How to transfer all data from your old phone to the new Xiaomi Redmi: 7 proven ways

Moving to a new smartphone is always exciting, especially when it comes to saving all the important data. Xiaomi Redmi offers several convenient ways to migrate, but not all of them are equally effective for different types of content. Contacts, photos, messages and even app settings can be transferred without loss, if you know the nuances of each method.

In this article, we will analyze not only standard features like Mi Mover and Google Account, but also alternative solutions for specific cases: when an old phone does not support wireless transmission, when you need to save a call history or when the data volume exceeds 100 GB.

If you’ve just unpacked your new Redmi Note 13 Pro+ or Redmi 12 5G, take your time to format your old device — check if all the data is successfully copied. And for owners of other brands (Samsung, iPhone, Huawei), we’ve prepared separate instructions tailored to their ecosystems.

Preparation for transfer: what to do before the start

Before you start migrating, make sure both phones are ready for the process, which will save you unexpected crashes and data loss.

On an old phone:

• 🔋 Battery charge at least 50% (preferably 80%) and it can take hours to transfer a lot of data, and discharging in the process will interrupt the operation.
• 📶 Connect to a stable Wi-Fi network. Wireless transmission over Mi Mover or the cloud requires high-speed Internet.
• 🗃️ Free up space on internal memory. If your old phone has less than 1GB of free space, some apps (like com.xiaomi.midrop) may not start.
• 🔑 Make sure you remember the passwords from Google Account and Mi Account. Without them, you can't recover some of the data.

On the new Xiaomi Redmi:

• 📱 Go through the initial setup before the request to move the data (usually the “Copy Data” step after connecting to the network).
• 🔄 Update to the latest version through Settings → The phone. → System updates. Old versions. MIUI They may not support new transmission protocols.
• 🛡️ Turn off the energy saving mode in Settings → Battery, otherwise background transfer processes will be suspended.

⚠️ Note: If your old phone runs Android 8.0 or lower, the Mi Mover feature may not support direct transmission. OTG.

2. Method 1: Mi Mover – official solution from Xiaomi

Mi Mover is a built-in application for wireless data transfer between Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices. It supports the transfer of contacts, messages, photos, videos, music, applications (including their data) and even some system settings.

How to use:

1. On the new Redmi, select Data Copy → From another Android device at the setup stage.
2. On your old phone, open Settings → Additional → Mi Mover (or find the app in the menu).
3. Select the role of sender on the old phone and receiver on the new one.
4. Scan it. QR-code from a new phone or connect via Wi-Fi Direct.
5. Select data types to transfer and confirm the start of the process.

The speed of the transfer depends on the amount of data and the stability of the connection. On average, 50 GB are copied in 1.5-2 hours. If the process is stuck at 0% or 100%, restart both phones and try again.

⚠️ Note: If the old phone is installed MIUI 12 or older, and on the new — MIUI 14+, Some system settings may not be transferred due to changes in the OS architecture.

All background apps on both phones are closed |

VPN and firewall disabled |

Both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.|

There is enough space on the new phone for all the data.|-->

3. Method 2: Transfer through Google Account (for contacts, calendar, mail)

If you use Google services, most of your personal data is already synced to the cloud automatically, a method that is suitable for transferring contacts, calendar events, Google Keep notes, and Gmail.

How to check the synchronization:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Accounts → Google.
2. Make sure that synchronization for Contacts, Calendar and other necessary services is enabled.
3. Click Sync Now and wait until it is completed.
4. On the new Redmi, add the same Google Account when setting up or in Settings → Accounts.

Advantages of the method:

• 🔄 Automatic update of data when changing on any device.
• 🌐 Access contacts from any device (including PCs via contacts.google.com).
• 📱 No need to physically connect your phone.

Limitations:

• ❌ No messages, photos, videos and applications are transferred.
• ❌ Call history is not synced (only through Mi Mover or third-party apps).

💡

If the contacts are not transferred, check if they are duplicated in Mi Accounts or if they are not in the same category. SIM-Delete duplicates manually or through the Google Contacts app (menu) → Combining and correcting).

4. Method 3: Transfer files via an OTG cable or adapter

If wireless methods are not available (for example, an old phone has a broken Wi-Fi module), you can use a physical connection.

• 🔌 Cable OTG (cellphone USB-C or micro-USB).
• 🖥️ Adapter (if you need to connect the old phone as a flash drive to the new one).
• 📁 File Manager (e.g., embedded Files or Solid Explorer).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect the OTG cable to the new Redmi.
2. Connect the old phone to OTG-The cable (it will be defined as an external storage device).
3. Open the file manager on your new phone and copy the folders you want (DCIM for photos, Download for downloads, etc.).
4. To transfer applications, use the backup via Settings → Apps → Backup (APK only, no data!).

Copy speed via OTG is higher than over Wi-Fi (up to 40 MB / s against 10-15 MB / s), but there are nuances:

• ⚠️ Not all phones support OTG Host mode (new Redmi must be a master device).
• ⚠️ System applications (e.g. messages) are not copied – only user data.

5. Method 4: Cloud services (Google Drive, Mi Cloud, Yandex Disk)

Cloud storage is convenient for carrying large amounts of data if you have a supply of traffic and patience. Xiaomi offers its own Mi Cloud service (5 GB for free), but for volumes over 20 GB, it is better to use Google Drive or Yandex Disk.

Comparison of services:

How to transfer data via Google Drive:

1. On your old phone, install Google Drive and log in to your account.
2. Click + → Download and select files/folders.
3. After downloading on the new Redmi, open Google Drive, find the files and download them.
4. To automatically sync photos, turn on Google Photos with the option Backup and Sync.

⚠️ Note: If you upload more than 1,000 photos at a time, Google Photos may temporarily block sync. Break up the loading into batches of 300-500 files.

Method 5: Transfer applications and their data (including games)

Standard portability techniques often ignore application data — such as game progress, messenger settings, or local databases — and there are specialized tools for this:

For games and social media:

• 🎮 Use the built-in account binding (Google Play Games, Facebook, VK). For example, in Clash of Clans, link your account to Supercell. ID.
• 🔄 For WhatsApp, make a backup in Settings → chat → Backup and restore it to your new phone after installation.

For all applications:

• 📦 Swift Backup (requires root rights) creates full backups APK + data.
• 🔗 Titanium Backup (also for root) allows you to selectively transfer settings.
• 🖥️ ADB Backup is Google’s official method, but it doesn’t work with all apps.

The backup team through ADB:

adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -f backup.ab

For recovery:

adb restore backup.ab

💡

Without root rights, you can only transfer APK-Application files (without data) Full backup requires superuser rights or developer support (like WhatsApp).

7. Method 6: Moving from iPhone to Xiaomi Redmi

Switching from iPhone to Xiaomi Redmi requires a separate approach due to ecosystem differences. Apple doesn't allow direct data export to Android, but there are workarounds:

Step 1: Transfer contacts and calendar

• 📱 On iPhone, open Settings → [Your name] → iCloud and enable Contact and Calendar Synchronization.
• 🌐 On PC, go to icloud.com, select contacts and export them to.vcf file.
• 📲 Import.vcf to the new Redmi via Contacts → Imports/Exports.

Step 2: Transfer photos and videos

• 🖥️ Connect your iPhone to your PC/Mac, copy the photo from the folder DCIM.
• 📁 Move files to the new Redmi via cable or cloud.

Step 3: Transfer of messages

• 💬 Use paid services like this iSMS2droid or Backuptrans for export SMS in a format compatible with Android.
• ⚠️ iMessage and WhatsApp history are not portable – they need to be saved manually (screenshots, chat export).

Xiaomi offers Mi Mover to automate the process, but it works with iPhones only for photo and video transfer (without contacts and messages).

8. Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even when following instructions, users often face problems, and here are the most common ones and ways to solve them:

Problem 1: Mi Mover is either 0% or 99%

• 🔄 Reboot both phones and try again.
• 📶 Connect to another Wi-Fi network (sometimes the router will block the network). P2P-linkage).
• 🗃️ Free up space on your new phone (requires at least 10% free space).

Problem 2: Applications are not portable

• 📱 Make sure the new phone has the option to Install Unknown Apps in Settings enabled. → Annexes → Special access.
• 🔗 Some applications (banking, instant messengers) block data transfer for security reasons.

Problem 3: Lost contacts after transfer

• 🔍 Check if they are duplicated in different accounts (Google, Mi Account, SIM).
• 📇 Import contacts manually from a.vcf file if automatic synchronization fails.

Problem 4: Slow Wi-Fi Transfer Speed

• 📡 Go to the router settings and turn on the mode 802.11ac (5 GHz for speeding up.
• 📵 Disconnect all other devices from the network during the transfer.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions