How to Move Data from Samsung to Xiaomi Poco: A Complete Guide to 2026

The transition from Samsung Galaxy to Xiaomi Poco is not just a brand change, but a transition between two different ecosystems with unique features. The main fear of users in such a migration is the loss of important data: photos over 5 years, working contacts or saves in games.

In this article, we’ll look at all the current ways to transfer data, from standard Xiaomi tools to workarounds for specific files (such as Samsung Notes notes or Samsung Health data). We will pay special attention to compatibility problems that arise due to the difference in the firmware One. UI and MIUI, and also give a checklist to check the integrity of the transferred data.

Important: If you are using Samsung with Android 12+ Poco on MIUI 14/15, Some methods (such as Smart Switch) may not work properly. S22 Ultra → Poco F5 Pro and Galaxy A52 → Poco X5 Pro in May 2026 year-end.

Preparation for transfer: what to do before the start

The first step is to audit the data, and make a list of everything you want to transfer by categorizing:

• 📱 Contacts (including groups and tags)
• 📷 Photos and videos (including Google Photos and Samsung Gallery albums)
• 🎵 Music and playlists (local files) + Spotify/YouTube Music)
• 📝 Notes and documents (Samsung Notes, Google Keep, PDF)
• 🎮 Application data (save games, settings messengers)
• 📅 Calendars and reminders
• 🔑 Passwords and logins (from Samsung Pass or Google Password Manager)

Note the amount of data: if you have more than 50 GB of high-resolution photos/video, it can take several hours to transfer over Wi-Fi. OTG or computer as an intermediate.

⚠️ Note: If your Samsung has enabled storage encryption (Settings) → Biometrics and safety → Other security parameters → Encryption, some portability techniques (e.g., Mi Mover) may not work, in which case use cloud services or a computer.

Also check:

• 🔋 Battery charge for both phones (minimum 50%)
• 📶 Stable Wi-Fi connection (or mobile Internet with unlimited traffic)
• 📱 Free space on Xiaomi Poco (should be on the phone) 10-15% more than the amount of data transferred)

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

Mi Mover is built into the MIUI It's an app that can transfer data from other Android devices, and it can send contacts, messages, photos, videos, music, even some settings:

How it works:

1. On Xiaomi Poco go to Settings → The phone. → Data Transfer (Mi Mover).
2. Select I am a new user → Android.
3. Download Mi Mover from Google Play on Samsung.
4. Run the app on both phones and follow the instructions (you need to scan the QR- code).

Limitations of the method:

• 🚫 Does not transfer applications and their data (only) APK-saveless).
• 🚫 It may not work with Samsung on Android 13+ Because of the limitations of One UI.
• 🚫 Does not support porting Samsung Notes, Samsung Health and Secure Folder.

⚠️ Warning: If the Mi Mover transfer process is delayed by more than 10 minutes, do not interrupt the connection. Try restarting the app on both phones and trying again. If the problem is repeated, use alternative methods.

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If Mi Mover doesn’t see your Samsung, try turning off Network Optimization in the developer settings (Settings) → The phone. → Information on POs → Build number - tap 7 times to unlock).

3. Method 2: Smart Switch (from Samsung) + hand-carry

Samsung Smart Switch is a Mi Mover mirror tool, but it's from Samsung, which is better at porting data from Samsung devices, but it can't send it to other brands.

Steps:

1. On Samsung, back up with Smart Switch: Settings → Cloud and accounts → Smart Switch → Backup Select data to save (contacts, messages, notes) and save a copy to SD-card.
2. Connect Samsung to your computer and copy the backup file (usually in the SmartSwitchBackup folder).
3. Install the Xiaomi Poco Smart Switch Agent (unofficial port).
4. Transfer the backup file to Poco and restore the data via Smart Switch Agent.

What's transferable:

• ✅ Contacts (including call history)
• ✅ Communications (SMS/MMS)
• ✅ Notes Samsung Notes (in.snb format)
• ✅ Samsung Settings (partially)
• ❌ Photo/video (best transferred separately)

The disadvantage of the method: not all data will be restored correctly to the MIUI. For example, Samsung Notes will open but without formatting. For full-fledged note transfer, it is better to use Google Keep or OneNote as an intermediate option.

Method 3: Transfer through a Google account (most reliable)

If you use Google services (Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Drive, Photos), most of the data is already synced to the cloud.

• 📇 Contacts (Google Contacts)
• 📅 Calendars (Google Calendar)
• 📷 Photo/video (Google Photos with original quality)
• 📝 Notes (Google Keep)
• 🔑 Passwords (Google Password Manager)

Instructions:

1. On Samsung, check that sync is enabled: Settings → Accounts and archiving → Managing a Google Account → Synchronization Make sure all the necessary data is ticked.
2. Wait for the sync to complete (check in Google Photos or Contacts via browser).
3. On Xiaomi Poco, add the same Google account and enable sync: Settings → Google accounts → Synchronization of data

Pros of the method:

• 🔄 Data is always relevant and available on any device.
• 🛡️ No risk of loss in case of transfer failure.
• 📱 It works even if the phones are physically far apart.

Cons:

• 🚫 No messages, application settings and local files (music, documents) are transferred).
• 🚫 Google Photos compresses media files if you don’t have a Google One subscription.

5. Method 4: Transfer over a computer (for large volumes)

If you 50+ GB data (for example, a collection of photos in the RAW or video 4K), It's going to take too long to get airborne, in which case the computer is going to take too long (Windows/macOS/Linux) He will be the best mediator.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Samsung to your computer via USB-cable (select File Transfer mode when connected).
2. Copy the right folders: DCIM — Photos and videos Download - Download Documents - Music documents - Music WhatsApp/Media — messenger

Samsung

Xiaomi Poco

File transfer

Poco

.vcf

.xml

Contacts

Communications

Samsung

Tips for acceleration:

• 🖥️ Use it. USB 3.0 and high speed cable.
• 📁 Archive folders in.zip before copying (reduce transfer time to.zip) 20-30%).
• 🔌 Connect the phones to the back. USB-Computer ports (usually faster than front-end ports).

⚠️ Note: If you are transferring data from Samsung to Xiaomi Poco via Mac, you may need to install Android File Transfer. Windows 11 sometimes requires manually installing drivers. MTP For Xiaomi (download from the official website).

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Computer Transfer is the Only Reliable Way for Large Data Volumes (100)+ GB, but it takes time and preparation.

6. Method 5: Cloud services (Dropbox, Yandex Drive, Telegram)

If you don't have a computer on hand, but you have a stable Internet connection, you can use cloud storage, and this is a good way to transfer:

• 📁 Individual files (documents, archives)
• 📷 Photo/video (if the volume is up to 20 GB)
• 🔑 Backup copies of applications (.apk,.zip)

Comparison of services:

Instructions for Yandex Disk:

1. On Samsung, install the Yandex Disk.
2. Upload files to the cloud (you can enable Autoupload photo in the settings).
3. On Xiaomi Poco, install the same app and download the files.

Important: If you transfer photos through Google Photos or Yandex Drive, check the quality settings. By default, the services can compress images up to 16 MP (instead of the original resolution).

7. Method 6: Portability of applications and their data

It's easy to migrate the application.apk files themselves, but with the application data (save games, setup messengers) it's harder. Here's what works:

For messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber):

• 📱 WhatsApp: Use the built-in backup function in Google Drive (Settings) → chat → Backup. On Poco, restore chats when you first start.
• 📱 Telegram: all data is synced to the cloud automatically (it is enough to log into your account on a new phone).
• 📱 Viber: backup is created manually in Settings → Account. → Backup copy.

For games:

• 🎮 If the game supports Google Play Games or Facebook authentication, saves are linked to your account.
• 🎮 For offline games, use Titanium Backup (root rights required).
• 🎮 The alternative — RAR file-archive /Android/obb (game-caches).

For the remaining applications:

• 📱 Use Smart Switch to export your list of apps to.txt, then install them manually on Poco.
• 📱 To move settings (like Nova Launcher) use the built-in export/import in the apps themselves.

⚠️ Note: Some apps (such as Samsung Health or Samsung Pay) are not portable to other brands.For Samsung Health, export data to Google Fit via Settings → Export of data.

8. Solving problems after transfer

Even after successful transfer, problems can arise, and here are the most common solutions:

Problem 1: Photos and videos are not displayed in the Xiaomi Gallery

• 🔍 Check if files are hidden (the.nomedia folder can block the display).
• 🔄 Restart the Gallery app or clear its cache (Settings) → Annexes → gallery → Warehouse → Clear the cache).
• 📁 Move files to standard folders (DCIM/Camera).

Problem 2: Contacts are duplicated

• 📇 Open Contacts. → Contact management → Combine duplicates.
• 🔄 Turn off synchronization of unnecessary accounts (Settings) → Accounts. → Synchronization of contacts).

Issue 3: No Appendices are Installed

• 📱 Enable installation from unknown sources (Settings) → Annexes → Special access → Installation of unknown applications).
• 🔧 Check the processor architecture: if Samsung was ARM64, POCO — ARMv8, Some applications may not work.

Problem 4: Battery discharges quickly after transfer

• 🔋 Reboot Xiaomi Poco after data transfer.
• 📊 Check the activity of applications in Settings → Battery → Battery utilization.
• 🔄 Turn off auto sync for unnecessary accounts.

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If after the transfer Xiaomi Poco began to slow down, check the Settings → Memory. → Memory analysis. Often the cause is a large amount of cache from migrated applications.

FAQ: Frequent questions