How to transfer contacts to the new Xiaomi phone: all ways with photos and nuances

Transferring contacts to Xiaomi’s new smartphone is a challenge that every user faces when changing devices. Even if you carefully saved all the numbers in the phone book of the old phone, the risk of losing them when switching to the Redmi Note 13, POCO X6 or Mi 14 Ultra remains high, especially if we are talking about hundreds of records with photos, additional fields and attachments to messenger accounts.

Fortunately, the manufacturer has provided several reliable ways of migration, and we will analyze each of them in detail - from standard (via Mi Account and Google) to alternative (via Mi Account and Google) VCF-Important: Some methods require pre-setting on your old phone, so start the process before you reset or sell your previous device.

In this article you will find:

• 🔹 5 working ways to transfer contacts (including rare ones, such as Bluetooth for older models)
• 🔹 Step-by-step instructions with screenshots for MIUI 14/15 Android 13/14
• 🔹 Table of methods comparison by speed, reliability and limitations
• 🔹 Common errors and how to avoid them (e.g., duplicate records)

1. Transfer contacts through Xiaomi account (Mi Account)

The fastest and most reliable way for Xiaomi owners is if both phones are running MIUI. The method synchronizes not only numbers, but also notes, contact groups, and call history (optional).

How it works:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Make sure that the contact slider is active (synchronization is enabled).
3. On the new Xiaomi, log in to the same Mi Account when you first enable or through Settings → Accounts.
4. Wait for automatic synchronization (usually takes 1-5 minutes).

⚠️ Warning: If the new phone already has contacts, they will merge with those that are downloaded from the cloud. To avoid duplicates, export current records to a file before synchronizing. VCF (see method 4).

Check Wi-Fi connection on both phones

Make sure that your old phone has contact sync enabled.

Remember the username/password from your Mi Account (linked email or number)

Disable VPN (can block access to Mi Cloud)

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2. Sync through Google account (for Android)

A universal method that works on any Android smartphone, including Xiaomi, Samsung or Realme, is suitable if you used Gmail or other Google services on an old phone, the advantage is that contacts will be available not only on the new Xiaomi, but also on Google Contacts (contacts.google.com).

Instructions:

• 📱 On your old phone, go to Settings. → Accounts. → Google.
• Select your account and enable Contact Sync (if it is turned off).
• 🆕 On the new Xiaomi, sign in to the same Google account or add it to Settings when you first start up. → Accounts.
• Wait for the synchronization to complete (check in Contacts → Settings → Accounts).

🔍 Nuance: If the contacts on an old phone are only stored in the device's memory (not Google), they must first be exported:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Press. ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Export to file.
3. Select Internal Memory and confirm the creation of the contacts.vcf file.

3. Copying of contacts on SIM-map (for older models)

The method for phone owners without cloud accounts or when switching from a button-telephone to Xiaomi. SIM-Contact card (usually up to 250 entries) Cons: only numbers and names are transferred (no photos, email or other fields).

Step-by-step:

1. On your old phone, open Contacts → Settings → Import / Export → Export to SIM.
2. Select contacts to transfer (or click Allocate).
3. Confirm copying. Wait for the notification of success.
4. 🔄 Replace it. SIM-map to the new Xiaomi.
5. On your new phone, go to Contacts → Settings → Import / Export → Import with SIM.

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi) 12C or POCO M6) importation option SIM It could be hidden, to find her:

• Open the Contacts app.
• Press on. ⋮ (three-point) → Settings → Contact management.
• Select Import/Export → Import from SIM-card.

💡

If it's new SIM-There are no contacts on the old card, use an adapter for two. SIM (It's sold in salons, and it allows you to copy the data directly without moving the map.

4.Export and import of contacts via VCF file

One of the most reliable ways is that a VCF file (vCard) can be saved to Google Drive, sent via Telegram or even printed, and is suitable for transferring between different brands (for example, from iPhone to Xiaomi).

How to export contacts on an old phone:

1. Open Contacts. → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/Exports.
2. Select Export to File → Internal memory (or SD-map).
3. The contacts.vcf file will be saved in the Download or Miui folder.

How to import to the new Xiaomi:

1. Copy the VCF file to your new phone (via Bluetooth, ShareMe, or Google Drive).
2. Open Contacts. → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/Exports → File-based import.
3. Select the copied file and confirm the import.

📌 Tip: If the file VCF Large (over 1,000 contacts), break it down with services like VCF Splitter: This will speed up imports and reduce the risk of errors.

5.Contact transfer via Bluetooth or ShareMe

An alternative method for cases where there is no access to the Internet or cloud services, suitable for transfer between Xiaomi and other Android devices, cons: long (one contact) and not always stable.

Instructions for Bluetooth:

1. Turn on Bluetooth on both phones.
2. On your old phone, open Contacts, select the contact you want → Share → Bluetooth.
3. Select a new Xiaomi from the list of devices and confirm the transfer.
4. On the new phone, accept the file and keep in touch.

Instructions for ShareMe (fast transfer from Xiaomi):

• 📲 Install the ShareMe app on both phones (if it’s not available by default).
• 🔗 On the old phone, select Send. → Contacts and mark the required records.
• 📡 On the new Xiaomi, click Get and Scan QR-code.
• ✅ Wait for the transfer to be completed (contacts will be automatically saved).

⚠️ Note: When transmitting via Bluetooth, contacts can be duplicated if the new phone already has similar records.

💡

Use ShareMe instead of Bluetooth – it’s 5-10 times faster and supports packet transfer (not one at a time).

6.Moving contacts from iPhone to Xiaomi

If you move from iPhone to Xiaomi, standard methods (such as Mi Account) will not work, and exporting through iCloud or Google’s “Switch to Android” app will help.

Method 1: Using iCloud and VCF file

1. On iPhone, open Settings → [Your name] → iCloud and enable Contacts.
2. Go to iCloud.com and log in to your account.
3. Select Contacts → ⚙️ → Export vCard (.vcf file saved to your computer).
4. Transfer the file to Xiaomi (e.g., Google Drive) and import it (see Method 4).

Method 2: Through the application "Switch to Android"

• 📱 Install the app on iPhone from the App Store.
• 🔌 Connect both phones to the same Wi-Fi network.
• 📲 On Xiaomi, when you first start, select Copy Data from iPhone (or use ShareMe).
• 🔢 On iPhone, enter the code displayed on Xiaomi and select Contacts to port.

💡

If Cyrillic names are missing from your iPhone, check the encoding of the VCF file. Open it in a text editor (such as Notepad++) and save it to UTF-8.

Frequent mistakes and how to fix them

Even when you follow the instructions, you have problems.-5 mistakes and their solutions:

• 🔴 Contacts are not synchronized through Google/Mi Account Reason: No Internet, no synchronization or account conflict.Solution: Check network connection, manual sync (Settings) → Accounts. → Google/Mi → Sync or restart your phone.
• 🔴 Duplicate contacts Reason: The new phone already had contacts that merged with the transferred ones Solution: Use the Contacts Optimizer app (available on Google Play) to find and remove duplicates.
• 🔴 Not all contacts were moved Reason: Limitation on the number of records (e.g., on the number of records) SIM-Solution: Break the contacts into parts (200-300 each) and carry them in portions.
• 🔴 Disappeared photos of contacts Reason: When exporting to SIM Or you can't send photos via Bluetooth. Solution: Use this. VCF-file Account/Google portable.
• 🔴 Import error VCF-File Reason: Damaged file or incompatible encoding Solution: Open the file to Google Contacts (contacts.google.com) and export again.

💡 Preventive tip: Before the contact perenos, back up your old phone:

1. Export contacts to VCF (see method 4).
2. Copy the file to Google Drive, Yandex.Disk or computer.
3. Check the integrity of the file by opening it in the text editor (the data should be displayed in the format) BEGIN:VCARD).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions