your account.
• 📷 Upload the photo to the folder “Photos from the gallery” (autoboot is included in the settings).
• 🖥️ On PC, download files through the web version or desktop application.

🌐 Mi Cloud (Official Xiaomi Cloud)

• 🔑 Link your Mi Account to your phone (Settings) → Xiaomi account).
• 📁 Enable photo sync in Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery.
• 🌍 Download photos from i.mi.com (Gallery section»).

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If you need to save space in the cloud, before downloading, compress the photo in the Gallery app (Edit → Change the size).

Comparison of cloud services:

4.Mi Drop: Fast transfer between Xiaomi devices

Mi Drop is Xiaomi’s proprietary solution for file sharing between smartphones and PCs. The advantage is that there are no restrictions on file size (unlike Bluetooth) and high speed (up to 20 MB / s on the local network).

How to use:

• 📱 On the phone, open the application "Files» → «Mi Drop».
• 🖥️ On your computer, open your browser and go to the address http://drop.mi.com (or scan. QR-phone-screen).
• 📡 Make sure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
• 📤 Select a photo on your phone and click "Send».
• 📥 On PC, confirm the acceptance of files.

Mi Drop works even without the Internet — just enough for the phone and computer to be connected to the same router, which distinguishes it from cloud services, where without a network, downloading is impossible.

5 Third-Party Apps: Snapdrop, Send Anywhere, AirDroid

If Xiaomi’s built-in tools don’t suit you, you can use third-party services, which often offer additional features, such as link transfer or data encryption.

Top.-3 photo-transfer applications:

🌍 Snapdrop

• 🔗 Works through the browser: snapdrop.net.
• 📡 No registration required, files are transferred directly (P2P).
• 📥 Maximum file size – 2 GB.

⚡ Send Anywhere

• 📲 Install the app on your phone from the Play Market.
• 🔑 Create a 6-digit code or QR file-receiving.
• 💻 On PC, open send-anywhere.com and enter the code.

☁️ AirDroid

• 📱 Supports remote access to phone files from PC.
• 🔧 You can set autosynchronization photo.
• ⚠️ Free version is limited to 200 MB/day.

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Third-party apps are convenient for one-time transfer, but for regular use it is better to configure sync via Google Photos or Mi Cloud.

6. How to transfer the photo if the phone does not turn on

If your Xiaomi does not respond to the power button, but the computer recognizes it when you connect to the power button USB, You can try to retrieve the photo through Recovery Mode or ADB.

Method 1: Recovery Mode (without root)

1. Turn off the phone (hold the power button for 10+ seconds).
2. Press Volume Up + Power until the Mi logo appears.
3. In the recovery menu, select Mount» → «Enable MTP».
4. Connect your phone to a PC – it should be defined as a removable disk.

Method 2: ADB (debugging required)

If you have previously included the debugging USB (Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times to tap → Additionally. → For developers, you can use Android Debug Bridge:

adb pull /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/ C:\Xiaomi_Photos\

This command will copy all the photos from the Camera folder to the folder Xiaomi_Photos disk-C:.

⚠️ Attention: If debugging is on USB It wasn't turned on in advance, it won't work, so you just have to go to a service center to extract data from the flash memory (cost). ~1500-3000 ₽).

7. Automatic synchronization of photos from PC

So you can set up automatic sync to avoid manually transferring photos, which is convenient for photographers or people who take a lot of pictures every day.

Option 1: Google Photo + Google Drive

• 📱 On your phone, turn on autoload in Google Photos.
• 💻 On PC, install Google Drive for desktop and select a folder for sync.
• 📁 All photos will be automatically downloaded to the directory.

Option 2: Syncthing (for advanced)

• 🔄 Install Syncthing on your phone (from F-Droid and PC.
• 📡 Set up a shared folder (for example, DCIM/Camera).
• 🔒 Data is transmitted over an encrypted channel without a cloud.

Option 3: OneDrive (for Windows)

• 📲 In the OneDrive app on your phone, turn on “Camera Autoboot».
• 🖥️ On PC, files will be available in the OneDrive folder → Pictures → Camera Roll.

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To save traffic in roaming, set up autoboot only over Wi-Fi in the cloud service settings.

FAQ: Frequent questions about transferring photos from Xiaomi to PC