Transferring all data to the new Xiaomi phone: 5 proven ways + solution

Contents

• Preparation for the transfer: what to do before buying a new Xiaomi
• Mi Mover – Pros and Hidden Limitations
• Cloud-based Google Drive: When it’s Better than Mi Mover
• Cable transfer without Internet: instructions for MIUI 14/15
• How to transfer specific data (SMS, Notes, passwords, game progress)
• Solving 7 Frequent Mistakes When Transferring to Xiaomi (from “Device Can’t See” to “Memory Lack”)
• Optimizing the new Xiaomi after the transfer: what to remove, and what to set up again
• FAQ: Answers to questions about data transfer

Switching to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always a joy from a fresh gadget and a headache from the need to transfer data. Even if you change the Redmi Note 12 to Xiaomi 14 Ultra, the process is not just about copying files: you need to save contacts, SMS, App settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and even game progress, and each portability has its pitfalls.

In this article, we will analyze all the current methods of data transfer to Xiaomi in 2026 – from the official Mi Mover to manual copying through the Internet. ADB, We'll also talk about how to avoid common errors, and we'll focus on data transfer between devices with different versions. MIUI (like the old one. MIUI 12 for new MIUI 15) as this is a common cause of failures.

Preparation for the transfer: what to do before buying a new Xiaomi

Many users only start thinking about data portability after buying a new phone — and for nothing. A few simple steps ahead of time will save hours and nerves:

• 📱 Update the firmware on your old phone. If your Xiaomi is running on MIUI older than version 12, some portability methods (such as Mi Mover) may not be supported or work with errors. → The phone. → Updating the system.
• 🔄 Sync critical data with the clouds. Even if you plan to move everything over the cable, turn on sync beforehand: Contacts → Settings → Google accounts → Synchronization Photo → Google Photos or Mi Cloud Notes → Mi Notes or Google Keep
• 🔋 Charge both phones at least 50%. data transfer can take from 20 minutes to several hours (especially if you are talking about tens of gigabytes of photo / video).
• 📡 Check the vacant space. The new Xiaomi should have a minimum of 10-15% More memory than the data on your old phone (due to temporary files).

If you’re migrating data from your iPhone to Xiaomi, install the Move to iOS app on your iOS device in advance (yes, it works the other way around for some types of data).

⚠️ Note: If root access or custom firmware was used on the old phone, some system data (e.g, SMS You may not be able to transfer it, or call logs, so you can manually export it in advance through apps like this. SMS Backup & Restore.

Charging both phones > 50%|Updated firmware on the old Xiaomi|Synchronized contacts and photos with the cloud|Enough space is freed up on the new phone|Prepared cable (when transferring over the wire)|Disabled. VPN Firewalls (can block transmission)-->

Mi Mover – Pros and Hidden Limitations

Mi Mover is a proprietary utility from Xiaomi for transferring data between devices to the Internet. MIUI. It's pre-installed on all new smartphones and supports Wi-Fi Direct (without connecting to the router). It works with most Android devices, but there are nuances.

How to use Mi Mover:

1. On the new Xiaomi, when you first turn on, select Data Portability. If the phone is already configured, find Mi Mover in Settings → Additionally.
2. On your old phone, install Mi Mover from Google Play (if it’s not there) and select “I give it away.”
3. Scan it. QR-code from a new phone or connect via device search.
4. Select data types for transfer (contacts, SMS, Applications, multimedia) and confirm the beginning.

Advantages of Mi Mover:

• 🔹 Speed: Transfers directly over Wi-Fi without intermediaries.
• 🔹 Support MIUI: Optimized for Xiaomi smartphones, Redmi, POCO.
• 🔹 Application portability: You can choose which programs to copy (unlike Google Drive).

Restrictions not mentioned in the official instructions:

⚠️ Note: If the new Xiaomi is MIUI Global, and old — MIUI China (or vice versa), Mi Mover may not work as well, and alternative methods are better used.

Cloud-based Google Drive: When it’s Better than Mi Mover

The method through Google Drive is universal and works even if you do not have access to Mi Mover or you transfer data from the user. iPhone/The main advantage is that you don't have to connect the phones to each other, you have to connect the Internet, but there are also disadvantages: the limit on the amount of free storage (15 GB) and possible problems with the portability of certain data types.

Step-by-step:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → System → Backup.
2. Select “Google Drive Backup” and log in to your account.
3. Check the data types (contacts, SMS, device settings, application data) and click "Create backup copy".
4. On the new Xiaomi, when setting up, select “Restore from backup” and log in to the same Google account.

What is carried over Google Drive:

• 📇 Contacts, call log
• 📝 SMS and MMS (never)
• ⚙️ Wi-Fi settings (but not passwords) MIUI!)
• 📱 Data from some applications (if they support backup)
• 🖼️ Photos and videos (if synced with Google Photos is enabled)

What's NOT tolerable:

• 🚫 Installed applications (only their settings, if supported)
• 🚫 Music and documents (unless downloaded manually to Drive)
• 🚫 Data from some Chinese apps (e.g. Mi Fit or Xiaomi Home)

If you have a lot of data and free 15GB in Drive is not enough, you can:

• 🔸 Buy an additional seat (from 100 GB per ~140 rub/mos).
• 🔸 Break up the backup into parts (for example, first contacts, then photos).
• 🔸 Use alternative clouds: Mi Cloud (5 GB free), Yandex Drive (10 GB) or Mega (20 GB).

💡

If you’re migrating data from your iPhone to Xiaomi, upload the photos to iCloud first, and then download them to your new phone via the web version of iCloud.com. This is faster than using Move to iOS.

Cable transfer without Internet: instructions for MIUI 14/15

Data transfer through USB-cable OTG) — The most reliable way to do this is if you have a slow Internet connection or a lot of data (50).+ On Xiaomi, it works through file transfer mode" (MTP) Specialized programs like Xiaomi PC However, there are nuances with access rights on new versions. MIUI.

Method 1: Manual transfer through MTP (power-user)

1. Connect your old phone to your PC via USB, select File Transfer mode.
2. Copy the right folders: DCIM — Photos and videos Downloads - Pictures downloads, Music - multimedia Android/data — Data from some applications (not all!)

Xiaomi

Method 2: Using Xiaomi PC Suite (for Windows)

Xiaomi Program PC Suite allows you to transfer data directly between phones via PC:

1. Download. PC Suite from the official website.
2. Connect both phones to the computer.
3. In the program, select "Reserve and restore" → "Data portability".
4. Follow the instructions of the master (select the old phone as the source, the new one as the receiver).

Notes (Mi Notes, Google Keep, ColorNote)

If you have used the standard Mi Notes app:

1. Open Notes on your old phone.
2. Press three points. → "Exports" → Select the format (.txt or.zip).
3. Transfer the file to a new phone and import it through the same menu.

3. Wi-Fi passwords

On Xiaomi, Wi-Fi passwords are not ported over Mi Mover or Google Drive.

• 🔐 Use the WiFi Password Viewer (root required) or:
• 🔐 Manually copy passwords from Settings → Wi-Fi by clicking on the network and selecting "Share" (required) PIN-code).

4. Preserve Games (Genshin Impact, PUBG, COD Mobile)

Most mobile games link progress to an account (Google Play Games, Facebook, Mi Account) to avoid losing achievements:

1. Make sure the game is linked to your account (check in the game settings).
2. On the new phone, install the game and log in to the same account.
3. If the game supports cross-platform (e.g. Genshin Impact), progress will be automatically tightened.

For games without cloud storage (for example, some offline)-RPG) Use Titanium Backup (root required) or manually copy the save folder (usually located in the back of the folder). /Android/obb or /Android/data).

5. Application data (WhatsApp, Telegram, banking applications)

💡

To transfer these applications without root rights, use the "Cloning of applications" function in Mi Mover (available only between Xiaomi devices). APK, but also a part of user data.

Solving 7 Common Mistakes When Moving to Xiaomi

Even when you follow the instructions, you have problems.-7 Errors and solutions based on feedback from forums 4PDA and Mi Community.

1. "Mi Mover can't see the old phone."

Causes and solutions:

• 🔌 Different versions MIUI: Update the firmware on both phones to the latest version.
• 🔌 firewall/VPN: Turn off data protection in Settings → Annexes → Permits.
• 🔌 Incompatible models: If the old phone isn't from Xiaomi, use Google Drive or cable.

2. "Transfer interrupted by 99%"

Most often, this is due to a lack of memory on a new phone or corrupted files on an old one.

• 📉 Free up space on the new Xiaomi (remove unnecessary apps or transfer files to the new Xiaomi) SD-map).
• 🔍 Check the integrity of files on your old phone (for example, through the SD Maid).
• 🔄 Try to transfer data in parts (first contacts, then photos, etc.).

3. “Annexes are not transferred”

Mi Mover only copies programs installed from Google Play. APK Or from the Mi App Store, it's not moving:

• 📥 Manually download. APK from an old phone (for example, through the APK Extractor).
• 🔗 Use Google Play. → Library to reinstall applications.

4. "Photos missing after transfer"

This happens if:

• 🖼️ Photos stored on SD-not in the internal memory (copy them manually).
• 🖼️ Storage optimization enabled in Google Photos (check synchronization settings).
• 🖼️ folder DCIM It is not completely copied (check through PC).

5. “Not regenerated SMS"

If SMS Not transferred to Mi Mover or Google Drive:

• 📩 Use it. SMS Backup & Restore (see section above).
• 📩 Check if the recovery is blocked by the antivirus (turn it off temporarily).

6. "New Xiaomi slows down after the transfer"

This is typical for phones with low memory capacity (32/64 GB), when gigabytes of unnecessary files are transferred:

• 🧹 Remove the app cache in Settings → Warehouse → Cleanup.
• 🗑️ Check the Downloads folder – unnecessary files often accumulate there.
• 🔄 Reset your phone to factory settings and transfer only what you need.

7. "Not transferred settings Xiaomi (themes, gestures)"

Xiaomi system settings (themes, gestures, battery modes) are linked to the Mi Account to save them:

1. On your old phone, enter Settings → Xiaomi account.
2. Turn on synchronization of themes and settings.
3. On the new phone, log in to the same account and wait for synchronization.

Optimizing the new Xiaomi after the transfer: what to remove, and what to set up again

Data portability is only half the battle, and in order for the new Xiaomi to work quickly and without lag, it needs to be optimized after the migration. Here is a 10-step checklist:

1. Delete unnecessary files and applications

• 🗑️ Clear the cache: Settings → Warehouse → Cleanup → Select unnecessary files.
• 🧹 Remove duplicate photos: use Google Photos or Gallery Doctor.
• 🚮 Uninstall unnecessary apps: Mi Game Center, duplicate messengers (for example, if 2 versions of WhatsApp were moved), apps that you do not use (for example, Mi Pay is not relevant for Russia).

2.Tune the battery for maximum operating time

The new Xiaomi (especially the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) has power-intensive settings enabled by default.

• 🔋 Turn off the high screen refresh rate (if not needed): Settings → Display. → Frequency of update → 60 Hz.
• 🔋 Enable Power Saving Mode for Individual Applications: Settings → Battery → Choice of battery mode.
• 🔋 Turn off constant application activity in the background: Settings → Annexes → Permits → Auto-start.

3. Personalize MIUI beneath

MIUI It offers a lot of settings that are worth checking out:

• 🎨 Theme and design: Settings → Theme (you can download new themes or return the classic look).
• 👆 Gestures: Settings → Display. → Full screen mode (set up swipes for navigation).
• 🔔 Notifications: Settings → Notifications → Disconnect spam from unnecessary applications.
• 🔒 Security: Set up Face/Fingerprint Unlock and Application Blocking.

4. Check permissions for applications

After the transfer, some applications may lose access to:

• 📸 Camera/microphone (e.g. Zoom or Instagram).
• 📍 Geolocations (maps, taxis).
• 📁