How to Backup Xiaomi: The Complete Guide to 2026

Why backup on Xiaomi is not a luxury, but a necessity

Imagine if you drop your smartphone in water, it stops turning on after a fall, or suddenly dies from a factory defect. All photos from your last vacation, work chats, saved passwords and app settings disappear at once. Statistically, 30% of users lose data due to breakdowns, thefts or accidental resets. At Xiaomi (be it Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 or Xiaomi 14 flagship), this problem is solved in 5-10 minutes - if you set up a backup in advance.

Xiaomi offers a number of backup options, from cloud storage to local storage on the computer. But each method has nuances. For example, Mi Cloud does not back up some third-party applications (like WhatsApp or Telegram) if they are not synchronized with a Google Account. And local backup through ADB requires technical knowledge. In this article, we will discuss all the current methods, from the simplest to the most advanced ones, taking into account the features of the MIUI 14/15 firmware.

Method 1: Backup via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

The fastest and most convenient way to do this is to use the built-in Mi Cloud, which automatically saves contacts, notes, SMS, call log, system settings, and even some application data, and the main advantage is that the backup is created in the background and is available from any device after authorization.

To enable reservations:

1. Open your Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Sign in to your account (if not authorized) or create a new one.
3. Activate sliders in front of the items you want to save (for example, Contacts, Notes, Call Log).
4. Click on "Sync" in the upper right corner.

Please note that 5GB of cloud storage is free, and if you need more, you will have to buy a tariff (from 100GB for ~300 rubles per year), and Mi Cloud does not reserve:

• 📷 Photos and videos (Google Photos or Xiaomi Gallery Sync).
• 🎮 Game data (e.g. progression to Genshin Impact or Honor of Kings).
• 📱 Settings of certain third-party applications (for example, VK TikTok).

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If the Mi Cloud data is not restored after resetting your phone, check if sync is enabled in your account settings, sometimes it is turned off after the MIUI update.

⚠️ Attention: If you are using MIUI Global and Mi Cloud in Russia, some of the functions may be limited due to sanctions, in this case, we recommend dubbing the backup through Google Drive.

Method 2: Local backup to your computer

If you don’t trust cloud services or have a weak Internet, you can create a backup right on your PC, either through the official Mi PC Suite (for Windows) or manual export through ADB (for power users).

Instructions for Mi PC Suite:

1. Download the program from the official website and install.
2. Connect your smartphone to your computer through USB-cable (turn on debugging by USB In Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI → Click on version 7 times, then go back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers).
3. In the program, select “Backup” and mark the necessary data (contacts, messages, applications).
4. Click “Create a backup” and wait until the process is over.

Advantages of the method:

• 💾 Backup is stored on your PC – no volume restrictions.
• 🔒 Data is not transferred to third parties.
• 📲 Only the necessary elements can be selectively restored (e.g., only SMS).

Method 3: Backup through Google Account

If you use Google services (Gmail, YouTube, Play Store), then you already have a partial backup.

• 📱 Contacts (if synced with Google).
• 📅 Calendar and tasks.
• 📷 Photo and video if Google Photos are enabled).
• 🎮 Data of certain games (via Google Play Games).
• 🔧 Settings Wi-Fi, wallpaper and languages.

To check or enable reservations:

1. Go to Settings → Google → Backup.
2. Activate the slider “Backup to Google Drive”.
3. Click on “Create Backup Now” if you want to start the process manually.

Important: Google does not save:

• 📱 SMS and call log (you need Google Messages or third-party apps for this).
• 🔧 Settings MIUI (The design, gestures, sounds).
• 📁 Files in your phone folders (only if they are in Google Drive).

⚠️ Attention: If you are using MIUI Without Google services (e.g. Xiaomi for the Chinese market), this method will not work, leaving only Mi Cloud or local backup.

Method 4: Manual export of important data (photos, contacts, SMS)

Sometimes it's easier to manually copy critical files than rely on automatic backups, especially for:

• 📸 Photo and video (folder) DCIM or Pictures).
• 📞 Contacts (export to.vcf file).
• 💬 SMS (through apps SMS Backup & Restore).
• 📄 Documents (Downloads folder or Documents).

How to export contacts:

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Click on three dots (menu) → Contact Management → Import/Export.
3. Select Export to File and save.vcf to a memory card or internal memory.
4. Copy the file to your computer or the cloud.

For SMS reservations, we recommend the SMS Backup & Restore app (available on Google Play):

Install the app from Google Play|

Open it and click "Backup" |

Select which messages to save (SMS, MMS, call log)|

Please specify the location of the save (Google Drive, locally, email) |

Start the process and wait until it is completed.-->

Photos and videos are the easiest to copy through MTP-Mode (like a flash drive): connect your phone to your PC, select File Transfer in the notification USB and move the files. DCIM and Pictures on the hard drive.

Method 5: Advanced backup via ADB (for power users)

If you need to save all application data (including game settings, cache, etc.), you can use the tool. ADB Backup. This is a console utility that takes a full picture of the system. ADB).

Instructions:

1. Install ADB Tools on your computer.
2. Enable USB debugging on your phone (as in the Mi PC Suite method).
3. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command prompt (cmd in Windows or Terminal in macOS/Linux).
4. Enter the command: adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -f C:\backup.ab where C:\backup.ab is the path to the backup file.
5. On the phone, confirm the creation of a backup copy (think up a password if you need to encrypt data).

To recover data, use the command:

adb restore C:\backup.ab

⚠️ Attention: Backup through ADB It can weigh tens of gigabytes and take hours, and some applications (e.g. banking) block recovery through this method for security reasons.

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ADB Backup is the only way to save application data that is out of sync with the cloud, but it requires technical skills and does not guarantee 100% recovery.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even with the right reservation, users face problems, and here are the most common ones:

• 🔄 The backup doesn't recover from the reset, and the reason is you're logged in to another Mi or Google account, so you log in with the same login as when you created the copy.
• 📶 Mi Cloud is out of sync. It's because of weak Internet or regional restrictions. Solution: connect to Wi-Fi or use it. VPN (For example, ProtonVPN).
• 🔌 The computer can't see the phone with the local backup. MTP Or outdated drivers. Solution: Update Mi. PC Suite or install drivers manually.
• 🔒 ADB It gives you an error, "unable to open backup file," because you don't have enough rights or the path to the file is incorrect. Solution: run the command line on behalf of the administrator and check the path.

Another common problem is that the backup takes up too much space to shrink its size.

• Exclude large files (video, games) from reservation.
• Clear the app cache before the backup (Settings → Apps → Clear the cache).
• Use compression (for example, archive the backup folder in.zip).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions