How to transfer your Xiaomi account to another phone: 5 proven ways

Why Xiaomi Account Transfers Need a Special Approach

Xiaomi smartphones are closely integrated with the Mi Account ecosystem, without cloud storage, device synchronization and even some system functions. When buying a new phone of the same brand, users face the need to transfer not only contacts or photos, but all associated services from Mi Home to Mi Fit, errors at this stage can lead to data loss or locking the device.

Unlike other Android smartphones, which have to log in to Google Account, Xiaomi has a more complicated process because of the dual binding of Mi and Google. For example, if you move only your Google account, you lose access to Mi Store purchases, Mi Cloud call histories or Mi Band settings, and this article covers everything from preparing your old phone to checking the health of your new service.

Preparing the old Xiaomi phone for the transfer

Before migrating, you need to take several critical steps on the original device, and skipping any of them can result in loss of data in the Mi Cloud (for example, if you do not synchronize notes or calendar records) or inability to log in to the new phone.

First, update your firmware to the latest version via Settings → About Phone → System Update. This is important because older versions of MIUI (below 12.5) lack App Cloning, and there may be vulnerabilities when transferring data over cable. Second, check for free space in Mi Cloud: if the cloud is crowded, new data is not synchronized. Delete unnecessary backups in Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud → Storage Management.

• 📱 Update. MIUI: Minimum supported version — MIUI 12 (for stable operation of all transfer functions).
• 🔄 Sync Data: Enable sync for Contacts, Notes, Calendar and Calls in Mi Cloud.
• 🔌 Charge both phones: battery level should be at least 50%, otherwise the process may be interrupted.
• 📡 Connect to Wi-Fi: A stable connection will be required to transmit data over the cable or cloud.

⚠️ Note: If the old phone has Device Protection enabled (Settings) → Password and security, disable it before transferring, otherwise the new phone may require you to enter a password from the old device when you first log in to Mi Account.

Method 1: Transfer over Mi Cloud (recommended)

This is the most reliable method, since all data is stored in the cloud and available on any Xiaomi device. The main advantage is the ability to selectively restore (for example, only contacts or only photos). However, there are limitations to the method: the free tariff of Mi Cloud provides only 5 GB, and a full backup can require up to 20-30 GB (depending on the number of applications and media files).

Instructions:

1. On your old phone, go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Select data categories for backup (be sure to check System settings and Applications).
3. Click Create a backup and wait until it is completed (time depends on the amount of data).
4. On the new phone, log in to the same Mi Account and go to Mi Cloud → Restore.
5. Select the latest backup and confirm the recovery.

⚠️ Note: If the new phone has already created Mi Account, before restoring, reset to factory settings (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting settings. Otherwise, the data from the backup may conflict with the current settings.

Create a backup on your old phone|Sign in to Mi Account on a new device|Connect to Wi-Fi|Check the free space in the cloud|Reset the new phone to factory settings (if already used)-->

Method 2: Cable Transfer (Mi Mover)

Mi Mover allows data to be transferred directly between two Xiaomi phones via a USB-OTG cable, which is faster than the cloud (transfer speeds up to 10-15 MB/s) and does not require an Internet connection.

• 🔌 It only works between devices with MIUI 9 and newer.
• 📱 Does not support the transfer of certain system data (for example, Wi-Fi passwords).
• 🔄 Requires cable. USB Type-C — USB Type-C (or adapter for older models).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect both phones with a cable. On the new device, select Receive Data mode.
2. On your old phone, open the Mi Mover app (if not, download from the Mi App Store).
3. Select data for transfer: Applications, Contacts, SMS, Multimedia.
4. Confirm the transfer on both devices and wait until it is completed.

💡

If Mi Mover doesn’t see a new phone, try changing the cable or turning on the developer mode (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version – press 7 times) and activate Debugging over USB.

Method 3: Transfer through Google Account

If you use Google services (Gmail, Calendar, Drive), some of the data can be transferred through a Google account, which is suitable for contacts, mail and certain settings, but does not replace the full Mi Account portability, for example, purchases from the Mi Store or data from the Mi Band through Google are not synced.

What's transferable:

• 📇 Contacts (if saved in Google Contacts).
• 📅 Calendar and reminders.
• 📎 Notes from Google Keep.
• 📁 Google Drive files (if they were downloaded manually).

How to move:

1. On your old phone, check that sync is enabled: Settings → Accounts → Google → Account Sync.
2. On the new phone, log in to the same Google Account.
3. Wait for automatic synchronization (can take up to 10 minutes).

⚠️ Note: If a new phone has already been authorized by another Google Account, the data from the old account will not be automatically combined. → Management → Export) and import them on a new device.

Method 4: Manual file transfer (for power users)

If you only need to transfer specific files (photos, videos, documents), you can do without cloud services.

• 📁 Conductor MIUI: copying files to a flash drive or PC.
• 🖥️ Computer: Connecting the phone in file transfer mode (MTP).
• 🌐 Cloud services: Google Drive, Yandex Drive or Dropbox.

Features of the method:

• ✅ Full control over the data transferred.
• ❌ No automatic synchronization of applications and settings.
• ⚠️ Risk of data loss due to incorrect copying (for example, if the process is interrupted).

Instructions for porting via PC:

1. Connect your old phone to your computer and copy the files you want (DCIM, Downloads, Documents folders).
2. Turn off the old phone and connect the new one.
3. Move the files to the appropriate folders on the new device.

Method 5: Transfer with Third-Party Applications

If standard methods don't work (e.g., you have different versions of MIUI or no cable), you can use third-party utilities.

• 📲 Xiaomi Tool V2 (for PCs – allows you to transfer data even between devices with different firmware.
• 🔄 Clone Phone (from Huawei, but works with Xiaomi) – Wi-Fi transmission.
• 📎 Send Anywhere – transferring files without size restrictions.

Example of Xiaomi Tool V2:

1. Download and install the program on PC (official site).
2. Connect both phones to your computer in USB Debugging mode.
3. Select Backup & Restore → Create Backup for your old phone.
4. After you create a backup, plug in a new phone and select Restore Backup.

⚠️ Attention: There is a risk of data leakage when using third-party applications. Check the reviews and reputation of the developer before installing. V2 requires you to disable Mi Account during the transfer, which may lead to a temporary account lock.

Checking of performance after transfer

Once the transfer is complete, you need to make sure that all data and services are working correctly.

• 🔑 Authorization in Mi Account: make sure that the login is error-free (Settings) → Xiaomi account).
• 📱 Data Syncs: Open Mi Cloud and make sure all categories (contacts, notes) are updated.
• 🛒 Mi Store: Try to open your shopping history.
• 🏠 Smart home: check the connection of devices in Mi Home.

If something's not working:

• Reboot the new phone.
• Update all Xiaomi apps through the Mi App Store.
• If the data is not restored, repeat the transfer process (for example, via Mi Cloud).

FAQ: Frequent questions about the transfer of the Xiaomi account