How to quickly and safely transfer all data from your old phone to your new Xiaomi

Switching to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, but data porting can become a headache if you don’t know the proven ways. Even experienced users sometimes lose hours to restore contacts, photos or app settings. This article will help avoid typical mistakes and choose the best migration method depending on your situation.

We’ll look at 5 working ways to transfer information, from the official Mi Mover tool to manually copying via cable, and focus on the nuances of why some files don’t transfer, how to save passwords from Wi-Fi, and what to do if the old phone doesn’t turn on. All instructions are relevant for models from 2020-2026 based on MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS.

Before you start, check two key points: battery power on both devices (at least 50%) and free space on your new smartphone.

1.The official way: Mi Mover by Xiaomi

Mi Mover is a proprietary migration application that Xiaomi has integrated into firmware since 2018 and supports the transfer of almost all types of data, including:

• 📞 Contacts and call log
• 📸 Photos, video and audio files
• 📱 Applications (with data retention for some)
• 📍 System settings (wallpaper, sounds, Wi-Fi)
• 💬 Communications SMS/MMS

To use Mi Mover, follow the following steps:

1. Turn on the new Xiaomi and get to the “Data Transfer” stage.
2. On your old phone, open Settings → About Phone → Data Transfer (or find Mi Mover through search).
3. Select the role "Sender" on the old device and "Receiver" on the new one.
4. Scan it. QR-code from a new phone or connect via Wi-Fi Direct.
5. Select data types to transfer and confirm the start of the process.

The average transfer time is 10 to 40 minutes depending on the amount of data, and it's important that if you have custom firmware installed on your old phone, Mi Mover may not recognize some system files.

Charge both phones to 60%+

Connect to a single Wi-Fi network

Free up 10-15% of memory on the new Xiaomi

Disable VPN on both devices

Make sure that the old phone is installed MIUI 9 or newer-->

2. Transfer via Google Account (for Android)

If you used Google on an old phone, most of the data is already synced to the cloud.

• 📇 Contacts (Google Contacts)
• 📅 Calendar (Google Calendar)
• 📎 Google Drive files
• 📍 Wi-Fi passwords (if synchronization is enabled)
• 🎵 Music and Books (Google Play)

To restore data on the new Xiaomi:

1. When you first turn on, select "Restore from backup".
2. Log in to the same Google account used on your old phone.
3. Select the latest backup (check the date of creation!).
4. Confirm the recovery of the desired data categories.

Method limitations: Applications will recover, but their data (e.g., game progress) will only be restored if developers support cloud storage.

• 📱 Settings MIUI (themes, gestures)
• 📁 Local files outside of Google folders
• 🔒 Passwords from banking applications

Mi Mover by Xiaomi

Google account

Cable OTG/computer

Cloud services (Yandex, Mail.ru)

Never transferred the data.

Another way.-->

3. Manual copying via OTG cable or computer

For users who want full control of the process, manual porting remains the most reliable option.

• 🔌 Cable OTG (If you copy directly between phones)
• 💻 Computer with USB-Ports (for intermediate copying)
• 📁 Flash drive or external drive (optional)

Instructions for copying via computer:

1. Connect your old phone to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Copy the DCIM (photo/video), Downloads, Pictures folders to your computer.
3. Export contacts to the.vcf file via the Contacts app.
4. Connect the new Xiaomi and transfer all files to the appropriate folders.
5. Import contacts through Settings → Google → Restore contacts.

For direct copying via OTG:

1. Connect. OTG-cable to the new phone, and the old one to the cable.
2. On the new Xiaomi, open Explorer and select the connected device.
3. Copy the necessary files in the memory of the new smartphone.

The advantage of this method is that you can see which files are being copied, and you can filter out the files that are not needed, and the disadvantage is that you have to manually configure the applications and the system.

4. Cloud services: Yandex Disk, Mail.ru Cloud, Dropbox

If you have slow internet or little space on your devices, cloud services are a good alternative.

Algorithm of transfer through the cloud:

1. Install the application of the selected service on the old phone.
2. Upload all the files to the cloud (it is better to archive folders).
3. On the new Xiaomi, log in to the same service account.
4. Download the files to the device.

Tip: To speed up the process, use Night Download Mode in the cloud settings – this will help to avoid traffic restrictions.

💡

If you are moving photos, turn on the option “Original quality” in the cloud service – otherwise images can be compressed to 16 MP even on the new Xiaomi with 108+ MP cameras.

5. Data transfer from iPhone to Xiaomi

The transition from iOS to Android requires a special approach, because the ecosystems of Apple and Xiaomi are not compatible.

1. Contacts and calendars: sync through iCloud on your computer, then export to.vcf/.ics and import to Xiaomi.
2. Photo/video: use Google Photos (on iPhone, turn on Download and Sync, on Xiaomi, log in to the same account).
3. Apps: The list of installed programs can be transferred through the App Store → Profile → Shopping, but the APKs themselves will have to be installed manually.
4. Notes: Export from Apple Notes to PDF, then import to Google Keep or Mi Notes.

Critical nuances:

• 🚫 iMessage doesn’t work on Android – turn it off on iPhone in Settings → Messages, otherwise SMS They won’t come to all devices.
• 🔒 Passwords from iCloud Keychain will not be transferred – use 1Password or Bitwarden for migration.
• 🎵 Apple Music is not available on Xiaomi without a subscription – download the tracks in advance.

💡

To transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Xiaomi, use the official method via iCloud → Google Drive. In the chat settings, select “Export Chat” and follow the messenger’s instructions.

6. Data recovery if the old phone is not turned on

If your old smartphone is out of order, but the data on it is critical, try these methods:

1. Extraction SD-Cards: If files were stored on a removable drive, paste it into the new Xiaomi or card reader.
2. Connect to your PC in Recovery mode: 1. Press the Power + Volume Up buttons on the phone turned off 2. From the Recovery menu, select "Mount" → "Enable MTP" 3. Connect to your computer and copy files
3. Service centers: if the phone does not respond at all, contact Xiaomi Service - they can extract data using specialized equipment (cost: 1500-5000). ₽).

Important: if the phone was encrypted data (includes in Settings → Security), recover files without a password is almost impossible.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even when following the instructions, users face problems. Consider typical scenarios:

⚠️ Warning: If you're transferring over Mi Mover, you're 99 percent dead, don't turn your phones off! Wait 10-15 minutes, the system can finish copying the app cache.

Another common mistake is virus transfer, and if the old phone had suspicious apps on it, before you migrated,

1. Scan files with an antivirus (such as Dr.Web Light).
2. Do not move /system/ or /data/app/ folders, they may contain malicious code.
3. On the new Xiaomi, turn on Settings → Privacy → File Scanning.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions