Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often wonder where their backups are stored and how to access them when needed.Mi Cloud is an integral part of the brand ecosystem, keeping contacts, messages, photos and even system settings safe. Understanding how to view the contents of this storage is critical to managing your device’s digital space.
There are several ways to access data: directly through your smartphone settings, through the standard Gallery app, or through a web interface on your computer. It is important to know that access to photos through the i.mi.com web interface is only possible for 30 days after removal from the gallery, unless they have been moved to the shopping cart on the device itself. In this article, we will discuss each of the methods in detail so that you can easily find the files you need.
Before you start browsing, make sure your device is logged in to Mi Account. Without authorization, personal data cannot be accessed in the cloud for security reasons. It is also worth checking your subscription status, as free storage is limited to 5 GB, and overflows can stop new files from syncing.
Checking the synchronization status in the settings
The first and most reliable way to make sure your data is in the cloud is to check system settings, and that's where you see the actual sync status of all services, go to Settings, find Mi Account, and select Cloud, and here's a complete list of data categories that you can reserve.
In this section, you'll see switches for contacts, messages, notes, voice recorders and system settings. If the category is on a green indicator and the time of the last update is indicated, then the copy is current. Sync can be suspended if the device has not connected to Wi-Fi for a long time or if the storage space is out.
Notice the vault fill indicator at the top of the screen, which shows how much space is occupied and how much is free, if the scale is full, new photos will stop loading automatically, in which case the system will prompt you to vacate space or subscribe.
⚠️ Warning: If you see a warning that sync is stopped for more than 21 days, some old data may be removed from the cloud to free up space.
To force the data to be updated, you can click the "Sync" button at the bottom of the screen, which initiates an immediate reconciliation between the phone and the server, which can take some time depending on the amount of information and the speed of the Internet connection.
Viewing photos through the Gallery
The most popular content users want to find in the cloud is photos. In the MIUI or HyperOS shell, the Gallery app has a built-in tab for working with cloud albums. Open the app and go to the Cloud or Albums tab, where there will be a separate folder for cloud data.
Here, photos can be displayed in different quality, so if you have Storage Optimization enabled, the thumbnails are stored on the device, and the originals are stored on the server, and when you view the full photo, it is downloaded from the Internet, which saves the internal memory of the smartphone without sacrificing the quality of the images.
☑️ Checking cloud photos
It's important to distinguish between local and cloud albums. Local folders like Screenshots or WhatsApp may not sync by default. You need to go to the gallery settings and explicitly specify which folders to upload to Mi Cloud. Without this action, important screenshots can be lost when your phone breaks.
If you delete a photo on your phone, it goes to the gallery cart, but if the sync is active, the copy will remain in the cloud even after cleaning the cart on your device for a certain period, which serves as an additional insurance against accidental deletion.
⚠️ Note: When you delete a photo from the cloud folder in the Gallery app, it is deleted everywhere. Be careful when cleaning cloud storage via your phone so you don't lose the originals.
Access to data through a web browser
The most complete and detailed way to view the contents of the cloud is to use the web version of the service, which is especially convenient if you want to download files to a computer or view data from someone else's device.
Enter your Mi ID and login password. The web interface is divided into logical blocks: Contacts, Notes, Recorder, Gallery, and Device Management. Here you will see all the data that was synced from your account, regardless of which device it was downloaded from.
What to do if the site does not open?
In the Gallery section, the web interface allows you to view albums, slideshows, and even edit some metadata. You can download photos on one or entire albums, and it's the perfect way to quickly restore a photo shoot to a new phone or PC.
The Contacts section allows you not only to view the list, but also to restore deleted numbers if they were in the cloud.The web interface also shows the history of devices that had access to an account, which is useful for checking security.
File and document management
Unlike some other ecosystems, Xiaomi allows you to synchronize not only multimedia, but also documents through the built-in Explorer.The Explorer app has a section called the Cloud where you can display files uploaded to the storage, which is convenient for working with office documents, PDFs and archives.
To upload files to the cloud through Explorer, you need to select the desired document, click “More” and select “Upload to the cloud.” After that, the file will be available on all devices associated with the account, the download speed depends on the file size and the tariff of your Internet.
| Type of data | Cloud storage location | Synchronization limits |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | Mi Account/Contacts | No restrictions (within 5 GB) |
| Photos and videos | Gallery/Cloud Albums | Up to 5 GB free, then paid |
| Notes | Annex Notes | The text hardly takes up space. |
| Dictaphone | Application Dictator | Depends on the length of the recording |
| Documents | Conductor/Cloud | Total storage limit |
It is worth noting that large files can only be downloaded when connected to Wi-Fi, unless the settings indicate otherwise, this prevents rapid consumption of mobile traffic.
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Use the Clear Cloud feature with caution. It deletes files from the cloud but leaves them on your phone, which is useful for freeing up space in Mi Cloud storage without losing data on the device.
Recovering Data from the Cloud
One of the main functions of the cloud is the ability to restore data, which is true when buying a new smartphone or after resetting to factory settings. When you first set up Android, the system will prompt you to log into Mi Account and restore data from the backup.
You can choose which to restore: contacts only, or apps as well, desktop icons and system settings. The recovery process can take anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours depending on the amount of data.
If you retrieve data selectively, like just contacts, it will automatically appear in the phone book after synchronization, and to recover photos, just turn on sync in the gallery, and they will start loading in the background.
⚠️ Note: When you restore a full system backup on an already configured phone, existing data may be overwritten or duplicated.
Restoring system settings from a newer firmware version to the old one can cause errors in the interface.
Frequent problems and their solution
Users often experience a situation where the cloud is not synced, the most common reason is to desynchronize time and date on the device, and make sure that the Date and Time settings are automatically synced across the network.
Another common problem is application version conflict: Make sure system applications like Gallery and Contacts are updated to the latest version through the GetApps store or Google Play. Older versions may not work properly with new cloud security protocols.
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Stable synchronization is possible only if you have an active Internet connection, the correct date and time, and sufficient free space in the cloud storage.
If nothing works, try logging out of your Mi Account and logging in again.This will update your authorization tokens and often solves problems with “hangover” sync.