How to transfer data from Huawei to Xiaomi: photos, contacts, messages and applications

Why data transfer between Huawei and Xiaomi requires a special approach

The transition from Huawei to Xiaomi is not just a brand change, but a transition between two ecosystems with fundamentally different synchronization approaches. Unlike the transfer between devices of the same manufacturer (for example, from Redmi Note 12 to Poco X5), here you will find nuances: from the lack of native compatibility of Mi Mover with EMUI to the limitations of Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) when working with Google services. Even standard cloud solutions like Google Drive can fail due to the peculiarities of Chinese firmware.

The main problem lies in different data protocols, with Xiaomi traditionally focusing on Google and its own services (Mi Cloud), while Huawei is developing its own ecosystem after the 2019 sanctions, which means that automated tools like the Phone Clone (from Huawei) or Mi Mover (from Xiaomi) do not always communicate correctly with each other, for example, when trying to transfer through Mi Mover, users often encounter an error “Unsupported device”, although both smartphones run on Android.

In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods for data transfer – from official tools to workarounds using a PC – and also reveal unique life hacks for transferring messages from Huawei Messages and backups of applications that are not documented in official instructions. We pay special attention to data security: why not use it OTG-Direct copy cable and how to avoid loss of quality when transferring photos.

Method 1: Official Mi Mover Tool – Does it Work with Huawei?

Mi Mover (available on Google Play and Mi App Store) is marketed as a universal solution for migrating data to Xiaomi devices, but in practice with Huawei, it only works under three conditions:

• 📱 Huawei should be installed firmware EMUI 10.0 or later (check in Settings) → The phone).
• 🔌 Both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network (do not use mobile Internet!).
• 🚫 Huawei has disabled all energy-saving modes for Mi Mover (manually add it to the exceptions in Settings) → Battery → Launching applications).

If the conditions are met, follow the instructions:

1. Install Mi Mover on both phones (on Xiaomi it is pre-installed).
2. On Xiaomi, select “I am a new user” and on Huawei, “Send data”.
3. Scan it. QR-code from the screen Xiaomi camera Huawei.
4. Select data types for transfer (contacts, messages, photos) and confirm the transfer.

⚠️ Note: Mi Mover cannot tolerate: apps (only their data if they support backup), notes from Huawei Notes, and call history older than 3 months).

Huawei’s Method 2: Phone Clone – Backward Transfer

If Mi Mover has refused to work, try Huawei’s Phone Clone, which is originally designed to transfer data to Huawei devices, but with a little trickery, it can be used to migrate back:

• 🔄 Install Phone Clone on both phones (available in AppGallery for Huawei and in the app). APK Xiaomi).
• 📡 On Huawei, select “This is a new phone” and on Xiaomi, “This is an old phone” (yes, that’s not a mistake!).
• 🔗 Connect to a single Wi-Fi network and follow the instructions on the screen.

The advantage of this method is to support more data types, including:

• 📞 Call history (completely, without term limit).
• 📝 Notes from Huawei Notes (converted to Mi Notes format).
• 🎵 Music and video (without loss of quality).

⚠️ Note: When you move through the Phone Clone, Xiaomi may display an “untrusted source” warning. This is normal — confirm installation and allow all file access requests. If the process is interrupted, try again, pre-rebooting both devices.

Turn off VPN on both phones |Close all background apps |Plug in charge (process can take up to 30 minutes)|Check out free space on Xiaomi (need at least 20% of the data portable)|Close backup important files on PC (in case of a crash)

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Method 3: Transfer through Google Account (with reservations)

Syncing through Google Account seems like the easiest solution, but with Huawei, there are pitfalls here, because on devices with EMUI 10+ without Google Mobile Services (GMS), syncing contacts and calendars can work incorrectly.

Step 1: Set up sync on Huawei

1. Go to Settings → Accounts → Google.
2. Enable sync for Contact, Calendar and Photos (if you use Google Photos).
3. If you don’t have Google, install the Google Services Framework via APKMirror (only for models with GMS support!).

Step 2: Move to Xiaomi

1. On Xiaomi, add the same Google Account to Settings → Accounts.
2. Turn on automatic synchronization.
3. For photos, use Google Photos: on Huawei, upload photos to the cloud, on Xiaomi, download them through the app.

This method is suitable for:

• 📇 Contacts (full synchronization, including groups).
• 📅 Calendars (including recurring events).
• 🖼️ Photos (but only if Google Photos are installed on Huawei).

What's not going to happen:

• ❌ Communications SMS/MMS (Google is not syncing them).
• ❌ Local notes and application files.
• ❌ System application settings (e.g. Huawei Health).

Method 4: Transfer over PCs – reliable but longer

Using a computer (Windows/Mac) is the most reliable way to transfer large amounts of data (e.g., 4K video or app backups) and you will need to:

• 🖥️ Computer with USB-port.
• 🔌 Two USB Type C cables (or adapters).
• 📁 Huawei HiSuite (for Huawei and Mi) PC Suite (for Xiaomi).

Step-by-step instruction

1. Connect Huawei to your PC and install HiSuite (download from Huawei’s official website).

Advantages of the method:

• 🔒 100% data security (no risk of loss when transferring over Wi-Fi).
• 📂 Transfer any files, including system files (e.g., Huawei Backup backups).
• 🔄 Selective recovery (e.g., only contacts or only photos).

⚠️ Warning: Do not connect both phones to your PC at the same time - this can lead to driver conflict. OTG-direct-copying: EMUI and MIUI use different folder structures, and files may not appear correctly.

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If the Mi PC Suite does not see a backup from HiSuite, rename the.hbk extension file to.zip, extract the contents and manually copy the Contacts and Messages folders to the respective directories on Xiaomi (use root Explorer or Mi File Manager).

Method 5: Cloud Storage – When Nothing Helps

If none of the above methods worked (for example, you have Huawei without GMS or Xiaomi with custom firmware), the one-size-fits-all solution is cloud storage, and we recommend combining multiple services for different types of data:

• 📁 Files and documents: Mi Cloud (5GB free) or Yandex Drive (10GB). Download files from Huawei via browser, then download to Xiaomi.
• 📷 Photos: Google Photos (if any) GMS) or Huawei Cloud (upload photos, then download via browser to Xiaomi).
• 📞 Contacts: Export them to.vcf file on Huawei (Contacts) → Management → Export, upload to the cloud, then import to Xiaomi.

For automatic synchronization, use Syncthing (free) P2P-decision):

1. Install Syncthing on both phones (available in F-Droid or APK).
2. Set up a shared folder on Huawei and connect Xiaomi as a device.
3. Wait for synchronization (works even without the Internet, over a local network).

⚠️ Note: When using Huawei Cloud to transfer photos, note that compression can reduce quality.To avoid this, turn off the option "Storage Optimization" in the settings of the Huawei Gallery before uploading to the cloud.

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Cloud storage is the only method that works on Huawei without GMS and Xiaomi with any firmware, but it requires a lot of time and traffic, so it is only suitable for small amounts of data (up to 10 GB).

What to do after the transfer: setup Xiaomi for Huawei

Data portability is only half the battle, and to make Xiaomi as convenient as Huawei, follow a few additional steps:

• 🔧 Personalization of the interface: B MIUI analogueless EMUI Desktop, but you can set up Settings → Desktop → Huawei badge style (select "Standard" or "Minimalist").
• 🔔 Notifications: Notifications are grouped differently in Huawei. To approximate behavior, go to Settings → Notifications → Additionally. → Grouping notifications and select "By Apps".
• 🔋 Optimizing the battery: MIUI To avoid problems (such as Telegram or WhatsApp), add them to the exceptions: → Battery → Optimizing the battery → All applications.

For Huawei Health users:

Unfortunately, Mi Fitness (similar to Xiaomi) does not import data from Huawei Health, so as not to lose its activity history:

1. Export data from Huawei Health to the.csv file (via Profile → Settings → Data Export).
2. Import them to Google Fit or Apple Health (if you use your iPhone in parallel), then sync them to Mi Fitness.

FAQ: Frequent questions about data transfer