How to make a backup of Xiaomi on a flash drive: a step-by-step guide

Owning a modern smartphone means storing a huge amount of personal data, from thousands of photos to important work documents, and losing that information can be a real blow. Accidental device drop in water, theft or critical failure of the MIUI operating system can erase all the files accumulated over the years in seconds, which is why creating local copies of data on an external physical medium is the most reliable way of protection, regardless of the availability of the Internet or the state of cloud servers.

Use of the USB-Backup storage has a number of undeniable advantages over cloud storage, the main of which is complete control over privacy. Your photos and videos will not be scanned by corporate algorithms, and the speed of writing depends on the characteristics of the flash drive, not on the bandwidth of the provider’s channel. In this article, we will discuss in detail the process of connecting an external drive, setting up the HyperOS system or MIUI and direct backup creation.

Note that standard Xiaomi tools allow you to flexibly configure archiving options, selecting specific types of data to save. You can only copy system settings and application lists or create a complete (image) of all the contents of internal memory. To successfully complete the process, the amount of free memory on the flash drive must exceed the amount of data selected for copying by at least 10-15%. Let’s analyze all the stages of preparation and execution of the procedure in as much detail as possible.

Preparation of equipment and compatibility check

Before you start copying, you need to make sure that your hardware is technically ready for interaction. Not all Xiaomi smartphones support the OTG (On-The-Go) function at the hardware level, although in modern models of the mid- and flagship segments this option is present by default. Compatibility check will take only a couple of minutes, but will save you time and nerves in the process.

You will need a smartphone and USB-drive, which is desirable to pre-format in the file system FAT32 or exFAT for maximum compatibility with Android.If you use a large flash drive (over 32 GB) with a file system NTFS, The phone can only detect it in read mode, which will prevent you from writing backup. To connect the drive to a Type-C or Micro-USB connector, you will need an appropriate adapter or cable that supports data transfer.

⚠️ Note: Using cheap adapters without shielding can lead to unstable connection and interruption of the writing process, which is fraught with damage to the file system of the drive.

After physically connecting the flash drive to the smartphone, pay attention to the notification panel. The system should emit a characteristic connection sound and display the icon. USB-If you don't have a reaction, try re-inserting the connector, making sure it's reached the end of the plug, and in rare cases, you need to activate the debugging mode or grant permissions in the file access window that appears.

Setup of the file system and access

Proper preparation of the external drive file system is a critical step that users often ignore, then encountering write errors. Android, which is the basis of the MIUI shell, has restrictions on writing external media to system partitions without special permissions, especially in new versions of the OS. To avoid situations where the phone sees the USB drive, but can not write anything to it, follow the following steps:

Go to the Settings menu → The phone. → Version. MIUI and make sure that the system is updated to the current version, as in the old builds may be present bugs with external drives. → Advanced settings → USB-connection (path may vary slightly depending on the model) You must select the mode of operation USB, usually called «USB-drive" or "file transfer».

If you try to write, the system requests permission to access files on an external drive, be sure to click "Allow" or "OK." In some cases, you need to manually specify the root folder of the flash drive in the Explorer by clicking the "Use this folder" button and confirming the action. This action gives the application "Security" or "Google Play Services" the right to modify the data on the external medium.

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For maximum recording speed, use USB 3.0 and higher flash drives, as USB 2.0 bandwidth can become a bottleneck when copying large video files.

It's also worth checking the state of the drive itself for errors. While Android can fix small file system inconsistencies on its own, it's best to do it proactively on your computer. Run a drive check through Windows Command Prompt or standard macOS diagnostics, eliminating the risk that the backup process will be interrupted by 90% due to a broken sector.

Use of built-in backup tool

Xiaomi has a regular backup tool that's hidden in the back of the settings menu, but it's very powerful, and it saves not only media files, but also folder structure, system settings, call logs, and even some application data. To find this tool, go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Restore.

In the menu that opens, you'll see a few options for creating a copy: on the Mi Cloud, on the computer or on the external storage. We'll be interested in the last item, External storage. The system will request confirmation of access to files, then the data selection interface will open. Here you can configure in detail what will be saved: system settings, calls, SMS, notes, voice recorder, alarms, Wi-Fi passwords and installed applications.

The backup process can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours depending on the amount of data. While you are working, your smartphone screen may go out, but you should not interrupt the process or turn off the flash drive. Once you complete the root of your USB drive, a folder called MIUI/backup/AllBackup will appear, inside which will be an archive with the date and time of creation.

To improve data security, the built-in tool offers a password set to the archive. If you plan to store the flash drive as a long-term archive or transfer it to third parties, setting a password is a must. Without entering this code, it will be impossible to restore data from this copy even on another Xiaomi device.

Backup of Multimedia through the Explorer

If your goal is to save only photos, videos and documents, using a full-fledged system backup can be redundant, making it easier and faster to use a standard file manager, which is called Explorer in Xiaomi smartphones, which gives you complete manual control over which folders and files will be copied.

Open Explorer and go to the internal storage. You are interested in the main folders: DCIM (camera photos and videos), Pictures (screenshots and images from messengers), Download (downloads) and Music. Select the desired folders with a long tap, then click on the Copy or Move button in the bottom menu.

Next, in the guide side menu, select yours. USB-Create a new folder, for example, Xiaomi_Backup_2026, So you don't mix files with other data on the flash drive, open the folder you've created and click "Insert." The system will start the copying process, showing progress and time remaining.

Using the Explorer is especially handy for selective backup of heavy video files, which occupy the bulk of the smartphone’s memory.You can only copy archived videos from the past year, leaving current shooting on the phone, allowing you to flexibly manage the space.

Alternative methods and applications

Some data, such as Telegram, Viber or WhatsApp correspondence, have their own backup structure that the standard Xiaomi tool may not cover completely. For example, for WhatsApp it is better to use the built-in chat export feature or create a local copy through the settings of the messenger itself, and then transfer the WhatsApp or Android/media/com.whatsapp folder to the USB drive manually.

For advanced users, third-party applications such as Titanium Backup (requires Root Rights) or Swift Backup can be used, which allow you to create deeper copies of applications along with their data, cache and authorization tokens. However, for the average user who just wants to save photos and contacts, built-in MIUI tools are usually enough.

⚠️ Note: When you copy your Android folder on newer versions of Android (11 and above), access to some system subfolders may be limited. MIUI save data applications.

If you use cloud services in parallel with local copying, make sure that the sync is complete before you start working with the flash drive, which will prevent file version conflicts when the old version of the document that has already been changed in the cloud is written to the USB drive.