How to Transfer Data and Applications from the Old Xiaomi to the New: 5 Proven Ways

Moving to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, but data porting often becomes a headache. Contacts, photos, messages, app settings, and even game progress all need to be preserved to keep things from scratch. Fortunately, the MIUI ecosystem offers several built-in migration tools, and third-party solutions complement their functionality.

In this article, we will discuss 5 ways to transfer data between Xiaomi devices, from the official Mi Mover to cloud services and manual copying. You will learn what method is suitable for your case (for example, when changing your Mi Account or not having the Internet), how to avoid errors and what to do if the transfer is interrupted. And also unique life hacks for porting data-saving applications (including games and instant messengers) that are not documented in the official instructions.

Whether you’re upgrading from the Redmi Note 10 to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra or transferring data to a used device, this guide will help make the process as fast and lossless as possible. Let’s start with preparation!

1.Preparation for transfer: what to do before the beginning

Data portability is not just about copying files, it's also about optimizing both devices, and if you skip this step, you run the risk of synchronization errors or losing some of your information.

On an old smartphone:

• 🔋 Charge the battery to at least 50% – transfer can take from 10 minutes to an hour depending on the amount of data.
• 📶 Connect to a stable Wi-Fi network (if you use the cloud or Mi Mover) Mobile Internet is not suitable due to traffic restrictions.
• 🧹 Clear the app cache in Settings → Annexes → Application management. This will reduce the amount of data that's being transmitted.
• 🔐 Make sure both devices share a Mi Account (if you plan to sync through the cloud).

On the new smartphone:

• 📱 Complete the initial setup before the “Data Transfer” stage (don’t miss this step!).
• 🔄 Update. MIUI Up to the latest version through Settings → The phone. → Update the system. This will fix compatibility bugs.
• 📁 Check the space available – the new device should have 20% more than the amount of data transferred.

💡

If you migrate data from Xiaomi to POCO or Black Shark, use the same methods – they all work within the MIUI/HyperOS ecosystem.

⚠️ Note: If the old smartphone has enabled data encryption (Settings) → Lockdown and protection → Encryption, transfer via Mi Mover may result in an error, in which case use cloud or manual copying.

2. Method 1: Mi Mover is the official tool of Xiaomi

Mi Mover is a built-in migration application that works on a point-to-point (no cloud) basis.

• 📞 Contacts, messages (SMS/MMS), callbook
• 📸 Photo, video, audio files
• 📱 Annexes (only) APK-files, no data!)
• 📅 Calendar, notes, system settings

Step-by-step:

1. On the new smartphone, when setting up, select Data Transfer → With Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO.
2. On the old device, open Mi Mover (if not, download from the App Store).
3. Select a role: new phone - "Receiver", old - "Sender".
4. Scan it. QR-code from a new phone on an old one.
5. Select the data to transfer and confirm the beginning.

The transfer speed depends on the data volume and version of MIUI:

Both phones are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.|On the new phones Mi Mover preinstalled|There is plenty of space on your old phone for temporary files.|Disabled. VPN firewalls-->

⚠️ Note: If the transfer is frozen during the Preparation phase, restart both devices and try again. If the error is repeated, use alternative methods (see section 4).

3. Method 2: Xiaomi Cloud – Transfer without cables

Cloud transfer is suitable if:

• 🌍 You have a stable Internet (from 50 Mbps).
• 🔄 You do not need to transfer the data immediately (you can make a backup copy in advance).
• 📱 Devices are linked to one Mi Account.

How to make a backup on an old phone:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup.
2. Select Cloud Backup and sign in to your Mi Account.
3. Mark the data for saving (contacts, messages, photos, applications).
4. Click Start backup.

How to restore on a new phone:

1. When setting up, select Restore from backup.
2. Log in to the same Mi Account.
3. Select the latest backup and confirm the recovery.

Advantages of the method:

• ✅ No cable or Wi-Fi connection between phones.
• ✅ You can recover data several times (for example, if you forgot to move something).
• ✅ App settings are saved (for example, themes in Mi Home or profiles in Mi Fit).

The download/upload speed depends on your Internet connection.

• 📡 Connect to 5 GHz Wi-Fi (not 2.4 GHz).
• 🚀 Use the mobile Internet 4G/5G Only if you have unlimited rates.
• ⏳ Move data at night when the load on Xiaomi servers is minimal.

Mi Mover (Direct) | Cloud Xiaomi|Google Account| Manual copying via PC|Other way-->

4. Method 3: Google Account – a universal solution

If you don't want to depend on the Xiaomi ecosystem, you can use Google Account.

• 📞 Contacts, calendar, notes (via Google Keep)
• 📸 Photos and videos (via Google Photos)
• 📱 Some app settings (if they support syncing with Google)
• 🎮 Progress in games (if the game is tied to Google Play Games)

How to transfer data via Google:

1. On your old phone: Go to Settings → Accounts → Google. enable sync for all the data you need (contacts, calendar, Chrome, etc.) Open Google Photos and enable Backup and Sync.

new

• When you set up, log in to the same Google account.
• Enable sync in Settings → Accounts → Google.
• Open Google Photos and wait for the media files to load.

Pros of the method:

• ✅ It works on all Android devices, not just Xiaomi.
• ✅ Data is stored in the cloud indefinitely (with an active account).
• ✅ Only the data you need can be selectively restored (e.g., only contacts).

Cons:

• ❌ Applications are not portable – only their data (if Google Backup is supported).
• ❌ Free Google Photo Storage is limited to 15GB (together with Gmail and Drive).
• ❌ Some settings MIUI (For example, topics or gestures are not synchronized.

💡

Google Account is the best choice if you change smartphones from different brands frequently or want to have a backup regardless of the manufacturer.

5. Method 4: Manual copying via PC (for power users)

If you want complete control of the data being transferred or previous methods have failed, use manual copying via a computer, which takes longer, but ensures that all files are safe.

What you need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 🔌 Two. USB-cables (preferably original).
• 📁 Enough space on your PC (or external drive).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your old smartphone to your PC and enable File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Copy the following folders on PC (they are in internal memory): /DCIM/ # Photo and Video /Download/ # Downloads /Pictures/ # Screenshots and saved pictures /Music/ # Music /Movies/ # Video /MIUI/ # Theme and wallpaper settings /Android/data/ # Application data (root rights required!)
3. Turn off the old phone and connect the new one.
4. Transfer the copied folders to the internal memory of the new device.
5. For apps, use APK Extractor (remove APK from your old phone) and install them manually on your new phone.

How to transfer SMS and call log:

• Install SMS Backup & Restore on your old phone.
• Create a backup and save the file to your PC.
• Transfer the file to a new phone and recover the data through the same app.

⚠️ Attention: Folder /Android/data/ It contains application data (e.g. game saves or messenger cache) and without root rights, you will only see a portion of the files. Full access requires unlocking the bootloader and installing Magisk.

💡

If you transfer data from Xiaomi to Xiaomi via a PC, use Mi PC Suite (the official software from Xiaomi), which automates some processes and supports backup of system settings.

Method 5: Transferring data-saving applications (for games and instant messengers)

Official methods (Mi Mover or cloud) are only available. APK-App files, but not their data. To save game progress, chat history, or settings, use these tools:

For games (with support for Google Play Games):

• 🎮 Make sure the game keeps progressing to the Google Play Games cloud.
• 🔄 On the new phone, log in to the same Google account and install the game – progress will pick up automatically.

For messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber):

• 💬 WhatsApp: Back up chats in Settings → chat → Backup. Copy the folder. /sdcard/WhatsApp/ Transfer it to a new phone and restore it from a local copy.

Telegram

1. Export data to Settings → Additional → Export data.
2. Transfer the file to a new phone and import.