Changing your smartphone is always an exciting process, especially when it comes to preserving personal memories. Thousands of photos and hours of video accumulated over the years of using an old device require careful handling when migrating. Users often face the problem of how to quickly and without loss transfer the gallery to the new Xiaomi Redmi Note, preserving the folder structure and metadata files.
Fortunately, the Android ecosystem offers a variety of tools to address this challenge, from built-in system utilities to third-party cloud services. Xiaomi owners are in a particularly advantageous position thanks to the optimized MIUI shell and pre-installed synchronization apps. We will break down all the current methods so you can choose the most suitable for your situation.
Whether you're changing your budget model to a flagship or just recovering your data after a reset, backing up and then moving your library is a critical step in setting up a new gadget, and ignoring this step can lead to the permanent loss of valuable personnel, so it's worth taking a responsible approach to the procedure.
Preparing devices for data migration
Before you start the active copying process, you need to make sure that both smartphones are ready to work. Charge both devices to at least 50-60%, as intensive data transfer over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth can significantly consume battery power. Also check the availability of free space on the new Redmi Note, because modern high-resolution photos take up gigabytes of space.
Make sure both phones have data enabled and are in the stable signal zone if you plan to use wireless methods. USB-cable OTG, If the ports of the devices are different.
It is important to clear the cache of system services on an old device to avoid errors when scanning files. Sometimes old, deleted from the gallery, but left in the system thumbnails can confuse the transfer algorithms.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to interrupt the data transfer process by turning off the screen or running heavy applications.This can cause file damage or system freeze on both devices.
Check the date and time on both devices. The clock's unsynchronization can cause errors when checking the integrity of files and their timestamps in the new system.
Using the Mi Mover app for Xiaomi
The most effective and native way for owners of Xiaomi equipment is to use the Mi Mover utility, which is designed specifically for data migration between devices running MIUI and allows you to transfer not only the gallery, but also contacts, settings and applications.
The process starts with installing the app on both smartphones if it is missing. On the new Redmi Note, it is often pre-installed in the Tools folder. Run the program and select the role of the device: "I send" on the old phone and "I receive" on the new one.
- 📱 Scan on the old device. QR-code that will appear on the screen of the new smartphone.
- 📂 Select the Images or Gallery category to transfer all photos and videos.
- 🚀 Click the “Send” button and wait for the process to be completed without closing the application.
The main advantage of the Mi Mover is that it creates a direct Wi-Fi connection between devices without consuming Internet traffic, while transfer speeds are much faster than using Bluetooth or cloud services with limited bandwidth.
☑️ Preparation for transmission via Mi Mover
If the gallery has hidden albums or password-protected folders, they must be pre-unblocked or moved to public directories, otherwise the program may not see them.
Sync through Google Photos and Cloud Services
For those who prefer wireless solutions without installing additional software, Google Photos is the ideal option, which automatically uploads all media files to the cloud, from where they can be easily downloaded to the new Xiaomi.
Log in to your Google account on your old phone and make sure that Autoboot and Sync is enabled. Depending on the quality settings selected, photos can be compressed (Save Space Mode) or uploaded in their original size, taking up space in storage.
| Parameter | High quality | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Occupied seat | Unlimited (conditionally) | Limit 15GB |
| Photo quality | Compressed (up to 16 MP) | No change. |
| Loading speed | Hurry up. | Depends on size. |
Once you have finished downloading on your old device, you just need to log in to the Google Photos app on the new Redmi Note. All images will appear in the tape automatically, and you will need to select and download them to physically store them in memory.
⚠️ Note: When using cloud services, make sure you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.Sharing a lot of data over the mobile Internet can exhaust your data plan.
What to do if the photos are not synchronized?
Alternatively, services like Yandex.Disk or Dropbox can also have automatic backup functions, but Google Photos remains the most integrated solution for the Android platform.
Wireless: USB-cable
The classic way to do this is to use the personal computer as an intermediary, which guarantees maximum speed and is independent of the quality of the wireless signal.
Connect your old smartphone to your PC through USB-cable and select the menu on the phone screen mode "File transfer» (MTP). On the computer, open the conductor, find the device and copy the folder. DCIM, where the main gallery is usually stored, on the hard disk.
Then connect the new Xiaomi Redmi Note and transfer the saved files to a similar directory.The system automatically scans the new files and adds them to the Gallery app.
- 💻 Use the ports. USB 3.0 (blue) on your computer for maximum copy speed.
- 🔌 Try to use the original cable, as cheap analogues often only support charging.
- 📁 Don’t change the folder structure inside. DCIM, so you don't get the date sorting.
This method is especially useful if you want to transfer video files in 4K resolution, which can weigh up to several gigabytes each.
💡
If your computer can’t see your phone, try enabling USB debugging in the Developer Menu or simply replacing the cable with a known serviceable one.
After copying on a new phone, it may be necessary to reboot so that the system’s media scanner correctly indexes all new images and they appear in previews.
Local transmission via Quick Share and Bluetooth
If you don’t have a computer and don’t want to install apps, you can use the built-in Quick Share (formerly known as Nearby Share), an analogue of AirDrop for Android, which allows you to transfer files between devices nearby.
The feature works through a combination of Bluetooth to find devices and Wi-Fi Direct to transfer data, which provides high speed without the need to enter passwords or scan codes. Just highlight the desired photos in the gallery of the old phone, click Share and select a new Redmi from the list of available devices.
Bluetooth as a standalone method should only be considered for transferring a few images, because its bandwidth is extremely low. For the entire gallery archive, this method will be inefficient and will take hours.
⚠️ Note: When using Quick Share, make sure that geolocation is enabled on both devices. Without location permission, the device search function next to you won't work.
It is important to keep the screens of both smartphones on during the transfer.Some Xiaomi models can aggressively save energy and break the connection if the screen goes out.
Solving problems in transfer
Users may experience a number of common difficulties in migrating, such as missing shoot dates or losing geotags after transferring photos, often when copying through some file managers that do not save files. EXIF-data.
If you notice that some files are damaged or not opening, try repeating the procedure using a different method, sometimes the problem lies in the file system or broken memory sectors of the old device.
In cases where the new Xiaomi phone does not see the folder with the photo after copying, the Scan Media Files app or manually running the scan through the storage settings will help.
💡
The most reliable way to maintain original quality and metadata is to wired copy through a PC or use specialized tools like Mi Mover.
Remember to check the Recycle Bin album in the old phone gallery before transferring, and users often forget that deleted photos are still there, and they can be restored and transferred.