How to transfer data from Xiaomi to Poco X3: all the ways of 2026

Switching from one Xiaomi smartphone to another — for example, from the Redmi Note 8 Pro or Mi 9T to the Poco X3 — often comes with data portability issues, with users losing hours manually copying contacts, reinstalling apps or searching for old photos in the cloud, meanwhile, the process can be automated using built-in MIUI tools or third-party services.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to transfer data, from official backups through the Mi Cloud to manually copying files over the cable, and pay special attention to the nuances that arise when you switch between devices with different versions of MIUI (for example, from MIUI 12 to MIUI 14), you will also learn how to avoid data loss when you reset your settings and what applications will help synchronize even passwords from Wi-Fi.

If you’ve just bought a Poco X3 or are planning to upgrade, bookmark this guide – it will save you time and nerves.

Preparation for data transfer: what to do before the start

Before you start the transfer, follow a few critical steps, which can lead to loss of data or malfunction of the new smartphone.

First, check the space available on both devices. The Poco X3 should have at least 10-15GB of free space, especially if you plan to transfer photos or videos in high resolution. You can find out the amount of memory in the Settings menu → About phone → Storage.

Second, upgrade the firmware on both smartphones to the latest version, which minimizes the risk of incompatibility between the MIUI on the old and new device. For example, if Xiaomi has MIUI 11 installed and the Poco X3 has MIUI 13 installed, some backup features may not work properly.

• 📱 Update the software on both phones via Settings → Updating the system.
• 🔋 Charge the batteries of both devices to at least 50% – transferring data can take up to an hour.
• 📶 Connect to Wi-Fi (if you use the cloud) or prepare for the event. OTG-direct-copying.
• 🔐 Remember the passwords from your Mi Account and Google account – they will be required for sync.

⚠️ Note: If old Xiaomi has data encryption enabled (Settings) → Additionally. → Encryption, cable transfer may not work, in which case use the cloud or reset encryption (reset to factory settings is required!).

Method 2: Transfer over Mi Cloud (official method)

Mi Cloud is the most reliable solution for transferring data between Xiaomi devices, automatically synchronizing contacts, notes, messages, photos and even system settings, the main advantage is that data is stored in the cloud and can be restored on any Xiaomi, Poco or Redmi smartphone.

To take advantage of this method:

1. Activate Mi Cloud on your old phone: Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Cloud → Sign in to Enter your Mi Account details (if not registered, create one).
2. Enable synchronization of the necessary data: 📞 Contacts – sync to the cloud automatically. 📷 Gallery – Enable the option of Synchronizing photos. 💬 Messages - available only for SMS (Messengers like WhatsApp are not synced!). 📝 Notes and Calendar - included separately.

On the new Poco X3

Mi Account

Contacts

gallery

⚠️ Note: If the old phone had two-factor authentication enabled for Mi Account, when logging in to Poco X3 A confirmation will be required SMS or email. Make sure you have access to the number tied!

💡

If you have a lot of photos and the internet is slow, upload them to Mi Cloud at night, and to do this, turn on the option "Only over Wi-Fi" in the sync settings.

Method 2: Direct Cable Transfer (without Internet)

If you don’t have a stable Wi-Fi connection or don’t want to upload data to the cloud, use direct cable copying, which is faster than the cloud and is suitable for transporting large amounts of data (such as 4K video or heavy gaming).

You'll need:

• 🔌 OTG-cable USB-C → USB-A, If you have an old Micro-USB phone).
• 📱 Two smartphones with a charge of at least 30%.

Step-by-step:

1. Get Poco on. X3 The old Xiaomi with the help of OTG-On the screen of the new phone, select File Transfer Mode (MTP).
2. On your old phone, open Explorer (Files) and go to Devices section – there will be a folder called the Poco X3 model.
3. Copy the necessary files: 📁 Photo and video - folder DCIM or Pictures. 🎵 Music - folder Music. 📄 Documents – Documents folder or Download folder.

contact

.vcf

Contacts → ⋮ → Contact management → Import/Export → Export to device

Then copy the file to Poco X3 and import it.

Turn off battery optimization for Explorer | Check file system format (FAT32/exFAT/NTFS) | Close background applications on both phones | Use original cable (not cheap analogues)

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This method does not carry applications and their data (for example, save in games or chats in instant messengers), this will require specialized utilities like Titanium Backup (requires root rights) or backup through Google Drive.

Method 3: Transfer through Google Account (universal method)

If you use Google services, the easiest way to transfer data is through Google Account sync, which works not only between Xiaomi devices, but also when you switch to smartphones from other brands (such as Samsung or Realme).

What's synchronizing:

• 📞 Contacts (if saved in Google Contacts).
• 📅 Calendar and tasks.
• 📎 Notes (if you use Google Keep).
• 📷 Photo (via Google Photos if Autoboot is enabled).
• 🎮 Data of certain games (if linked to Google Play Games).

How to transfer data:

1. On the old Xiaomi, open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google.
2. Turn on sync for all the categories you need (contacts, calendar, etc.).
3. On Poco X3, log in to the same Google account and wait for sync to complete.
4. To transfer photos, install Google Photos and enable backup: Google Photos → Profile → Settings → Backup and Sync

⚠️ Note: If the old phone has contacts saved SIM-You need to transfer them to your device memory or Google Contacts first, or they won't sync!

5. Method 4: Using third-party applications (SHAREit, Xender, Clone Phone)

If built-in methods don’t work (for example, due to slow internet or incompatible MIUI versions), use third-party applications that allow you to transfer data without cables or clouds using direct Wi-Fi communication.

Top.-3 portability:

Instructions for SHAREit:

1. Install Sharet on both phones from Google Play or APKMirror.
2. On Poco X3, choose Receive, on the old Xiaomi, Send.
3. Select files to transfer and wait until completed. For contacts, use the Contact Export option in the app menu.

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The app side is the only way to transfer data from WhatsApp (Viber) without backing up to the cloud, but it will require you to create a local copy of the chats on your old phone and restore it to a new one.

6. Transfer applications and their data (saves, chats, settings)

The hardest part about switching to a new smartphone is migrating apps along with their data, like saving in games, chat history on WhatsApp, or setting up in Spotify, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are a few working methods.

Methods of transferring applications:

• 📲 Backup through Google Drive: Settings → Google → Backup → Backup Restore Data When You First Set Up Poco X3.
• 🔧 Titanium Backup (requires root rights): Creates full copies of data applications, but is only suitable for advanced users.
• 💬 WhatsApp Chat Transfer: On your old phone, back up to Google Drive (Whatsapp Settings) → chat → Backup. Install WhatsApp on Poco X3 and log in to the same account. Restore chats from backup when you first start.

⚠️ Note: If you used dual apps (clones of messengers) on the old Xiaomi, their data will not be transferred automatically.

To port saved games, check if the game supports sync via Google Play Games or social networks (such as Facebook). If not, try copying the save folder (usually located in /Android/data/game name) to a new phone.

7.What to do after data transfer: setting up Poco X3

After the data transfer is successful, it remains to optimize the performance of the new smartphone, and here is what to do first:

• 🔄 Update all apps via Google Play – some may have become obsolete during the transfer.
• 🛡️ Set up security: Enable unlock by fingerprint (Settings) → Password and security → Activate Find My Device to search for your phone in case of loss.
• 📶 Optimize the network: Turn on 4G+/5G (If supported by your operator, set up duality SIM-cards (if you use two SIM cards).
• 🎛️ Personalize the interface: Select a theme in Themes. Set up control gestures (Settings) → Display. → Full screen mode) If, after Poco data transfer X3 If you start to brake or discharge quickly, do the following: Reset your phone. Clear the cache in the Settings menu. → Warehouse → Clear the cache. Disable auto-run of unnecessary applications (Settings) → Annexes → Auto-start). 💡To speed up Poco's work X3 After transferring the data, turn off the animation interface. To do this, turn on the developer mode (7 times click on the Version). MIUI in the phone settings) and set the animation scale on 0.5x. 8 Frequent errors and solutions Even when following instructions, users face problems. Here are the most common errors and ways to fix them: Problem Reason Mi Cloud solution does not sync photos Not enough space in the cloud or slow Internet Buy additional space or use Google Photos Contacts not moved SIM-Export them to a.vcf file and import to a new phone Applications are not restored from a backup Incompatible versions of Android or MIUI Install apps manually from Google Play Poco X3 Does not see old Xiaomi cables inappropriate cable or disconnected MTP-Try another cable or turn on debugging USB WhatsApp does not restore chats Backup created on another Google account Log in to the same account as on the old phone If none of the methods worked, try resetting Poco X3 to factory settings and repeat the data transfer from scratch. Before resetting, make sure all important files are copied to your computer or the cloud! 💡If data is duplicated after the transfer (for example, the same contacts appear twice), use the merge function in the Contacts app. → ⋮ → Unite. FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions: Is it Possible to Move Data from Xiaomi to Poco? X3 Yes, you can do that by direct copying over the cable. 2) or appendices SHAREit/Xender (method 4), Whether saves from games (such as Genshin Impact) will be transferred or whether they will be transferred from the games. PUBG)? It depends on the game: If the game supports sync through Google Play Games or a developer account - yes. If not, try copying the folder with the saves (/Android/data/- name games/) on a new phone. Some games (e.g. Genshin Impact) will require re-assignment of your account. How to transfer passwords from Wi-Fi? There are three ways: through Mi Cloud (if settings sync is enabled); through Google (if password backup was enabled on your old phone); Manually: on your old phone, open a list of Wi-Fi networks, click on the desired network and select Share, it will appear. QR-code that can be scanned on Poco X3. What to do if you're on Poco X3 Do you have enough space to transfer data? Clear space on your new phone: Remove pre-installed games (such as Mi Pay or Mi Video) if you don't plan to use them. Move photos to MicroSD (if you have support). Use Google Photos to store your photos in the cloud (high quality compression free of charge). X3? Yes, but it will require a special Mi Mover app (available on the App Store) that allows you to transfer contacts, photos and videos over cable. The alternative is to use Google Drive or iCloud for intermediate data storage.