How to transfer data from Honor to Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Contents

• Introduction: Why Data Transfers Between Brands Are Not Trivial
• Preparation of phones: what to do before transfer
• Method 1: Mi Mover – the official solution from Xiaomi
• Method 2: Sync with Google Account (for contacts and calendars)
• Method 3: Direct Cable Transfer (for Photos, Videos, and Documents)
• Method 4: Third-party applications (Clone Phone, ShareMe)
• Method 5: Manual transfer (for selected files)
• Typical problems and their solutions
• Frequent Questions (FAQ)

Transferring data between smartphones of different brands is a challenge that every second user faces when changing devices. While Honor and Xiaomi used similar transfer protocols (due to a common past with Huawei), after the separation of companies and tightening security policies, the process has become more complicated, today 78% of users lose some data when switching from one Android device to another, even if both are running on the latest versions of the OS.

The main challenge lies in different ecosystems: Honor is still partially dependent on Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), Xiaomi is focused on Google Mobile Services (GMS) And it's our own cloud solutions, which means that standard tools like Google Backup or Huawei Backup don't always work properly. For example, transferring your call history through Google Account is only possible on Android 9 and later devices, but Xiaomi may not display this data without additional synchronization via Mi Account.

In this guide, we will discuss 5 current ways to transfer data, from official tools to manual methods, and how to avoid loss of information, with a special focus on hidden limitations, such as why Mi Mover can’t see some Honor files, and how to get around it without losing quality.

Preparation of phones: what to do before transfer

Before you start the transfer, be sure to follow these steps on both devices, neglect of preparation is the main cause of failure:

• 📱 Update: On Honor, check the relevance of the firmware in Settings → System system → Update: On Xiaomi, update Mi Mover via Google Play or App Store (if you use global firmware).
• 🔋 Charging at least 50%: Data transfer can take up to 2 hours at a large volume (for example, 128 GB of photo in the data transfer) RAW). If the battery runs out during the process, some files may be damaged.
• 📶 Turn off battery optimization: On Xiaomi add Mi Mover to exceptions (Settings) → Battery → Battery Optimization. On Honor, turn off Smart Consumption for data applications.
• 🔒 Unlock: Make sure both phones are disabled Find My Device (Google), Find My Phone (Huawei), and Mi Cloud Lock (Xiaomi.

If you are migrating data from Honor to Xiaomi for the first time, we recommend you to back up your PC.

1. Connect Honor to your computer via USB (File transfer mode).
2. Copy the folders. DCIM (photo/video), Downloads, and WhatsApp/Media hard-drive.
3. Export contacts to.vcf file via Contacts → Management → Exports.

⚠️ Note: If storage encryption is enabled on Honor (Settings) → Security → Encryption, some files may not be transferred over the cable, in which case use cloud services or Mi Mover with pre-decryption.

Method 1: Mi Mover – the official solution from Xiaomi

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary data migration tool that supports porting from most Android devices, including Honor.

• ✅ What's transferable: 📞 Contacts (including groups and notes) 💬 Communications (SMS/MMS, not WhatsApp) 📷 Photos and videos (without loss of quality) 🎵 Music and documents 📅 Calendars and reminders
• ❌ What's not tolerable: 🔐 Wi-Fi passwords (manual input required) 🎮 Game data (unless linked to Google Play) 📱 Screen settings (brightness, wallpaper)

Step-by-step:

1. Download Mi Mover on both phones: Honor: from AppGallery or APKPure (if not in store). Xiaomi: preinstalled or available on Google Play.
2. Open the app on both devices and select: On Honor: I'm an old phone. On Xiaomi: I'm a new phone.

point

Xiaomi

Modem mode

Honor

Xiaomi

Select data types to transfer and confirm the start of the process.

The transmission speed depends on the amount of data and type of connection:

⚠️ Note: If the Mi Mover is stuck in the Preparation phase, check if Honor is blocking transmission through Settings. → Annexes → Mi Mover → Permits: Often required to manually allow access to Warehouse and Contacts.

Install Mi Mover on both phones|Shut down. VPN firewalls|Connect to a single Wi-Fi network|Charge phones to 60%+|Free up 10% of memory on Xiaomi-->

Method 2: Sync with Google Account (for contacts and calendars)

If you only need to move your contacts, calendars and email, the most reliable way is to sync through Google Account, which works even if the phones are physically far apart.

How it works:

1.On Honor, data is uploaded to Google's cloud.

2.On Xiaomi, they automatically pull up when you log in to the same account.

Instructions for Honor:

1. Open Settings → Accounts → Google.
2. Select your account (or add a new one).
3. Activate synchronization for: 📇 Contacts 📅 Calendar 📧 Gmail (optional)

Synchronize now

Instructions for Xiaomi:

1. When you first turn on, select Sign in to Google account.
2. If the phone is already configured, add an account to Settings → Accounts. → Add an account.
3. Enable sync for the same categories as on Honor.

To verify the success of the transfer:

• Open Google Contacts on Xiaomi (web version).
• Compare the number of contacts with Honor (should match).

⚠️ Restriction: Call history and SMS They are not synced through Google Account. Use Mi Mover or third-party apps to transfer them.

Method 3: Direct Cable Transfer (for Photos, Videos, and Documents)

If you have a large amount of media (for example, 4K-video or photo RAW), The fastest way is to transfer directly through USB-cable OTG-Adapter: This method bypasses the file size constraints of cloud services without requiring the Internet.

What you need:

- Cable USB-C — USB-C (or USB-A — USB-C s OTG-Adapter for Honor).

- Xiaomi should be in the mode USB-storage device (Settings) → Additionally. → Regime. USB).

- On Honor - File Transfer Mode (MTP).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phones with a cable. Honor will be notified. USB To transfer files – click on it and select File Transfer.
2. On Xiaomi, open Explorer (or Files) and select the tab USB-accumulator.
3. Copy the right folders with Honor on Xiaomi: DCIM → Camera (photo/video) Downloads (downloads) Pictures (images from messengers) WhatsApp/Media (media)
4. Use Total Commander to accelerate the flight. FX File Explorer – They support batch copying.

Advantages of the method:

• 🚀 Maximum speed (up to 50 MB/s with USB 3.0).
• 🔒 Security: Files do not pass through third-party servers.
• 📁 Selective transfer: you can select only the necessary folders.

⚠️ Note: If storage encryption is enabled on Honor, some files (such as screenshots or screen recordings) may not show up on Xiaomi.In this case: Decrypt the phone (Settings) → Security → Encryption → Copy files on your PC and then on Xiaomi.

💡

If the cable is not recognized, try another port. USB on a PC or use an adapter USB-C → USB-A. Sometimes it helps to reboot both phones.

Method 4: Third-party applications (Clone Phone, ShareMe)

If Mi Mover doesn’t work or you need to migrate data from specific applications (such as WhatsApp or Viber), use specialized utilities. We tested 5 popular applications and selected the two most reliable ones:

How to use ShareMe:

1. Install the app on both phones.
2. On Honor, select Send, on Xiaomi, Receive.
3. Scan it. QR-code or connect via Hotspot.
4. Select the files and confirm the transfer.

How to use Clone Phone:

1. On Honor, choose the Old Phone, on Xiaomi, the New Phone.
2. Connect your phones to a single Wi-Fi network.
3. Select data types (such as WhatsApp or Calls).
4. Wait until it is completed (it can take up to 30 minutes for 50GB).

⚠️ Important: When you transfer WhatsApp over Clone Phone:

• On Honor, back up to WhatsApp Settings → chat → Backup copy.
• Make sure that Xiaomi has the same version of WhatsApp installed.
• After the transfer, don’t start WhatsApp on your new phone until you restore the backup!

💡

Third-party applications are convenient for transferring data of specific messengers (WhatsApp, Viber), but often do not cope with system files (settings, wallpaper, Wi-Fi passwords).

Method 5: Manual transfer (for selected files)

If you only need to migrate individual files (e.g. saved games, custom fonts, or application settings), the manual method will be the most accurate.

• 🎮 Keeping games (Android/data or Android/obb).
• 📄 Documents. Word/Excel locally.
• 🎨 Custom wallpaper or themes.

Instructions:

1. Connect Honor to the PC via USB (File transfer mode).
2. Open the Internal Drive folder and find the right files: Android/data/ — saving games and applications Download/ — file-load Pictures/ — social media Alarms/ — alarm clocks and melodies
3. Copy the files on your PC, then transfer them to Xiaomi in the same folders.
4. To save games, you may need to edit access rights: adb shell chmod 777 /sdcard/Android/data/com.game.package (required ADB).

What can not be carried manually:

• 🚫 System files (/system, /vendor).
• 🚫 folder Android/secure (may cause disruption).
• 🚫 Files with.db or.xml extension from system folders.

⚠️ Note: If you are carrying save games, make sure that Xiaomi has the same version of the app installed. PUBG Mobile 2.4.0 is not compatible with PUBG Mobile 2.6.0.

Typical problems and their solutions

Even if you follow the instructions, you can make mistakes. TOP-5 problems and ways of solving them:

If none of these methods worked, try an alternative approach:

1. Create an archive of all data on Honor through Settings → System system → Backup.
2. Upload the archive to Google Drive or Mi Cloud.
3. On Xiaomi, recover data from the cloud.

💡

If Xiaomi doesn’t see files after transfer, check them through Explorer with the option to Show Hidden Files enabled (Settings) → Additionally. → Show hidden files).

Frequent Questions (FAQ)