How to transfer photos from Xiaomi phone to memory card: all ways

Why are photos not saved to Xiaomi memory card?

You took hundreds of pictures on Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 or Poco X5 Pro, but the phone memory is full? Transferring photos to a microSD card is an easy way to free up space and not lose access to files. However, many users are faced with the fact that the smartphone stubbornly ignores the external drive: photos continue to be stored in internal memory, and attempts to transfer end in errors.

The problem is often the default settings. The manufacturer does not always activate automatic saving on the device. SD-In addition, starting with Android 11, Google has tightened its rules for working with external drives, which led to restrictions on file writing for some applications. In this article, we will analyze all working methods of transfer – from manual copying to changing camera settings and using a PC.

It's important to understand that not all methods are equally effective. For example, transferring through Google Files can take 2 times longer than through a standard MIUI File Manager. And the default save setting will only work for new images, but it won't help with existing ones. So we'll look at each option with its pros and cons.

Method 1: Transfer through the standard MIUI file manager

The fastest method is to use the built-in MIUI File Manager (aka "Files"), which does not require a PC connection and works on all Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco models with MIUI 12 and higher, the main condition is that the memory card must be formatted as internal or support recording (if used as a portable one).

Instructions:

• 📁 Open the Files app (Icon with folder on desktop).
• 🖼️ Go to the Images or Albums section.
• 📌 Select the desired photos with a long tap (or click Select in the upper right corner).
• ⤵️ Press More (three dots) → Copy in (or Move to).
• 💾 Choose yours. SD-map (usually displayed as a SD-the name of the manufacturer or card, such as SanDisk).
• 📂 Create a new folder (such as Photos) or select an existing folder → Insert.

Memory card inserted and recognized by the phone|There's plenty of free space on the map.|Photos unprotected DRM (For example, screenshots from Netflix)|The phone is not in power saving mode (may interrupt the process)-->

If the option Move to inactive, the memory card is locked to write.

1. Remove the card and check the physical Lock switch on the adapter (if any).
2. Connect the card to your PC and execute the command in Command Prompt: Diskpart list disk select disk X (where X is your number). SD-maps) attributes disk clear readonly

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If there are a lot of photos (500+), use the Sort by Date function in MIUI File Manager. Select the first shot, scroll down and tap on the last shot - all files in between will stand out automatically.

Method 2: Setup the camera to save on SD-default-card

This method is suitable if you want all new photos to be automatically saved to a memory card, rather than to internal memory. Note: the setting does not affect pre-existing pictures - they will have to be transferred manually (see Method 1).

How to change the place of preservation:

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap on. ⚙️ Settings (cog in the upper right corner).
3. Scroll to the Save Place section (or Warehouse on some models).
4. Choose. SD-Card instead of Internal Memory.
5. Create a new folder (like Camera) or confirm your existing folder.

On the Xiaomi 13 Pro and Redmi K60 models with Android 13+, the path may be different:

Camera settings → Additional → Store location → Device memory → SD- card

⚠️ Attention: If you extract SD-After this setup, the camera will automatically return to the internal memory. To avoid losing your images, always check the location before shooting.

Method 3: Transfer over a computer (the most reliable method)

If your phone is bugged or your memory card is not recognized, the most reliable way to do this is to use a PC (Windows, macOS, or Linux), which is also useful if you want to transfer thousands of photos without the risk of interruption.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect Xiaomi to your computer via USB-cable (preferably original).
2. On your phone, select File Transfer (FTP/MTP) mode in the connection notification.
3. Open This Computer (Windows) or Finder (macOS) – the phone will appear as a removable drive.
4. Go to Internal Storage → DCIM → Camera (there are photos stored).
5. Copy the files and paste them into the folder on SD-map (it will be displayed as a separate disk).

If the computer can't see the phone:

• 🔌 Try another one. USB-cable (cheap cables often do not support data transmission).
• 🔄 Reboot both devices.
• 🛠️ Update the drivers MTP via Device Manager (Windows).
• 📱 On the phone, turn on the debugging. USB In Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (tap 7 times) → Additionally. → For developers.

Through the file manager on the phone|Setup of the camera by default|Connection to PC|Cloud Services (Google Photos)|Another way.-->

Method 4: Using Google Photos to Transfer Temporary

If you don't have a card reader or cable on hand, you can use Google Photos as an intermediate storage method that is suitable for temporary memory release, but does not replace a full transfer to the Internet. SD-map.

How it works:

1. Install Google Photos from Play Market (if not already installed).
2. Log in to your Google account.
3. Enable Backup and Synchronization in the application settings.
4. Wait for all photos to be uploaded to the cloud (it can take several hours with slow internet).
5. Remove photos from your phone to make room.
6. Download the photos back, but now SD-map via the web version of photos.google.com or mobile application.

⚠️ Attention: Free storage of Google Photos is limited to 15 GB per account. If you have more photos, they will be compressed to a resolution of 16 MP (enough to view, but not to print.

Alternative cloud services:

• 🌥️ Yandex Drive (10GB free, no compression).
• ☁️ OneDrive (5GB free, Windows integration).
• 📁 Mega (20GB free, but slow download).

Method 5: Applications for Automatic Portability (for Advanced Users)

If you need to automate photo transfer (e.g. copy new photos every night) SD-You can use third-party apps, and they're useful for users who take pictures often and don't want to waste time manually copying.

Top.-3 apps:

Example of AutoSync configuration:

1. Install an app from the Play Market.
2. Select the source: Internal Storage → DCIM.
3. Specify the target: SD-map → Photos folder".
4. Set up a schedule (for example, every day at 23:00).
5. Activate the option to delete the source files after copying (if you need to free up the memory).

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The side of the app is easy to automate, but requires file access and memory. Before installing, check reviews and permissions in the Play Market (for example, why does the app need access to contacts?).

Frequent mistakes and their solutions

Even with the right actions, moving photos can end up in error, so let's look at the typical problems and how to fix them.

1. Memory card is not recognized

If the phone can't see SD-map:

• 🔍 Check if your Xiaomi model supports memory cards (e.g. Xiaomi) 12S Ultra doesn’t have a microSD slot).
• 🛠️ Format the map in FAT32 or exFAT via PC (on your phone, select Settings) → Memory. → SD-map → Format).
• 🔋 Try another card (possibly the current one is damaged).

2. There is not enough space on the map

If there is an error in memory during transfer:

• 🗑️ Remove unnecessary files from SD-maps (video, music, app cache).
• 📊 Check the real size of the map: often "32 GB" is actually 28-29 GB.
• 🔄 Transfer files in parts (for example, 500 photos at a time).

3.Photos are not opened after the transfer

If the images are "broken":

• 🖼️ Check the file extension: they should end in.jpg,.png or.heic.
• 🔄 Transfer files back to internal memory and repeat the procedure.
• 🛠️ Use a recovery program (for example, Recuva on PC).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions