How to transfer data from an old smartphone to the new Xiaomi Redmi: the full guide 2026

Moving to the new Xiaomi Redmi is always exciting, but data porting often becomes a headache. Photos, contacts, messages, apps, and even Wi-Fi settings all need to be saved to keep from starting from scratch. Fortunately, Xiaomi has a few built-in migration tools, plus universal methods that work on any device.

In this article, we will look at 5 proven ways to transfer data, from the official Mi Mover app to cloud services and manual copying.→MIUI, iOS→MIUI Or even between Xiaomi devices of different generations, how to avoid typical errors and what to do if the transfer is interrupted, and also unique life hacks for transferring passwords from Wi-Fi and data from instant messengers without backups.

It doesn’t matter if you’re upgrading from Redmi Note 10 to Redmi 13 or switching from iPhone to iPhone. POCO X6 — Here's a solution to your situation, and let's start with the simplest and most reliable way.

1.Official way: Mi Mover app from Xiaomi

Mi Mover is a proprietary solution from Xiaomi for transferring data between devices on the Internet. MIUI. It is pre-installed on all new smartphones of the brand and supports migration from Android (including other Xiaomi), as well as from the iPhone (with restrictions), the main advantage is that not only files are saved, but also system settings, wallpaper, application data (for example, call history).

How it works:

• 📱 On the new Redmi: when you first turn on, select Data Portability from the settings menu. If your phone is already configured, find Mi Mover in Settings → The phone. → Data portability.
• 🔗 Pair: On an old phone, download Mi Mover from Google Play (for Android) or App Store (for iOS). Connect both devices to the same Wi-Fi network or use an access point.
• 📤 Select data: on an old phone, mark what you want to transfer (contacts, photos, videos, apps, etc.) On an iPhone, only contacts, photos and videos are available.
• ⚡ Transfer: the process will take 5 to 30 minutes depending on the amount of data!

Limitations of Mi Mover:

• ❌ Does not tolerate Wi-Fi passwords (solution – see section 4).
• ❌ You can’t transfer apps and their data to iPhones (for example, save in games).
• ❌ If there is little space on the old phone, a pre-cleaning may be required.

Charge of both phones > 50%

Free space on the new Redmi (minimum 1.5)× from the amount of data transferred)

Disabled. VPN Advertising blockers (can interfere with connection)

iPhone Allows Photo/Contact Access for Mi Mover-->

⚠️ Note: If the transfer is frozen during the Preparation stage, restart the application on both devices and try again. If the error repeats, use alternative methods from the following sections.

2.Move from Android to Xiaomi Redmi via Google Account

If you already had an Android smartphone, there’s a good chance that some of the data was synced to your Google Account, a method that’s suitable for transferring contacts, calendars, notes, some app settings (like Chrome or Gmail), and even Wi-Fi passwords (if sync was previously enabled).

Step-by-step:

1. On your old phone: check that sync is enabled. Go to Settings → Accounts. → Google → Sync your account and activate all the necessary items.
2. On the new Redmi: when you first start, log in to the same Google Account. If your phone is already set up, add your account to Settings → Accounts. → Add an account.
3. Recovery: Data will be downloaded automatically, Contacts will appear in the Contacts app, photos will appear in Google Photos, and Wi-Fi passwords will appear in connection settings.

What is carried over Google:

This method is ideal if you used Google services on an old phone, but it is not suitable for porting game saves, app settings (such as WhatsApp or Viber) and local files (downloads, documents).

💡

If your old phone doesn’t have enough backup space in Google Photos, temporarily free up your memory by deleting unnecessary files, or use your computer for intermediate copying (see section 5).

3.Moving from iPhone to Xiaomi Redmi: bypassing restrictions

The transition from iOS to Android is always more difficult because of Apple’s closed ecosystem, where the Mi Mover only transfers contacts, photos and videos, and the apps and their data stay on the iPhone, and to keep the most information, you have to combine several methods.

Method 1: Transfer over iCloud (for contacts, photos, notes)

• 📱 On iPhone: Enable backup in Settings → [Your name] → iCloud → Backup copy in iCloud.
• 🌐 On your computer: log in to iCloud.com, log in and manually export contacts (.vcf format) and photos.
• 📲 On Redmi: import contacts via.vcf file and copy photos to folder DCIM.

Method 2: Deferral of communications WhatsApp/Viber

• 💬 For WhatsApp: Use the official Chat Transfer feature (Lightning cable required)→USB-C latest version of the appendix).
• 📤 For Viber: Backup your Settings → Account. → Backup and restore it to Redmi after installing the app.

Method 3: Transfer of music and documents

• 🎵 Music from Apple Music will have to be re-uploaded (there is no legal way to transfer it), and local tracks can be copied via iTunes to a computer and then to Redmi.
• 📄 Documents from Pages/Numbers Export to.pdf or.docx and save to Google Drive.

⚠️ Note: Do not use third-party programs like iMazing or Syncios to transfer data from your iPhone – they often violate Apple’s policies and can block your iCloud account.

Android (Samsung, Huawei, etc.)

iPhone (Apple)

Other Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO

Device on Windows Phone

Another option-->

4. How to Transfer Wi-Fi Passwords and Other Hidden Data

One of the most frustrating things about changing phones is having to re-enter Wi-Fi passwords, especially if the networks are too many or the passwords are complex, and fortunately there are ways to save them without manually rewriting them.

Method 1: Google (if synchronization was enabled)

If you used Google Account on your old phone and you enabled password sync, they will automatically load into Redmi after you log in to the same account. → Google → Managing a Google Account → Security → Passwords.

Method 2: Password export applications

• 🔑 WiFi Password Viewer (requires root rights on your old phone) – shows all saved passwords.
• 📋 ES Explorer (older versions) – allows you to export the file wpa_supplicant.conf password-wise: /data/misc/wifi/).

Method 3: Manual transfer through QR-code

On an old phone:

1. Install the WiFi Key Share app.
2. Select the network. → generate QR-code.
3. Scan it with a Redmi camera – the phone will automatically connect to the network.

Additional: transfer of data from browsers

If you have used Chrome or Safari, you can transfer saved passwords and bookmarks through sync with Google Account (for Chrome) or export to.html file (for Safari).

5. Manual transfer via computer (for large amounts of data)

If you have more than 50GB of data, or you want to have full control of the process, the best way to do this is through a computer, a universal method that works for any device (including iPhones and damaged phones).

What you need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows/Mac/Linux.
• 🔌 Cables. USB for both phones (or Lightning adapter)→USB-C iPhone).
• 📁 External drive (flash drive or flash drive) HDD), if the data is more than 100 GB.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your old phone to your computer in File Transfer mode (MTP for Android or Photos for iPhone).
2. Copy the data into a folder on your computer: 📸 Photo/video: DCIM, Pictures. 🎵 Music: Music or Media. 📄 Documents: Downloads, Documents. 💬 Messages: Use SMS Backup & Restore for export to.xml.

Connect a new Redmi

Install applications

Google Play

Advantages of the method:

• ✅ It works even if the phones are on different OSes.
• ✅ Only the necessary files can be selectively copied.
• ✅ There are no limits on volume (unlike cloud services).

Disadvantages:

• ❌ It takes a lot of time at a large volume.
• ❌ System settings and data of some applications are not transferred.

💡

If you have a Mac, install Android File Transfer (the official software from Google) to access your Android phone files. iPhone doesn’t require any additional software — use Photo or Finder (depending on the version of macOS).

6. Cloud services: Google Drive, Mi Cloud and others

If you have a stable Internet and a non-critical amount of data (up to 15-20 GB), cloud services are the most convenient way to transfer, they allow you to back up your old phone and restore it to a new one without wire.

Option 1: Google Drive (Universal)

• 📱 On an old phone: install Google Drive, log in to your account and back up your Settings → Backup.
• ☁️ On the new Redmi: log in to the same account and restore data when you set up.

Option 2: Mi Cloud (Xiaomi only)

• 📱 On the old Xiaomi: go to Settings → Mi Account. → Mi Cloud → Backup.
• 🔄 On the new Redmi: Log in to the same Mi Account and restore a copy.

Option 3: Other Clouds (Yandex Disk, Dropbox)

Suitable for selective file transfer (photos, documents), upload data to the cloud from your old phone, and then download it to Redmi.

• 📌 Yandex Disk: 10GB free.
• 📌 Dropbox: 2GB free (can be increased to 16GB via invitations).
• 📌 OneDrive: 5GB free of charge.

⚠️ Note: When using Mi Cloud, make sure both phones have the same version MIUI (or differs by no more than 1-2 builds, otherwise the recovery may fail.

7. Data transfer between two Xiaomi: a quick way through Mi Account

If both phones are from Xiaomi (for example, you upgrade from the Redmi Note 11 to the Redmi 13 Pro), the quickest way is to use the Mi Account and the Cloning feature of the device.

How it works:

1. On your old phone, go to Settings. → Mi Account. → Mi Cloud → Backup and create a full copy.
2. On the new Redmi, when you first turn on, select “Restore from Backup” and log in to the same Mi Account.
3. Select the last backup and wait for the recovery to be completed.

What's transferable:

• ✅ Contacts, messages, call log.
• ✅ Photos, videos, music (if they were in the phone’s memory).
• ✅ System settings (wallpaper, sounds, brightness, etc.).
• ✅ Data from some applications (e.g. Notes, Calendar).

Limitations:

• ❌ Data from third-party messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) is not transferred).
• ❌ If the old phone had custom firmware, the recovery may not work properly.

This method takes 10 to 20 minutes and doesn’t require a computer connection, and the key is to make sure both phones have enough space and are connected to charge.

8 What to do if the data transfer is interrupted or failed

Sometimes the transfer process can be terminated with an error due to unstable connection, memory shortage or software failure.

Problem 1: Mi Mover is stuck in the “Data Preparation” phase

• 🔄 Restart the app on both phones.
• 📶 Reconnect to Wi-Fi or use a mobile access point.
• 🗑️ Free up space on both devices (minimum 10% free space).

Problem 2: Photos or videos are not transferred

• 📸 Check if files are hidden (for example, in the.thumbnails folder).
• 🔍 Use a file manager (such as Solid Explorer) to manually search for media files.
• ☁️ Upload photos to Google and download them to your new phone.

Problem 3: There is not enough space on the new phone

• 📁 Transfer some data to microSD (if you have a slot).
• 🗃️ Use cloud storage for temporary storage.
• 🧹 Delete unnecessary files (such as app cache) through Settings → Warehouse.

Problem 4: No messages or contacts are restored

• 📞 Check if your contacts are synchronized with your Google Account or Mi Account.
• 💬 For SMS use SMS Backup & Restore (export to.xml) → importation on a new phone).

If none of the methods worked, try alternative applications:

• 📲 Clone Phone (from Huawei, but it works with Xiaomi).
• 📲 Smart Switch (from Samsung supports porting from Android to Android).

💡

If you are transferring data from an Android phone 10 or older, upgrade to the latest version before the process begins. Older versions of the OS may conflict with newer data protocols.

FAQ: Frequent questions about data portability to Xiaomi Redmi