How to transfer music to the new Xiaomi phone: The complete guide

Changing a smartphone is often stressful not because of loss of contacts or photos, but because of the accumulated over the years of music collection. Owners of Xiaomi devices and sub-brands Redmi and POCO face the need to properly organize the media library so that favorite tracks play without errors. Modern Android operating systems have their own features with the file system, which must be taken into account when migrating data.

There are many methods of synchronization: from classical connection to USB-cable to wireless transmission over Wi-Fi or cloud storage. The choice of the specific method depends on the size of your library and the technical capabilities at hand. In this article, we will discuss each algorithm in detail so that you can choose the best option for your situation.

Not only is the copying process worth paying special attention to, but the folder structure is also correct. Incorrect file placement can lead to the standard player not seeing the composition, and system sounds will be played randomly. We will look at the nuances that will help avoid typical beginner errors.

Preparation of the device and selection of the method of transmission

Before you start taking action, you need to evaluate the scope of the work ahead: If your collection is several gigabytes long, using Bluetooth or cloud services with a traffic limit will be inefficient. For large amounts of data, the most reliable is a wired connection.

It is important to check the status of the connectors on both devices.A damaged cable or a contaminated USB Type-C port can interrupt the transmission halfway, which can damage files.Make sure that the new Xiaomi phone has enough free space to accommodate the entire media library.

• 🔌 Check integrity USB-cable and lack of dust in the connectors.
• 💾 Free up space on internal memory or prepare a MicroSD card.
• 🔋 Charge both devices to at least 50% to avoid sudden shutdown.

⚠️ Note: When using exFAT memory cards, make sure your computer supports this format, otherwise files may not be read without formatting beforehand.

The choice of method also depends on the operating system of the old device. For iOS and Android users, the algorithms will differ, iPhone owners will have to use third-party apps or iTunes, whereas on Android the process is native.

Transfer music from computer to computer USB-cable

The fastest and most stable way is to connect your smartphone directly to your PC, and once you connect the cables, you'll see a USB mode notification on your phone, and by default, you'll often only activate charging, so you'll need to manually switch mode.

Lower the notification curtain and find the option “Charge via USB.” Click on it and select the file transfer (MTP) mode from the menu that appears. Only then will the computer see the internal memory of the device as an external drive.

Open the file manager on your computer, find the device, and go to the root folder. For the standard Mi Music player to work properly, it is recommended to create special directories. Copy your audio files to the Music folder or create a new one, such as MyTracks.

If you use a memory card, the process is similar, but the path will be through the SD card partition. Once you have completed the copy, safely retrieve the device through the Windows system tray to avoid logical errors of the file system.

When working with large albums in FLAC or WAV format, copying time can take several minutes. Do not forcefully interrupt the process, even if the progress indicator is “hanging”.

Using the Mi Mover app for migration

For those who are moving from an old Android smartphone, Xiaomi has developed a utility Mi Mover, which allows you to transfer not only music, but also contacts, messages and settings of the system without using a computer.

Install the app on both devices. On the new Xiaomi phone, select Receiver, and on the old one, Sender. Apps will find each other through the new Xiaomi phone. QR-code or create a Wi-Fi hotspot.

In the list of data categories, select Music and Audio Records, and the system will analyze the volume of data and suggest that you start transferring, and the speed depends on the distance between the devices and the presence of interference in the air.

The advantage of this method is that the application itself retains the folder structure and file tags, but when transferring very large libraries (over 20 GB), the connection can break, and the process will have to start again.

Make sure that the screens of both phones do not go out during the process, which can temporarily increase the time before the screen is turned off in the display settings.

Wireless transmission via Mi Drop and ShareMe

If you don't have a cable, but you have access to a Wi-Fi network, local file transfer applications are a great solution, and in the MIUI and HyperOS shell, this feature is built into a standard conductor and is called "Mi Drop" or "ShareMe."

The way it works is similar to AirDrop: devices connect directly to Wi-Fi Direct without consuming mobile traffic. Open the file manager, select the desired tracks and click the "Send" button.

• 📲 Make sure that both devices have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled.
• 📁 Select files in the old phone’s conductor.
• 🚀 Click “Send” and select a Xiaomi device from the list of available.

This method is ideal for quickly moving multiple albums or playlists, and may be too slow for a full library migration because of the protocol’s overhead to process each file separately.

⚠️ Note: Files transferred via Mi Drop are saved to the folder by default MIUI/mi_drop. Don’t forget to move them to the main music folder so that the player can see them.

There are third-party counterparts, such as Send Anywhere or Xender, which work on a similar principle, but can offer cross-platform support for transferring from iOS.

Synchronization through cloud storage

Cloud services like Google Drive, Yandex.Disk or Mi Cloud allow you to store music online and download it as needed, saving space on your device, but requiring a stable Internet connection.

Upload music files to the cloud from your computer or old phone. Then on the new Xiaomi, install the app, log in and download the tracks for offline listening.

Many streaming services (Yandex.Music, Spotify, VK Music) allow you to download tracks in the application if you have a subscription, a modern analogue of local files, eliminating the need to manage the file system.

The main disadvantage is the dependence on Internet speed and data plan, and when listening in high quality (Hi-Fi), traffic is consumed very quickly.

Setting up the display and sorting of music

Once files are transferred, they can appear randomly in the player. The standard Mi Music player sorts tracks by ID3 tags. If tags are filled in incorrectly or missing, the order of compositions will be disrupted.

To correct the situation, you can use third-party tag editors on the PC, for example, MP3Tag. This will allow you to prescribe the artist, album and year of release, after which the player sorts the library automatically.

You should also check the settings of the player itself, go to the settings section and select the sorting criteria: by name, date of addition or artist, which will help structure the playlist.

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Use the hidden.nomedia folder if you want certain audio files (such as sound effects from games) to be kept out of the player’s track list.

If the music is missing after the system update, check the permissions of the Music app. The privacy settings should allow file management.

Solving problems with reproduction and formats

Not all audio file formats are supported by a standard out-of-the-box player. Formats like ALAC or some types of DSD may require the installation of a third-party codec or player, such as VLC or PowerAmp.

If the file is not played, try to recode it on your computer to the more common MP3 or AAC format. The problem can also lie in bitrate: too high values (320 kbit / s and higher for some codecs) sometimes cause crashes on budget models.

If the music is playing but without album covers, make sure the images are embedded in the file metadata rather than lying in a separate file in a folder.

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Using a third-party player like VLC often solves 99% of the problems with format incompatibility and lack of equalizer.

⚠️ Attention: Files from DRM-security (bought in older versions of iTunes or protected by subscription) will not play on other devices without authorization.

Check if power saving mode is on, which can limit the background performance of the player, which can cause the music to stop when the screen is off.