How to transfer contacts from Xiaomi to iPhone: a step-by-step guide with a comparison of all ways

Moving from Xiaomi to iPhone is not only about changing the ecosystem, but also about moving important data, with contacts coming first. Users often face problems with numbers being lost, duplicated or displayed incorrectly, due to differences in the formats of contact storage between Android (using.vcf or sync with Google Account) and iOS (optimized for iCloud).

In this article, we will analyze 5 working methods of transferring contacts - from standard (via the Internet). SIM-map or Bluetooth) to advanced (using iCloud or third-party services like My Contacts Backup (MIUI), You'll learn which method is the fastest, which method saves your call history, and how to avoid common errors such as loss of Cyrillic names or failures in exporting.

1.Preparation: What to do on Xiaomi before the transfer

Before you start the transfer, make sure that the contacts on your Xiaomi (or Redmi/POCO) are stored in the correct place.

• 📱 Local phone memory (risk of loss when resetting)
• 🔗 Xiaomi account (synced only between devices) MIUI)
• ☁️ Google Account (the best option for transferring)
• 📶 SIM-map (limit on the number of contacts)

To avoid problems, perform a check:

1. Open the Contacts app on Xiaomi.
2. Press three points (⋮) → Contact management → Imports/Exports.
3. Check where your contacts are stored, if they are tied to a device or SIM-You must export them to your Google Account first.

Check your contact location |Export your contacts to Google Account (if local)|Update the Contacts app in Play Market|To make sure there is enough room on your iPhone to import-->

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI (especially global versions for Russia, Google services can be disabled by default. To activate them, go to Settings → Accounts and synchronization → Google and enable the Contact option.

2. Method 1: Transfer through Google Account (most reliable)

This method works 100% and stores all contact information, including photos, notes and groups, and the main condition is that you have an active Google Account on both devices.

Steps on Xiaomi:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Synchronization.
2. Select your Google Account (or add a new one).
3. Activate the Contact slider and wait for the synchronization to be completed.
4. Check that the contacts appeared on the site contacts.google.com (enter the login / password from the account).

Steps on the iPhone:

1. Go to Settings → Contacts → Accounts.
2. Click Add Add Account → Google.
3. Enter the same account as Xiaomi.
4. Turn on the Contacts option and wait for synchronization.

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If not all contacts are displayed on your iPhone after syncing, try manually updating the data: open Settings → [Your Google Account] → Contact Sync and click Sync Now.

3. Method 2: Export via VCF file (for advanced users)

The.vcf (vCard) format is a universal standard for storing contacts, which is suitable if you do not want to be tied to Google or iCloud, but requires manual file transfer.

Exports to Xiaomi:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Press. ⋮ → Contact management → Exports/imports.
3. Select Export to the file and specify the location of the save (for example, Internal Memory → Download).
4. The file will be called contacts.vcf.

Imports on iPhone:

1. Send contacts.vcf to your iPhone in any way you can: 📧 By email (to yourself by mail) 🌐 Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox) 🔌 Cable (using iTunes or Finder on Mac)

iPhone

⚠️ Note: When exporting to.vcf on some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro with firmware) MIUI 13) Cyrillic character encoding may be reset, and to avoid this, change the system language to English before export (Settings) → Additionally. → Language and region).

Method 3: Transfer through SIM-Card (for a small number of contacts)

This method is suitable if you have few contacts (up to 250) and no access to the Internet, but it has serious limitations:

• ❌ No photos, notes, groups are saved
• ❌ Restriction on symbols in the name (maximum 14 characters)
• ❌ Phone numbers are saved without formatting

Instructions:

1. On Xiaomi, open contacts → ⋮ → Contact management → Imports/Exports → Exports to SIM-map.
2. Select contacts for export (or click Allocate).
3. Wait for completion and retrieve SIM-map.
4. Put the SIM in the iPhone.
5. On iPhone, go to Settings → Contacts → Import contacts with SIM.

Google Account|File. VCF|SIM-map|Bluetooth|Party of annex-->

⚠️ Attention: On an iPhone with two SIM-cards (Dual) SIM) Importing contacts can be unstable if the system does not see the contacts on the Internet. SIM, try:

• Reboot your iPhone with SIM inserted.
• Use an adapter for nano-SIM (if the card is not tightly seated in the slot).
• Move your contacts to another SIM-Map via Xiaomi and try again.

5. Method 4: Bluetooth transmission (fast but limited)

Bluetooth is the easiest way to do this, but it doesn’t work on all iPhone models (for example, the iPhone 13/14 may require additional software), and it’s only one contact, which takes a long time with a lot of data.

Step-by-step:

1. On Xiaomi and iPhone, turn on Bluetooth (Settings → Connections on Xiaomi, Settings → Bluetooth on iPhone).
2. Connect devices (on the iPhone, confirm the connection code).
3. On Xiaomi, open Contacts, select the contact you want → Share → Bluetooth.
4. Select your iPhone from the list of devices.
5. On your iPhone, confirm the file and keep the contact.

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Bluetooth is only suitable for 10-15 contacts, but for larger volumes, use other methods, otherwise the process will take several hours.

🔹 Nuance for iPhone: Starting with iOS 17, Apple has limited Bluetooth functionality for contact transfer. If the Share Contact option is inactive, install the Bluetooth Share app from the App Store on your iPhone.

Method 5: Specialized applications (for complex cases)

If standard methods don't work (for example, because of firmware incompatibility or a lot of data), use third-party applications. We tested the 3 most reliable ones:

How to use My Contacts Backup (Step-by-step):

1. Install the app on Xiaomi (from Google Play) and iPhone (from the App Store).
2. On Xiaomi, open the app and click Backup – a.vcf file will be created.
3. Send the file to your iPhone (by mail or via the cloud).
4. On iPhone, open the file through My Contacts Backup and press Restore.

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If you display empty contacts (no names) after porting to your iPhone, check the encoding of the.vcf file. Open it in a text editor (like Notepad++) and make sure the text is readable. If you don't have characters, repeat the export from Xiaomi by selecting UTF-8 encoding.

7. Frequent problems and their solutions

Even with the right transfer, errors can occur, and we've collected typical situations and ways to correct them:

⚠️ Note: If photos of contacts are missing after transferring to your iPhone, this is due to the fact that iOS does not support the format of storing images from Android. To recover photos, use the Sync.ME app (available in the App Store), which will pull up avatars from social networks.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions