How to transfer data from the old Xiaomi smartphone to the new: all ways in 2026

The transition to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, but data transfer can become a headache if you do not know the nuances. Even owners of devices of the same brand (for example, with the Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 14) often have problems: lost contacts, photos are duplicated, and applications refuse to recover. In this article, we will analyze all the current ways of data migration, from official Mi Account tools to manual methods for advanced users.

Most people’s biggest mistake is relying on “automatic synchronization,” which in practice only works with basic data (contacts, notes), and multimedia, messaging, and application settings require separate attention, and we tested each method on 2020-2026 devices and identified critical limitations of the Mi Mover when migrating between different versions of MIUI — more on this in the official tool section.

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

Before you start migrating, follow 3 mandatory steps – this will save you hours on error elimination:

• 🔋 Charge both smartphones to at least 50%.Transfer data via Mi Mover or cable consumes a lot of power, and interruption of the process due to battery discharge can lead to the loss of some files.
• 📡 Connect to stable Wi-Fi. For wireless methods (cloud, Mi Account), download speed is critical - with a weak signal, photos and videos will be compressed.
• 🧹 Clear out unnecessary data on your old phone. It's pointless to transfer app cache, duplicate photos or outdated documents. Use the built-in Security app. → Cleaner).

Pay special attention to the memory of the new device. If the old Xiaomi is 64 GB, and the new only 128 GB out of the box, after transferring less than 50% of the free space will slow down the system, in which case it is better to transfer some files to a PC or external drive in advance.

⚠️ Note: If the old smartphone has enabled data encryption (Settings) → Additionally. → Encryption, some transfer methods (e.g., via Mi Mover) may not work. decrypt the device in advance or use a cloud backup.

2.The official way: Mi Mover by Xiaomi

Mi Mover is a proprietary migration tool pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 9 and later.

• 📱 Contacts, call log, SMS/MMS
• 📷 Photo and video (without compression if using cable)
• 🎵 Music and documents
• 📥 Installed applications (without data)
• ⚙️ System settings (Wi-Fi, wallpaper, sound profiles)

However, there are critical limitations:

The following steps are taken for Mi Mover:

1. On both phones, open Settings → About Phone → Mi Mover (or search through search).
2. Select a role: on the old - "Sender", on the new - "Recipient".
3. Connect devices via Wi-Fi Direct (wireless) or cable (recommended).
4. Select the data to transfer and confirm the start of the process.

Shut down. VPN both-device|Make sure there is enough memory on your new phone|Close all background applications|Use the original Xiaomi cable-->

⚠️ Warning: If the transfer is interrupted during the Preparation phase, do not restart the process immediately. Wait 5 minutes - the system can restore the connection automatically.

3.Move over Mi Account (Xiaomi Cloud)

The cloud-based Mi Account service is suitable for partial transfer of the most important data: contacts, notes, calendar and certain settings, the advantage of which is the ability to sync before buying a new phone (for example, if an old device has already been sold).

How to set up:

1. On your old smartphone, go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Turn on synchronization for the desired categories (required: Contacts, Notes, Calendar).
3. On the new phone, log in to the same Mi Account and wait for the sync to complete.

The limitations of the cloud method:

• 🚫 No transfer of applications and their data (for example, saving games).
• 📸 Photos and videos are synced only if the Gallery option was previously enabled in Mi Cloud (default disabled).
• 🕒 Speed depends on the Internet connection. With slow Wi-Fi, synchronizing 10 GB of photos can take more than a day.

💡

If you use Mi Cloud to transfer photos, pre-archive them in folders by year, which will speed up search after recovery on a new device.

To transfer SMS/MMS messages through the cloud:

1. On your old phone, open messages. → ⋮ → Settings → Backup.
2. Select “Mi Cloud Backup” and wait until it is completed.
3. On the new device, restore messages through the same menu.

4. Manual transfer via OTG or PC cable

If Mi Mover refuses to work (for example, because of different versions of MIUI) and the cloud is too slow, the manual method remains. It takes longer, but guarantees that all files are transferred without loss.

Option 1: Through PC (Windows/macOS)

1. Connect the old Xiaomi to your computer via cable and select File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Copy folders: Internal Storage/DCIM (photos and videos), Internal Storage/Download (downloads), Internal Storage/MIUI (wallpaper, sounds) Internal Storage/Android/data (data from some applications)
3. Connect a new smartphone and paste files into the same folders.

Option 2: Through OTG-wire-drive

• 🔌 Connect. USB-OTG Adapter to the old phone and insert the flash drive.
• 📁 Copy data through any file manager (e.g. Mi File Manager).
• 🔄 Repeat the process with the new device.

⚠️ Note: When transferring manually, do not copy the folder MIUI/backup — This can cause setting conflicts on the new device, so you can restore settings through Mi Account or reconfigure them.

5. Transfer of applications and their data

The hardest part is migrating installed apps and their data (e.g. game saves, WhatsApp chats, Spotify settings), and Xiaomi’s official tools can’t handle this, so you’ll have to use third-party solutions.

Methods depending on the type of data:

For full backup of applications (including data) without root rights:

1. Install Helium (free version) on both phones.
2. On the old device, create a backup of the desired applications.
3. Transfer the backup file to your new phone (via cloud or cable).
4. Recover the data via Helium.

💡

Backup via Helium or Swift Backup does not work for system applications (such as Mi Gallery or Mi Music) and you will have to manually reconfigure their settings.

6. Data transfer from iPhone to Xiaomi

If you're switching from an iPhone to Xiaomi, the standard methods (Mi Mover, Mi Cloud) won't work.

• 📱 Move to iOS (from Apple) – transfers contacts, photos, videos, bookmarks Safari. but only works when you first set up the new Xiaomi!

The following steps are provided for Google Drive:

1. On your iPhone, install Google Drive and log in to your account.
2. Go to the menu → Settings → Backup.
3. Select the data for the backup (contacts, calendar, photos) and wait for completion.
4. On Xiaomi, log in to the same Google account and recover data via Settings → Google → Restore.

⚠️ Note: When you transfer photos from iPhone to Xiaomi via Google Photos, you may lose metadata (date of shooting, geotags). To avoid this, use the original Mi Gallery app to import.

Verification of data after transfer

After the migration is completed, be sure to check:

• 📞 Contacts: Open the Contacts app and make sure all numbers are in place (especially check groups and linked accounts).
• 📸 Photo/Video: Check the folders in the Gallery DCIM/Camera and DCIM/Screenshots. If the photo is shown as "damaged", repeat the transfer via cable.
• 🎮 Applications: Run key programs (messengers, games, banking applications) and make sure that the data is saved.
• ⚙️ Settings: Check Wi-Fi connection, sound profiles, wallpaper and screen brightness.

If something's lost:

• For contacts: import them from Google Contacts or Mi Cloud manually.
• Check the Internal Storage/MiMover folder, and sometimes files are copied there.
• For apps: reinstall them from Google Play and recover data through built-in backup features.

💡

If the battery is quickly drained after transferring to the new Xiaomi, check the activity of the background processes in Settings → Battery → Battery Use. Often, incorrectly restored applications are to blame.

FAQ: Frequent questions about data portability to Xiaomi