How to Transfer All WhatsApp Messages to Xiaomi’s New Phone: 3 Proven Ways

The transition to Xiaomi’s new smartphone is always exciting, especially when it comes to keeping up with years of WhatsApp correspondence. Many users are faced with the challenge of how to transfer not only contacts, but also the entire history of messages, media files and voice messages without losing a single byte of data. Unlike the iPhone, where migration between devices is worked out almost automatically, on Android (and especially when switching to Xiaomi from another brand), the process requires attention to detail.

In this article, we will discuss three official ways of carrying messages — through Google Drive, local backup, and direct cable transfer — and consider alternative solutions for cases where standard methods do not work. We will focus on the nuances associated with the MIUI firmware, since it often causes failures in restoring backups. If you have already tried to move chats and received an error like “failed to restore backup”, here you will find a solution.

Why a standard WhatsApp port to Xiaomi may not work

Problems with migrating chats to Xiaomi are usually due to two key factors: MIUI features and WhatsApp versions incompatibility.

• 🔄 Different versions of WhatsApp: If the older phone has a newer version of the messenger than Xiaomi, the recovery of the backup may be blocked. For example, the backup from WhatsApp 2.23.12.75 will not recover on version 2.23.8.10.
• 📱 MIUI and access rights: Xiaomi firmware aggressively manages background processes, which can interrupt the download of backup from Google Drive.
• 🔒 No rights to the WhatsApp folder: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note) 12 or POCO X5) folder /sdcard/WhatsApp Default protected from records.
• 🌐 Google regional restrictions: In some countries (e.g. China), Google Drive services may be restricted, making it impossible to recover via the cloud.

Another common mistake is trying to move chats after you first set up WhatsApp on your new phone. If you’ve already logged in and missed the recovery step, you’ll have to delete the app and start over. On Xiaomi devices with MIUI 14 and newer, be sure to turn off MIUI Optimization in WhatsApp’s battery settings before transferring, otherwise the backup will be interrupted by 99%.

⚠️ Note: If you use WhatsApp Business, please note that its backups are incompatible with the regular version of the messenger. → Business).

Method 1: Transfer over Google Drive (official method)

This is the easiest way, but it only works if you meet three conditions:

1. Both phones use the same Google account.
2. There is plenty of space on your old phone in Google Drive (a WhatsApp backup can weigh up to gigabytes if there are a lot of media files in chats).
3. The new Xiaomi has the same or newer version of WhatsApp as the older device.

Step instructions:

1. Backup on your old phone: Open WhatsApp → ⋮ (Menus) → Settings → chat → Backup. Click on “Create a copy” (select Google account if necessary) and wait until the process is complete (can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour depending on the amount of data you have).
2. Install WhatsApp on the new Xiaomi: Download WhatsApp from Google Play (not from the MIUI App Store - there may be an outdated version!). When you first start, type in the same phone number as the old device. When you request a recovery from Google Drive, confirm it.
3. Wait for recovery to complete: Don't close the app or move to other sections until the process is complete.If recovery is 0% or 99% hanging, check your Wi-Fi connection and WhatsApp's storage permissions.

Both phones have a Google account.|WhatsApp on Xiaomi is no older than on an old phone|Google Drive has enough free space (at least 20% more than the weight of the backup)|Xiaomi has disabled battery optimization for WhatsApp|Connect to stable Wi-Fi (not mobile internet)-->

If you don't have any media files (photos, videos, voice messages) in your chats after recovery, check the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Media folder on your new phone. Sometimes MIUI blocks automatic media downloads, in which case you'll have to download the files manually from each chat.

Google Drive | Local backup on phone | Cable transfer | I don't do backups | Another way-->

Method 2: Local backup (transfer through a file on a memory card or PC)

This method is suitable if you do not have access to Google Drive or backup through the cloud is constantly crashing, the main advantage is that you have full control of the process and can transfer data even between phones with different Google accounts.

You'll need:

• 📱 Old and New Phone (Xiaomi).
• 💾 Memory card (if there is a slot on both devices) or cable OTG + flash-drive adapter.
• 🖥️ Computer (optional, but convenient for large backups).

Step-by-step:

1. Create a local backup on your old phone: WhatsApp Settings → Chat → Backup → Local Backup → Create a copy of the backup file will be saved in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder under the name msgstore.db.crypt14 (or crypt12/13 for older versions).
2. Copy the backup file to the new Xiaomi: If you use a memory card: Move the msgstore.db.crypt14 file to the card. Insert the map in Xiaomi and copy the file to /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases (create it if it isn't). If you use a PC: Connect the old phone to your computer, copy the backup file to any folder. Connect Xiaomi, move the file to /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases.
3. Install WhatsApp on Xiaomi and restore chats: Delete WhatsApp if it is already installed (important!). Download the messenger again from Google Play. When you first start, type in your phone number, the system will automatically find the local backup and prompt to restore it.

⚠️ Note: If the WhatsApp folder does not appear on Xiaomi when connecting to your PC, turn on the File Transfer mode in the notification curtain and allow access to the storage in the settings MIUI (Settings → Annexes → Permits → Warehouse).

If you don't see all the messages after recovery, check the date you created the msgstore.db.crypt14 file. You may have copied an outdated backup. Databases folder may store multiple backups with different dates - choose the latest one.

Method 3: Direct Cable Transfer (for Xiaomi with MIUI 12 and later)

Recently, Xiaomi has added a built-in tool to the MIUI firmware to transfer data from other Android devices, Mi Mover, which allows you to transfer not only WhatsApp chats, but also other data (photos, contacts, SMS) without using the cloud.

• ✅ It only works between Android 5.0 phones+.
• ❌ Does not support porting from iPhone.
• ⚠️ In some models (for example, POCO F5) may require disabling the ad blocker.

How to transfer WhatsApp via Mi Mover:

1. On the new Xiaomi, go to Settings → About Phone → Mi Mover (or find the Mi Mover app on the menu).
2. Select “I am a new user” and follow the instructions on the screen.
3. Download Mi Mover from Google Play on your old phone (if it’s not there, use it). APK-file).
4. Connect both phones to the same Wi-Fi network and scan QR-Xiaomi screen code on an old device.
5. In the data list for transfer, mark “WhatsApp” and start the process.

Mi Mover not only copies messages, but also chat settings (fixed dialogs, notifications), but if the old phone had two-factor authentication enabled on WhatsApp, it will have to be reconfigured.

💡

If Mi Mover is stuck in the Prep phase, try turning off the VPN (if it’s on) and temporarily deactivate the antivirus. Also make sure that both phones have at least 30% battery life – MIUI can interrupt the transfer when the charge level is low.

Alternative methods: when standard methods do not work

If none of the above methods worked, try one of these solutions:

1. Use of third-party programs (for example, Dr.Fone or MobileTrans)

These tools are paid, but they support transfer between Android and iOS, and allow you to selectively copy individual chats, minus the risk of data leakage, so use only official versions of programs from developers' sites.

2. Manual export of chats via email

WhatsApp has a function to export individual chats via email:

1. Open the right chat room. → ⋮ → Chat exports.
2. Select “No Media” (otherwise the file will be too large).
3. Send yourself an email and save the.txt file on your new phone.

This method is only suitable for text history preservation – media files and voice messages must be transferred separately.

3. Transfer via Titanium Backup (for root users)

If you have root access on both phones, you can use Titanium Backup to create a full copy of WhatsApp data (including settings and cache), but this is risky – if you do the wrong thing, you can lose all the data.

⚠️ Note: When using third-party WhatsApp portable software, temporarily disable Google Autocomplete in the settings MIUI (Settings → Google → Autocomplete.Some utilities may conflict with this feature, leading to failures.

Frequent mistakes and how to fix them

Even with all the instructions, Xiaomi users often encounter errors when porting WhatsApp, and here are the most common problems and solutions:

If you see an error called “Not enough space” when recovering from Google Drive, even though there is free space on your phone, try clearing the Google Play Services cache:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Google Play Services → Storage → Clear cache

FAQ: Answers to popular questions

1. compatibility of the messenger versions on both phones.

2. free space in Google Drive (if you use the cloud).

3. disable the battery optimization for WhatsApp in MIUI.

These three steps will prevent 90% of possible errors.-->