How to transfer contacts from one Xiaomi phone to another: all the ways of 2026

Moving to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, but moving contacts can become a headache if you don’t know the proven ways. Many users lose precious hours trying to manually rewrite hundreds of numbers or deal with unstable Bluetooth. Meanwhile, MIUI and Android have at least 5 reliable synchronization methods – from built-in tools to cloud services.

In this article, we’ll look at all the current ways to transfer contacts between Xiaomi phones, including Redmi and POCO, taking into account the features of the latest firmware versions, how to avoid duplication of records, why some numbers may not move, and what to do if the new phone does not see old contacts, and also hidden MIUI chips that are not written about in the official instructions.

If you are switching from Xiaomi Mi 11 to Xiaomi 14 Ultra or Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi POCO F6, It doesn't matter, the principles of transfer are the same, and the main thing is to choose the method that suits your situation: do you need to keep your call history, do you have access to the Internet, or are you limited only by the fact that you have access to the Internet? SIM-We've tested each method on real devices, so the instructions are as accurate as possible without water".

⚠️ Warning: If your old phone has two-factor authentication enabled for your Mi or Google account, make sure you have backup codes or email access. Without that, you won’t be able to confirm sign-in on your new device and sync your data.

1. Transfer contacts through your Xiaomi account (MIUI Cloud)

The fastest and most reliable way for Xiaomi owners is to use the built-in cloud service MIUI Cloud, which automatically syncs contacts, notes, photos and even SMS between all devices under the same account, the main advantage is that no additional applications are needed, everything is already integrated into the system.

To move contacts through Mi Cloud:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Make sure the slider opposite Contact is active. If not, move it to the right.
3. Wait for the synchronization to be completed (a notification will appear in the top panel).
4. On the new phone, log in to the same Xiaomi account and enable contact sync in Mi Cloud.

✅ Pros of the method:

• 🔄 Automatic update: contacts synced in real time.
• 📱 It works on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO.
• 🔒 Data is encrypted and stored on Xiaomi servers.

❌ Cons and nuances:

• 🌐 Requires a stable Internet connection (Wi-Fi or mobile network).
• 📵 If the old phone is disabled Mi Cloud, contacts will not be transferred.
• 🔄 When you first turn on a new phone, you may need to manually sync (go to Settings). → Account. → Mi Cloud → Contacts → Synchronize).

2. synchronize through a Google account

If you use Google Contacts, the transfer will take no more than 5 minutes, a method that works not only between Xiaomi phones, but also with devices from other brands, the main thing is that both smartphones have logged in to the same Google account.

Step-by-step:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google.
2. Select your account and make sure that the Contact Slider is enabled.
3. Click Sync Now (or More) → Sync in new versions of Android).
4. On the new phone, add the same Google account and enable contact sync.

🔍 How to check if your contacts are synchronized:

1. Open the Contacts app on your new phone.
2. Slip on three points in the upper right corner → Contact management.
3. Select Settings → Import / Export → Show contacts from and make sure your Google account is selected.

Check the internet connection on both phones

Make sure your old phone has Google Contact Sync enabled.

Remember your Google account password or use a backup code

Don’t create a new account on your new phone – sign in to your existing one.-->

⚠️ Note: If the old phone only has the contacts saved SIM-In a card or device memory, they don't sync with Google. First, transfer them to your Google account manually:

1. Open Contacts → Three Points → Contact Management → Import/Export.
2. Select Import with SIM-Cards or Imports from the phone memory.
3. Specify your goal – Google and confirm.

3. Transfer of contacts through SIM-map

The old-fashioned way, which works even without the Internet, is if you have few contacts (up to 250) or want to move only the most important numbers.

• 📇 Nana SIM-The card only stores the name and number – photos, mail and additional fields are lost.
• 🔢 Number limit: usually up to 250 contacts (depending on operator).
• 📱 Not all Xiaomi phones support export SIM (For example, in some models POCO this function is off).

How to transfer contacts via SIM:

1. On your old phone, open your contacts. → Three points. → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Exports to SIM-map.
2. Select contacts for export (you can note everything) and confirm.
3. Get it. SIM-A card and insert it into a new phone.
4. On the new device, go to Contacts → Three points. → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Import with SIM-map.

💡 Tip: If the new phone does not show contacts after import, check:

• 🔄 Reset the device.
• 📱 Make sure that SIM-The card is inserted into the first slot (on some Xiaomi models, the second slot does not support reading contacts).
• 🔧 Go to Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Settings SIM-Maps and select Import Contacts.

4. Transfer of contacts via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct

If you don't have access to the Internet, but you can turn on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct, this is a lifeline. It works without cloud services and doesn't require any. SIM-But it has some nuances:

• 📶 Transfer speed depends on the Bluetooth version (on Xiaomi) 13/14 Bluetooth 5.3 It's faster).
• 🔋 The battery charge should be at least 30% — transmission may take 10-15 minute.
• 📱 On some firmware MIUI The function is hidden in the menu.

Instructions for transfer via Bluetooth:

1. On both phones, turn on Bluetooth (Settings → Connections and Sharing → Bluetooth).
2. Pair devices (click Device Search on your new phone and confirm the connection on your old one).
3. On your old phone, open Contacts → Three Points → Sharing.
4. Select contacts to transfer and press Bluetooth → select a new phone.
5. On the new phone, confirm the file acceptance (usually a file with the.vcf extension).
6. After transfer, open the received file - contacts will be added automatically.

🔧 The alternative is Wi-Fi Direct:

If Bluetooth is unstable, use Wi-Fi Direct (available on most Xiaomi with MIUI 12 and later):

1. Activate Wi-Fi Direct on both phones (Settings → Wi-Fi → Wi-Fi Direct).
2. Connect to the sender device.
3. Send contacts as a.vcf file through the Share menu in the Contacts app.

💡

If contacts are being sent in pieces or a connection is broken, try reducing the number of messages sent at a time, for example, divide the contacts into groups of 50 and send them in turn.

5. Use of third-party applications (e.g. SHAREit or Xender)

If the built-in methods don’t work or you want to transfer not only contacts, but also photos, videos or messages, third-party applications will become a universal solution.

• 📲 SHAREit – supports the transfer of contacts, files and even applications over Wi-Fi.
• ⚡ Xender – fast transfer with no size restrictions.
• 🔄 CLONEit – specializes in data transfer between phones (including call history).

How to transfer contacts through Shareit:

1. Install the app on both phones from Google Play or Mi App Store.
2. On your old phone, select Send → Contacts and mark the required entries.
3. On the new phone, click Get and scan. QR-screencode.
4. Confirm the transfer – the contacts will be stored in the memory of the new phone.

⚠️ Note: When using third-party apps, disable battery optimization for them in settings MIUI, Otherwise, the transmission may be interrupted:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select SHAREit (or another application) → Autostart and Background Limitation.
3. Enable all permissions and disable restrictions.

📊 Comparison of popular data transfer applications:

6.Backup and Recovery through MIUI Backup

If you want to migrate all the data from your old phone, including contacts, messages and settings, use the built-in MIUI Backup feature.This method is suitable for a full migration to a new Xiaomi device.

How to make a backup and restore it:

1. On your old phone, go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset → Local Backup.
2. Select Backup and tick Contacts (you can also select other data).
3. Click Create a backup and wait until it is completed (the file will be saved in the phone’s memory).
4. Copy the backup file (usually in the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder) to a new phone (via cable, Bluetooth, or cloud).
5. On the new device, go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset → Local Backup → Restore and select a copied file.

🔍 Where the backup copy is stored:

The backup file has the.mbk extension and is saved along the path:

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/backup/AllBackup/

If you can’t see the folder, turn on the display of hidden files in the file manager.

💡

MIUI Backup is the only way to transfer not only contacts, but also SMS, call history, Wi-Fi settings and even some application data, but recovery is only possible on devices with MIUI (it does not work on pure Android).

7. Frequent problems and their solutions

Even if you follow the instructions correctly, you can have a lot of problems, and we've collected some of the most common mistakes and ways to fix them.

🔹 Problem: Contacts are not synced via Google or Mi Cloud.

🔧 Decision:

• Check if synchronization is enabled in your account settings.
• Delete your account and add it again (on both phones).
• Update the Google Play Contacts and Services app on Google Play.

🔹 Problem: When transmitting via Bluetooth, contacts are duplicated.

🔧 Decision:

• Before importing, delete all contacts on the new phone.
• Use the Connect Contacts function in the Contacts app (three points → Contact Management → Combine).

🔹 Problem: Not all contacts are displayed on the new phone.

🔧 Decision:

• Check which accounts are displayed in Contacts → Three points → Settings → Show contacts from.
• If the contacts are retained on SIM-map, import them manually.
• Make sure that the new phone does not include the “Hide Contacts Without Numbers” feature (Settings → Contacts → Display).

🔹 Problem: Apps like SHAREit can’t see contacts.

🔧 Decision:

• Give the application access to contacts in Settings → Apps → Permissions.
• Update the app to the latest version.
• Try another app (like Xender).

💡

If contacts are displayed without names (numbers only) after transfer, check the encoding of the.vcf file. Sometimes it helps to open it on a PC via Excel, fix the encoding on UTF-8 and re-import it to the phone.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions