How to transfer all data from Xiaomi to Xiaomi Redmi: the complete guide

Replacing a smartphone with a new model is always an exciting process, often accompanied by concerns about the safety of personal information. Owners of the Xiaomi and Redmi ecosystem are in a great position, as the company has developed powerful tools for seamless migration.

With modern MIUI and HyperOS shells, you can clone almost the entire digital footprint of a user in minutes, not just contacts and photos, but also the setting of desktop icons, Wi-Fi passwords, alarm clock settings, and even the dialog histories of some messengers. Understanding the mechanisms of system utilities will help avoid common errors and save several hours of manual adjustment.

In this article, we will take a look at all the ways you can migrate information, from your Mi Mover app to cloud services and wired connectivity, which data is automatically transferred and which needs special attention. The critical step is to synchronize your Mi Account before you start, as this ensures that key settings are safe even if you fail in a direct transmission, and it takes no more than 10 minutes to prepare for the process, but the result is worth it.

Preparing devices for data migration

Before any copying procedure begins, you need to perform a number of preparatory steps that are often ignored by users. First of all, make sure that both the old and new Redmi smartphones are charged at least 60-70%. The process of actively transferring large amounts of data over Wi-Fi Direct can significantly consume energy, and suddenly turning off one of the devices will interrupt the operation.

It’s also worth checking if there’s space on the receiving device, because the amount of memory you have available on your new smartphone should be more than the amount of data you’re planning to transfer, and if you’re moving from a larger model to a smaller version, you’ll have to audit your files and delete the extra one.

• 🔋 Charge both smartphones to at least 60% for stable operation.
• 📶 Connect both devices to the same Wi-Fi network or make sure that the wireless modules work.
• 🆔 Remember the password from your Mi Account, it will be required to log in to the new device.
• 🗑️ Free up space on your new phone by deleting temporary files or unnecessary apps.

Pay special attention to system software updates. Often, manufacturers add improvements to data transfer algorithms with new firmware versions. Go to Settings → About your phone and check for updates. If one of the devices is running a very old version of Android or MIUI, there may be problems with the compatibility of the transmission protocols.

⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to start the transfer process if one of the smartphones is power-saving mode.The system can force the Wi-Fi module to turn off or restrict the background activity of the migration application, which will lead to an error in the connection.

Using the Mi Mover application for wireless transmission

The most efficient and preferred way is to use the built-in Mi Mover app, which is pre-installed on all modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones, and its main advantage is the ability to transfer data over a direct Wi-Fi channel without using Internet traffic and at high speeds reaching tens of megabytes per second.

Run the app on both devices. On the new phone, select I'm a recipient and on the old phone, I'm a sender. The app automatically scans the available devices nearby. If the automatic search didn't work, you can scan. QR-code that will appear on the screen of the new smartphone, the camera of the old.

Once the connection is established, the system will suggest selecting data categories to transfer. The interface allows you to configure migration flexibly: you can select only contacts and messages, or copy everything, including system settings. It is important to note that encryption of data when transmitted over a local channel ensures that your personal information is safe from third-party access.

The copying process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours depending on the amount of data, at which time the screens of the devices may go out, but you should not interrupt the process.

• 📱 Select the data type: images, videos, contacts, messages, system settings.
• 🚀 Run the transfer and don’t switch to other heavy apps.
• ⏳ Wait for the message of successful completion on both screens.

Sync with Mi Cloud and Google Account

An alternative and often complementary method is cloud synchronization. Xiaomi ecosystem is closely integrated with Google services, which gives the user a dual insurance. First, make sure that on the old device in the Settings menu → Mi Account → Synchronization all the necessary items are active and have the status of “Synced”.

Google Photos is a special part of this, and if you have Autoboot and Sync enabled, your entire library is already in the cloud. On the new Redmi, just log in to the same Google account, and photos will start to appear in the gallery as you connect to Wi-Fi, so you don't overload the live stream with heavy video files.

Using the cloud is especially important if your old phone is unavailable, broken or lost, so recovering from a Mi Cloud backup is the only way to get important contacts and notes back, but keep in mind the limits of free storage.

Transfer of applications and their data

One of the hardest questions when changing phones is keeping the game progress and the data inside apps. Xiaomi's standard tools are able to carry themselves. APK-Program files, but internal data (cache, logins, saves) are not always copied, this is due to the security policies of Android and the developers of the applications themselves.

For instant messengers like WhatsApp or Telegram, there are built-in mechanisms. WhatsApp makes sure to back up chats on an old phone via Settings → Chats → Backup Chats by choosing to save to Google Drive. Without this step, the history of correspondence on the new device will be empty, even if the apps themselves are ported.

Banking applications and government services will require re-authorization for security reasons, biometrics (fingerprints, face) are also not portable and must be re-registered on a new device, which is normal practice to ensure that your funds are protected.

• 💬 Make backup chats inside each messenger separately.
• 🔐 Prepare to enter passwords from banking applications again.
• 🎮 Check if your game progress is linked to your account (Google Play Games, VK Play, etc.).

⚠️ Note: Two-factor authentication applications (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator) require a separate approach.Be sure to use the function of exporting accounts within these applications or transfer them through these applications before resetting an old phone. QR-code, otherwise you may lose access to your accounts.

Wireless method and work with PC

If you think wireless transmissions are too slow or unstable, you can use a classic wired method. USB-Connect your old phone to your PC in File Transfer mode» (MTP) and copy the folders. DCIM (Photos and Videos), Music, Download and Documents on Hard Disk.

Then, plug in a new Redmi and transfer that data to the appropriate directories, which is particularly good for transferring huge video archives, hundreds of gigabytes, that can be copied over Wi-Fi for days. USB-port-and-cable.

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Use a USB 3.0 cable and a blue-language port inside if your devices support this standard, which will speed up file transfers by 5-10 times compared to a regular black USB 2.0 port.

You can also create a local backup through the recovery menu. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Restore. The backup file you create can be transferred to a computer and then restored to a new phone. However, this is more complex and requires that the firmware versions on both devices are identical or very close.

Solving problems and errors when copying

Even in a perfectly debugged system, there can be failures, most often users will experience a connection break in the middle of the process. If that happens, don't panic. Most modern migration gates can reset the process or at least save files already transferred. Just run the procedure again, selecting only those categories that did not have time to copy.

Another common problem is that devices are invisible to each other. Make sure both phones are geolocated (GPS) and Bluetooth enabled. In newer versions of Android, having GPS enabled is a must for the Wi-Fi Direct protocol that Mi Mover uses.

If you see extremely low speeds (less than 1MB/s), it’s possible that one of the phones is trying to use an Internet channel instead of a local one. Check that both devices are connected to the same network, or use the Access Point mode, which often offers the app itself when creating a connection.

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The main cause of errors is background processes. Close all unnecessary applications before migrating to maximize processor performance and network module stability.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)