How to transfer all data from Samsung to Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

The transition from Samsung to Xiaomi is not just a brand change, but a complete migration of digital life: contacts, photos, messages, notes, and even app settings, which many users fear for fear of losing important data or spending hours manually restarting. In fact, the transfer can be done in 20-40 minutes, if you know the key nuances of both ecosystems.

The main difficulty is that Samsung and Xiaomi use different cloud services (Samsung Cloud vs Mi Cloud), backup formats and even a file storage structure. DCIM/Camera, And Xiaomi, in DCIM/MIUI. We tested it. 5 The most reliable methods of transfer and selected, taking into account the features of the latest versions of One UI 6.1 (2026) HyperOS.

In this article, you’ll find not only step-by-step instructions, but also unique data on format compatibility between brands (for example, why Samsung Smart Switch backups don’t open on Xiaomi), as well as a transfer speed comparison table for different methods. If you go from the flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra to the Xiaomi 14 Pro or from the budget Galaxy A14 to the Redmi Note 13, the instructions will be suitable for any combination.

Preparing phones before transfer: what to do

Before you start migrating, it is critical to do 3 things that will save you hours in the event of a failure:

• 🔋 Charge both phones to at least 50%. Transfer data via cable or Wi-Fi Direct consumes up to 20% of charge per hour. On Xiaomi with HyperOS, when the charge is low, the system automatically suspends file transfers.
• 📡 Turn off battery optimization for portable applications (such as Mi Mover or Smart Switch). on Samsung, this is done in Settings → Caring for the device → Battery → Optimizing the operation of applications.
• 🔒 Make sure Xiaomi has enough memory, for example, if you are porting 64GB of data from the Galaxy. S22, Redmi Note 12 is only free 32 GB, the system will interrupt the copying halfway.

Pay special attention to unlocking the bootloader on Xiaomi if you plan to use methods with a full backup (for example, through the use of a full-backup). ADB). On new models (Xiaomi) 13T, 14 Series) the bootloader is locked by default and it takes up to 7 days to unlock SMS-Without it, some system data (such as Wi-Fi settings) will not be transferred.

⚠️ Note: If Samsung has enabled data encryption (checked in Settings) → Biometrics and safety → Other security parameters → Encryption, cable transfer can take 3 times longer, we recommend temporarily disabling encryption before migrating.

Charge both phones >50%|Disable battery optimization for Mi Mover/Smart Switch|Check the free space on Xiaomi (minimum) +10% data-driven)|Backup Samsung Cloud in case of a crash|Connect both phones to the same Wi-Fi network (for wireless transfer)-->

2. Method 1: Official Mi Mover application (fastest method)

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary data porting tool that supports the transition from Samsung, iPhone and other Android devices, with the main advantage of Samsung’s automatic format recognition (unlike Smart Switch, which doesn’t work backwards).

How it works:

1. Download Mi Mover on both phones: 📱 On Xiaomi: the app is preinstalled (see Settings) → The phone. → Data portability). 🤖 On Samsung: Download from Google Play.

Mi Mover

• On Samsung: “Send data” → “Android”.
• On Xiaomi: “Get data” → “Samsung”.
• Connect your phones via Wi-Fi Direct (automatically) or OTG cable (you need a USB-C to USB-C adapter for new models).
• Select data types to transfer (see compatibility table below) and confirm the beginning.

Critical: Mi Mover doesn’t transfer data from Samsung Secure Folder and DRM-protected apps (Netflix, Disney+).If you have files in Secure Folder, export them to main memory first through Settings → Biometrics and Security → Secure Folder → Settings → Export content.

Manually copying via computer | Smart Switch | Cloud services (Google Drive, Samsung Cloud) | Never transferred data | Another way-->

3. Method 2: Transfer through Google Account (reliable but slow)

If you use Google, this method allows you to migrate basic data without additional apps, and the main advantage is that synchronization works in the background, and you can continue to use the phone during the process.

• 📅 Contacts, calendars and notes are synced instantly, but photos and videos in Google Photos can take hours to load (depending on internet speed).
• 📱 Applications are only carried by their list – data inside (e.g., game progress) is lost.
• 🔒 Messages are not automatically synced (you need to use Google Messages as your primary message). SMS-appendix on both phones).

Step-by-step:

1. On Samsung: Open Settings → Accounts and archiving → Account management. Select your Google account and enable sync for all categories (especially Contacts, Calendar, Google Photos). → Photo Photo → Settings → Backup and synchronization → Select “High Quality” (unlimited space) or “Source Quality” (quoted in Google Drive quota).

Xiaomi

• When you first turn on, select “Recover Data” and log in to the same Google account.
• If the phone is already configured: Settings → Google → Backup → Enable Auto Restore.

The speed of transfer depends on the amount of data and Internet speed. For example, 20 GB photos in Google Photos at 50 Mbps will download in ~6 hours. To speed up the process, connect Samsung to Wi-Fi 6 (if supported) and charge the phone.

⚠️ Note: If Samsung has the Adaptive Battery feature enabled (Settings) → Caring for the device → Battery → Other settings, it can pause the sync of Google Photos in the background. Turn it off while you're moving.

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If you have a slow internet connection, upload photos to Google Photos at night when most providers’ rates do not limit speed.

Method 3: Transfer over a computer (for large amounts of data)

This method is suitable if you need to transfer more than 100 GB of data (for example, a video collection to a video collection). 4K or RAW-Advantages:

• 💾 There are no limits on volume (unlike cloud services).
• 🔄 You can selectively copy folders (for example, only DCIM/Camera download).
• 🛡️ Reliability: Files are copied directly, without intermediate compression.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Windows computer 10/11 macOS.
• 🔌 Cables. USB-C to USB-A (or USB-C to USB-C for new MacBooks).
• 📁 Copy program: Teracopy (Windows) or standard Finder (macOS).

Instructions:

1. Connect Samsung to your computer and unlock the screen. From the USB menu, select File Transfer (MTP).
2. Copy the folders you need: Internal memory: - DCIM (photos and videos) - Download (downloads) - Pictures (screenshots) - WhatsApp/Media (media from Vatsap) Memory card (if any): - All folders except Android/obb (game cache)
3. Connect Xiaomi and paste files into the appropriate folders. Importantly, the folder structure on Xiaomi must match Samsung, otherwise the gallery will not recognize the media files.
4. To transfer contacts, export them to.vcf: Samsung: Contacts → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/exports → Copy the file on Xiaomi and import through Contacts → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/exports → Imports.

Use the SMS Backup & Restore app to transfer messages:

1. Install it on both phones from Google Play.
2. On Samsung, back up (Create a backup → select SMS/MMS).
3. Transfer the backup file to Xiaomi and restore (Restore).
4. Connect Samsung to your computer and find the backup file in: Internal Memory → The SmartSwitchBackup file will have a.spb extension (e.g., a.spb file, backup_20260515.spb).
5. Use Samsung Smart Switch for PC (download from the official website) to extract data: Open the program on your computer. Connect Samsung and select Restore. Find the right backup and extract files to the folder on your PC.

Xiaomi

Method 3

Limitations of the method:

• 🚫 Smart Switch does not export applications and their data.
• 🔐 Backup files (.spb) are protected – they cannot be opened without an official program.
• ⏳ The process of extracting data on a PC takes a long time (for example, backup). 50 GB can be unpacked 2-3 hour).

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Smart Switch is only suitable for data extraction, not for direct transfer to Xiaomi.Use it as an intermediate step if other methods have not worked.

Method 5: Transfer over cloud services (for sample data)

If you only need to migrate photos, documents or contacts, cloud services will be the easiest solution. We tested 3 options:

Step-by-step instructions for each service:

• 🌥️ Samsung Cloud: On Samsung: Settings → Accounts and archiving → Samsung Cloud → Synchronize the data you want. Download the files to your computer via the web. Move them to Xiaomi.
• 📁 Google Drive: On Samsung, upload files to Drive via the app. On Xiaomi, download them back.

Telegram (for small files):

1. Open the Saved Messages chat on Samsung.
2. Send your files (max. 2 GB at a time).
3. Download them to Xiaomi.

To transfer application data (such as WhatsApp chat history):

1. Create a local backup in the app on Samsung.
2. Copy a backup file (e.g. msgstore.db.crypt14 for WhatsApp) on Xiaomi.
3. Install the app on Xiaomi and recover data from the backup.

⚠️ Note: When transferring WhatsApp from Samsung to Xiaomi, you may need to change your phone number if you want to change your phone number. SIM-The card is left in the old device, in which case, use the Chat Transfer feature in WhatsApp settings, but note that this only works when you are active. SIM new-phone.

8. Post-transfer data verification: what to do first

After the transfer is complete, perform 5 critical checks:

• 📞 Contacts: Open the Contacts app on Xiaomi and check: Are all numbers in place (especially those associated with Samsung accounts) Contact photos (they may not carry over if stored in Samsung Contacts).
• 📷 Photo and video: Check the folders DCIM, Pictures and Download.Make sure that the file dates are saved (sometimes when you copy them through your computer they are reset).
• 💬 Messages: Open up SMS-Check if MMS has moved (photos in messages) if chat groups are still there (in Google Messages they can appear as separate contacts).
• 🎵 Multimedia: Check if Xiaomi recognizes all formats (e.g. video in the video format.mv4 Make sure that the music on Google Play Music or Spotify is available offline.
• 🔄 Apps: Update all ported apps through Google Play. Check the device-based apps (e.g. banking apps, they will have to be reinstalled and reauthorized).

If something hasn't moved:

• 🔍 For contacts: import them again from the.vcf file.
• 📂 For photos: check hidden folders (for example,.thumbnails on Samsung are not copied by default).
• 📱 For applications: Try transferring their data via Titanium Backup (root rights required).

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After the transfer, make sure to make a cache reset to Xiaomi (Settings → Memory → Clear cache) to avoid conflicts between old and new data.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions