How to Transfer All Data from Xiaomi to Samsung: From Contacts to Apps

The transition from Xiaomi to Samsung is not just a brand change, but a complete migration of digital life: photos, correspondence, passwords, application settings. Many users are afraid of losing data or spending hours manually transferring files. In practice, the process takes from 15 minutes to an hour, if you know the key nuances, from differences in the file system MIUI and One UI to the peculiarities of synchronization through the cloud.

In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods for data portability, including the official Samsung Smart Switch and Mi Mover tools, as well as workarounds for complex cases (for example, if one of the phones does not turn on), we will discuss how to avoid typical errors: duplicate contacts, loss of photo quality or failures in the transfer of applications, and at the end, a checklist to check the result and answers to frequent questions.

Not all data can be transferred automatically, for example, settings for Xiaomi-specific features (such as Game Turbo or Second Space) are unparalleled in Samsung and require manual adjustment, but media files, SMS and call logs are transmitted without loss - with the right method.

1. Preparation of telephones before data transfer

Before you migrate, make sure to follow 3 steps on both devices, which will eliminate 90% of potential problems, from incompatibility of software versions to lack of space on Samsung.

On Xiaomi's phone:

• 🔋 Charge the battery to at least 50% – the process can take up to 40 minutes with a large amount of data.

On the Samsung phone:

• 📥 Install Samsung Smart Switch from the Galaxy Store (not from Google Play!) – The version from the official Samsung Store has advanced features.
• 🔌 Prepare the original cable USB-C to USB-C (Or a microUSB adapter if Xiaomi has an older connector. The wireless transfer is slower and may break down.

⚠️ Note: If the application protection function is enabled on Xiaomi (in Settings) → Privacy, disable it! It blocks access to third-party application data, including migration tools.

Delete unnecessary files from Xiaomi|Update MIUI one UI|Charge both phones >50%|Download Smart Switch on Samsung|Prepare the cable. USB-C-->

2. Method 1: Transfer over Samsung Smart Switch (recommended)

Samsung Smart Switch is an official solution from Samsung that supports porting from Xiaomi (and other Android devices), which works even if Xiaomi does not have root rights, but requires a physical cable connection.

Step-by-step:

1. Open Smart Switch on Samsung and select Get Data → Android.
2. Connect your phones with a cable. Xiaomi will be asked to Permit Data Access, confirm.
3. In the Smart Switch menu, tick the data types for transfer: 📞 Contacts, call log, SMS 📷 Photos and videos (including Xiaomi Gallery albums) 🎵 Music and documents 📱 Annexes (only) APK-files, no data!

Move over

Don’t turn off the cable or block the screens, it will interrupt the process.

The speed of the transfer depends on the amount of data:

⚠️ Note: Smart Switch does not tolerate: 🔒 Wi-Fi passwords (they will have to be re-entered). 🎮 Game data (progress, save) – use Google Play Games or Facebook accounts for this purpose. 📁 Files from folders MIUI and DCIM/.thumbnails (It's a thumbnail cache).

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If the Smart Switch doesn’t see Xiaomi, try connecting the cable to another one. USB-port (for example, on the back of your PC if you use an adapter) sometimes helps to reboot both phones.

Method 2: Using Mi Mover (an alternative to Smart Switch)

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary data porting tool, which also supports the Samsung transition, and has the advantage of maintaining Xiaomi’s folder structure (e.g. DCIM/Camera will remain unchanged), but it only works on Wi-Fi, which is slower than cable.

How to transfer data via Mi Mover:

1. Download Mi Mover on both phones from Google Play (Samsung will need to allow installation from unknown sources).
2. On Xiaomi, choose I am the sender, on Samsung I am the receiver.

Mi Mover copies:

• 📂 All media files (photo, video, audio) without loss of quality.
• 📋 Contacts, SMS, callbook.
• 📌 Notes from Mi Notes (they are converted to Samsung Notes format).

Limitations of Mi Mover:

• ❌ Does not transfer applications and their data (only) APK-file).
• ❌ Maybe hang on to big files (>2 GB. In this case, divide the transfer into parts.
• ❌ Requires the same Wi-Fi network (not working via mobile hotspot).

Method 3: Transfer through Google Account (for contacts and applications)

If you only need contacts, calendars, email and a list of apps, you just need to sync through Google Account, which requires no additional programs and works even if the phones are located in different parts of the world.

How to synchronize data:

1. On Xiaomi, go to Settings → Google Accounts → Sync and turn on all the switches.
2. Wait for the synchronization to be completed (check in Settings → About Phone → Account Status).
3. On Samsung, add the same Google Account and enable sync in Settings → Accounts and Archiving → Account Management.

What's transferable:

• 📇 Contacts (including groups and tags).
• 📅 Calendars and events.
• 📧 Emails from Gmail and email settings.
• 📱 List of installed applications (by themselves) APK-files are not copied!).

What's NOT tolerable:

• ❌ SMS Call log (you need a Smart Switch or Mi Mover for this).
• ❌ Photos and videos (use Google Photos separately).
• ❌ Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings.

⚠️ Note: If Xiaomi has multiple Google accounts, make sure you sync your data with the right one! For example, contacts could be saved to your Mi Cloud account, not Google.

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Google Account Sync is the most reliable way to contact and email, but it doesn’t replace full data portability. Always check which account is the default one to keep your contacts!

Method 4: Manual transfer via computer (for advanced users)

If the automatic tools fail (e.g., due to an outdated version of MIUI or incompatibility), you can copy the data manually through a PC, a method that takes longer, but gives you complete control over the process.

What you need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows/Mac and free disk space.
• 🔌 Two. USB-cable (or one with a splitter).
• 📁 Backup software (optional): Titanium Backup (requires root) or Swift Backup.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Copy the following folders from internal memory: DCIM (Photos and videos) Download (downloads) Pictures (images from apps), Movies (video) Music (audio files) Documents Android/data (Application data if there is root)
3. Connect Samsung and paste the copied files into the corresponding folders.
4. To transfer SMS and call logs, use applications like SMS Backup & Restore (save the backup to your PC, then restore to Samsung).

Advantages of the manual method:

• ✅ Complete control over which files to copy.
• ✅ Ability to filter out unnecessary data (e.g. cache or duplicate photos).
• ✅ It works even on phones with damaged screens (if it’s on). USB-debugging).

Disadvantages:

• ❌ It takes a lot of time (especially if you have data). >100GB).
• ❌ Requires technical skills (e.g. understanding the structure of Android folders).
• ❌ Does not tolerate system settings and some application data.

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To speed up copying, connect both phones to your PC at the same time and use two Explorer windows to drag and drop files, which will save you time to disconnect/connect cables.

Method 5: Transfer over the cloud (Google Drive, Mi Cloud)

Cloud storage is convenient if you have slow internet or no cable, but free rates (15GB on Google Drive, 5GB on Mi Cloud) may not be enough for a full backup.

Option 1: Google Drive

1. On Xiaomi, open Google Drive and click ➕ → Backup copy.
2. Select the data for the backup (contacts, photos, videos, SMS) and start the process.
3. On Samsung, log in to the same Google account and recover data from Settings → Google → Restore.

Option 2: Mi Cloud

1. On Xiaomi, enable synchronization in Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Download all data to your PC via the web version of i.mi.com.
3. Upload files to Google Drive or directly to Samsung.

Comparison of cloud services:

⚠️ Note: When uploading photos to Google Photos in High Quality mode, they are compressed to a resolution of 16 MP. To avoid loss of quality, select Original Quality (but it takes up space in your storage).

7.Result check and Samsung setup after transfer

Once the transfer is complete, take your time to format Xiaomi! first check the integrity of the data on Samsung and follow a few critical steps.

Checklist for verification:

Open the Gallery and check all photos/video | Call the contact from the phone book | Open SMS and call log | Run key applications (WhatsApp, Telegram) | Check Wi-Fi and mobile network connection-->

Typical problems and solutions:

• 🔄 Duplicate Contacts: Use the Contacts Unite tool in the Samsung Contacts app.
• 📷 Open the Samsung Gallery and wait for indexing (can take up to 10 minutes).
• 🎵 Music not displayed: Check the Music folder - sometimes files are copied to Download.
• 📱 Apps not updated: Go to Google Play and click Update All.

Samsung setup after transfer:

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After transferring the data, make sure to back up to Samsung via Smart Switch or Samsung Cloud.This will protect you from data loss in the future.

8. Frequent Questions (FAQ)