How to transfer data from the old Honor to the new Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Why Data Transfers Between Honor and Xiaomi Need a Special Approach

The transition from Honor to Xiaomi is not just a brand change, but a transition between two different ecosystems with unique branded services. While replacing the iPhone with Samsung can count on universal tools like Google Account, the situation is more complicated: Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) to Honor and MIUI to Xiaomi are not always compatible out of the box.

The main problem is that there is no direct synchronization between Huawei ID and Mi Account. Even standard tools like Mi Mover (the migration app from Xiaomi) can not recognize data from Honor due to manufacturer restrictions. For example, transferring call history and SMS via Mi Mover only works with devices based on Android 10 and later, but requires disabling encryption on an old phone – a nuance that many forget.

In this article, we will discuss all the current methods of transfer, from official tools to workarounds for specific types of data (photos, chats in messengers, application settings), and pay special attention to preserving the structure of folders and format compatibility, so that after moving, you do not have to manually sort thousands of files.

Method 1: Mi Mover – the official solution from Xiaomi

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary tool for migrating data from Android devices, which supports transferring contacts, messages, photos, videos, audio, documents, and even some app settings. However, with Honor, there’s a nuance: the app may not see your old phone due to Huawei’s restrictions on accessing system data.

To increase the chances of success:

• 📱 Make sure that Honor is enabled debugging USB (Settings → The phone. → Assembly number (7 taps) → Developer settings → Debugging by USB).
• 🔌 Use the original. USB-The cable (better the one that came with Xiaomi) is often not supported by cheap cables.
• 🔄 Reboot both phones before starting the process – this resets the time limits on file access.
• 📶 Connect both devices to the same Wi-Fi network (even if you use a cable). Mi Mover checks the local connection to speed up the transfer.

Step-by-step:

1. Download Mi Mover on both phones (available on Google Play or AppGallery for Honor).
2. On Xiaomi, select “I am a new user” and on Honor, “Send data”.
3. Confirm the connection through QR-code PIN (It will appear on the Xiaomi screen).
4. Select data types to transfer (we recommend unchecking the "Applications" - they may conflict with versions in MIUI).
5. Wait until the end (time depends on the amount of data - from 10 minutes to 2 hours).

Disable screen lock on both phones|Charge both devices to a minimum of 50%|Remove unnecessary files from your old phone|Check the space on the new Xiaomi (should be 1.5 times the amount of data transferred)-->

Limitations of Mi Mover:

• ❌ Does not transfer data from Huawei AppGallery (apps will have to be installed again).
• ❌ Call history and SMS You may not be able to transfer it if the Honor encryption is enabled.
• ❌ Some system settings (such as Do Not Disturb Mode) are reset.

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If Mi Mover is stuck in the connection phase, try connecting your phones to another Wi-Fi router or using a mobile hotspot. Often the problem is blocking local traffic with an antivirus or firewall.

Method 2: Transfer through Google Account (universal method)

If Mi Mover doesn’t work, the most reliable option is sync through Google Account, which is suitable for contacts, calendars, notes (from Google Keep), photos (if they are uploaded to Google Photos) and some app settings, the main advantage is that the data is automatically updated on the new phone if you make changes to the old one.

What can be transferred:

• 📇 Contacts (including groups and tags).
• 📅 Calendars and events.
• 📝 Notes from Google Keep or Huawei Notes (pre-export to the PDF).
• 📷 Photos and videos (if you have autoloaded in Google Photos).
• 🎵 Music and documents (from Google Drive).

Instructions:

1. On Honor, open Settings → Accounts → Google and enable sync for all the right categories.
2. Wait for the sync to complete (check in Google Drive or Google Photos that the files have been downloaded).
3. On Xiaomi, when you first turn on, select “Restore from backup” and log in to the same Google Account.
4. Select the latest backup (the date of creation can be seen in Settings → Google → Backup).

Important nuances:

• 🔹 Google backups do not include SMS, Call history and Wi-Fi settings.
• 🔹 Photos in their original quality take up space in the cloud. If the Google Photos limit is exhausted, use Yandex Drive or Mega for temporary storage.
• 🔹 Applications are not portable – only their settings (if the developer supports backup through Google).

Mi Mover|Google Account|Cloud services (Yandex, Mega)|Manual cable transfer|Another way.-->

Method 3: Transfer over cloud services (Yandex Drive, Mega, Telegram)

If you need to transfer large files (video to 4K, archives, projects) or data that is not synced through Google, use third-party cloud storage. The advantage of this method is that there is no ecosystem binding, and files can be downloaded to Xiaomi at any time.

Comparison of services:

There is no fixed limit on Telegram, but files >2 GB are not sent.

How to transfer data:

1. Install the application of the selected service on Honor (for example, Yandex Drive).
2. Upload files to the cloud (you can choose the folders "DCIM" for photos or "Downloads" for documents).
3. On Xiaomi, log in to the same account and download files to the right folders.

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To speed up downloading large files (>1 GB), connect Honor to 5 GHz Wi-Fi or use mobile Internet with unlimited rates. compressing files in ZIP before downloading will reduce time by 30-40%.

What can’t be transferred through the cloud:

• ⚠️ SMS and call history - they need specialized applications like SMS Backup & Restore.
• ⚠️ App settings (e.g., progress in games) – backups are required through the apps themselves.
• ⚠️ System files (e.g, data/app) — Cloud services don't see them.

Method 4: Manual transfer through USB-cable (for experienced users)

If you need to migrate all files without exception (including hidden folders or custom formats), the most reliable way is to connect Honor to your computer and manually copy data to Xiaomi.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 🔌 USB-cable (better with support) USB 3.0 for speed).
• 📁 External drive (flash drive or flash drive) HDD) — if the data >100GB.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Honor to your computer and select File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Open the phone folder in the Explorer. The basic data is stored in: Internal Storage/DCIM/ — Photos and videos by Internal Storage/Downloads/ — Internal Storage/WhatsApp/ — backups of Internal chats Storage/Android/data/ — Application data (root rights required)
3. Copy the desired folders to your computer (we recommend using an archiver for compression).
4. Connect Xiaomi and paste files into the appropriate folders (the structure is better saved).
5. For music, use the Music folder, for documents, Documents.

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If your computer doesn’t see Honor, install HiSuite drivers (official software from Huawei). Xiaomi may need to enable Settings → Additional → Developer Settings → Default USB configuration → File Transfer.

Warnings:

⚠️ Don't copy the folder. Android/data rootless, which can cause app failures on the new phone, and it's better to only transfer media files and documents.

⚠️ Photo format.HEIC (iPhone.HVEC (Honor may not open on Xiaomi. Convert them to Xiaomi before penos.JPG via HEIF Image Converter.

Method 5: SMS portability, call and application history

Standard methods (Mi Mover, Google Account) don't always work with SMS penos, call logs, and app data, and you'll need specialized tools to do that.

For SMS and call history:

1. Install SMS Backup & Restore on Honor (available on Google Play or APKMirror).
2. Create a backup (Backup → Local Backup → Create)
3. Transfer the backup file (has the.xml extension) to Xiaomi via cloud or cable.
4. Install the same app on Xiaomi and recover the data (Restore → Select a file).

For applications and their data:

• 📦 Use Swift Backup (requires root rights) to create a full copy of apps with settings.
• 🔄 For cloud-saving games (such as Genshin Impact), log in to the same account on your new phone.
• 📱 Apps from Huawei AppGallery will have to be re-installed via APK Or look for analogues in Google Play.

For messengers:

What to do if the data is not moved or damaged

Even if you follow all the instructions, you can have problems, and let's look at typical situations and their solutions.

Problem 1: Mi Mover can't see Honor phone

• 🔌 Check the cable - try another one (preferably original from Xiaomi).
• 📱 On Honor, turn on Developer Mode and allow Debugging by USB".
• 🔄 Reboot both phones and try again.
• 📡 Turn it off. VPN Firewall – they can block a local connection.

Problem 2: Photos and videos don’t open on Xiaomi

• 🖼️ Check file formats. Honor can save photos to.HEIF or video.HVEC — They need to be converted.
• 📥 Install the app on Xiaomi HEIF Viewer for viewing non-standard formats.
• 🔧 Update the Xiaomi Gallery to the latest version (via Google Play).

Problem 3: Contacts are not transferred

• 📇 Check if your contacts are synchronized in your Google Account (Settings) → Accounts. → Google → Synchronization of contacts).
• 📱 Export your Honor contacts to.vcf (Contacts) → Settings → Import/Export and import on Xiaomi.
• 🔄 If contacts are duplicated, use Contacts Optimizer to clean up.

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If some files are missing after transferring to Xiaomi, check the Internal Storage/MIUI/Backup/AllBackup folder – sometimes the data goes there instead of the main directories.

FAQ: Frequent questions about data portability from Honor to Xiaomi