How to transfer all data from your old phone to your new Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Moving to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, but data porting often becomes a headache. Contacts, photos, messages, apps, and even screen settings all need to be saved to keep from starting from scratch. Fortunately, Xiaomi has several built-in migration tools, as well as universal methods that work on any Android device.

In this article, we will discuss 5 ways to transfer data, from the official Mi Mover app to cloud services and manual copying, how to avoid file loss, what settings are necessary to save, and what to do if the new Redmi or POCO can not see the old device, and also unique life hacks for transferring data from the iPhone to Xiaomi without losing the quality of photos and videos.

1.Official method: Mi Mover - fast and wireless

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary solution that automatically transfers contacts, messages, photos, videos, music, and even some system settings. The app is pre-installed on all new Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO smartphones, so you don’t have to download anything.

How it works:

• 📱 On the new phone, when you first turn on, select Data Transfer (or find Mi Mover in the Settings menu). → The phone. → Data portability).
• 🔗 On your old phone, download Mi Mover from Google Play (if you don’t have Xiaomi) or open it in the settings.
• 📶 Connect both devices to the same Wi-Fi network or create an access point on a new smartphone.
• 🔄 On the old phone, select data for transfer, on the new one - confirm reception.

⚠️ Note: If you have an iPhone, Mi Mover will only transfer contacts, photos and videos, messages from iMessage and notes will have to be saved manually through iCloud or third-party apps.

Charging the battery of both phones >50%|Both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.|On the old phone enough free space (minimum 1 GB)|Disabled. VPN firewalls-->

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If the Mi Mover is stuck in the connection phase, reboot both phones and try to create an access point on the new Xiaomi instead of using home Wi-Fi.

2. Google account transfer: universal, but not everything is copied

If you use Google services, most of the data is already synced automatically, a method that can be ported to Xiaomi from any Android device (including Samsung, Huawei or Realme).

What exactly is synchronized:

• 📇 Contacts (from the Google Contacts app)
• 📅 Calendar and reminders
• 📎 Notes from Google Keep
• 📂 Photos and videos (if you have autoloaded in Google Photos)
• 🎮 Progress in Games (via Google Play Games)
• 🔑 Passwords from Google Smart Lock

How to set up synchronization:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Accounts → Google.
2. Select your account and enable synchronization for all the data you need.
3. On the new Xiaomi, log in to the same Google account when you first start up.
4. Wait until the synchronization is complete (it can take up to 30 minutes).

⚠️ Attention: This method does not tolerate SMS, Call log, files from internal memory (such as downloads) and application settings, which will have to be used in other ways.

Mi Mover|Google account|Cloud services (Google Drive, Mi Cloud)|Manual copying through cable|Another option-->

Cloning via OTG cable: for large data volumes

If you have hundreds of gigabytes of photos, videos or music, wireless methods can take hours. OTG-The cable is the fastest option:

• 🔌 OTG-Adapter (usually bundled with the new Xiaomi)
• 📱 Old phone with support USB OTG (majority of modern smartphones)
• 🔋 Charging. >70% on both devices

Step-by-step:

1. Connect. OTG-adapter to the new Xiaomi.
2. Connect your old phone to an adapter via USB-cable.
3. On the new phone, open Explorer (or Files) and select USB-device.
4. Copy the right folders (DCIM for photos, downloads, etc.) to internal memory or SD-map.

⚠️ Note: Not all apps support transferring data through direct folder copying. for example, Telegram and Viber require separate backup in their settings.

4.Cloud services: Dropbox, Google Drive and Mi Cloud

If you have slow internet or little space on your phone, cloud storage is a lifeline. Xiaomi offers its Mi Cloud service (5GB for free), but for larger volumes, it's better to use Google Drive (15GB) or Dropbox.

How to transfer data via Google Drive:

1. On your old phone, install Google Drive and log in to your account.
2. Press. ➕ → Backup copy and select data to save.
3. After you complete the copy on the new Xiaomi, open Google Drive and restore the backup.

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If you have a lot of photos, turn on the “Free space” option in Google Photos after downloading, which will delete local copies, but save them in the cloud with original quality.

5.Moving from iPhone to Xiaomi: bypassing Apple's restrictions

The transition from iPhone to Xiaomi is a separate story, and Apple doesn't like users leaving, so a lot of data is blocked.

Ways to transfer from iOS:

• 📱 Move to iOS: Install this Apple app on Xiaomi, but it only works one way. Instead, use Mi Mover, which recognizes the iPhone and copies photos/contacts.
• ☁️ iCloud: Export contacts to.vcf via iCloud.com and download photos via the web version.
• 💬 WhatsApp: Back up chats in iCloud, then use third-party tools like Backuptrans to port to Android.
• 🎵 Music and video: Move over iTunes (PC sync) or upload to the cloud.

⚠️ Note: When transferring photos from iPhone to Xiaomi via Mi Mover or Google Photos, data is lost EXIF (Meta-information about location and time of shooting. To save them, use the Exif Viewer app to export metadata separately.

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To transfer notes from Apple Notes, export them to PDF via iCloud.com and then upload them to Xiaomi in Google Keep or Mi Notes.

6. Portability of applications and their data: how not to lose progress in games

Just copying.apk files isn't enough -- you need to save their settings and data. Here's how to do it:

For apps from Google Play:

• 📥 Use the built-in backup function: Settings → Google → Backup.
• 🎮 For games, enable sync via Google Play Games (in game settings).
• 🔄 After installing apps on the new Xiaomi, log in to the same Google account – the data will be downloaded automatically.

For applications installed manually (.apk):

1. Copy files from /Android/obb/ and /Android/data/ (you need a root or superuser file manager).
2. Transfer.apk files and folders with data to the new phone.
3. Install the applications manually and check the operability.

⚠️ Note: Some applications (e.g. banking or with) DRM-They don't allow data to be moved, and then you have to reconfigure it.

7 Post-transfer check: what could have gone wrong

Even after a successful transfer, the data may be incomplete or damaged, and this is the first thing to check:

• 📞 Contacts: Open your phone and make sure all numbers are in place. especially check groups and linked accounts (like WhatsApp or Telegram).
• 📸 Photo and video: View folders DCIM Pictures – sometimes files are copied without dates or incorrect albums.
• 💬 Communications: B SMS-Check if the app has been moved MMS and attachments (photo, audio).
• 🎵 Music and playlists: If you used Spotify or Yandex Music, log in again - playlists will be downloaded from the cloud.
• 🔧 System settings: Screen brightness, sound profiles, gestures - they will have to be adjusted manually.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Data portability is often accompanied by typical problems, and the most common solutions are:

⚠️ Note: If you transfer data from a phone on the base MIUI 12 or older on a new device with MIUI 14+, Some system settings (like Second Space or Child Mode) may reset.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions