How to sync gallery with Google Photos on Xiaomi smartphones: the full guide 2026

Cloud storage has become an integral part of the modern user’s life. Xiaomi smartphones offer their own cloud solution, Mi Cloud, but many prefer Google Photos for its cross-platform, powerful image search and free 15 GB of storage. However, synchronizing the gallery with Google Photos on Xiaomi devices often raises questions: why photos do not load automatically? How to avoid duplicate images? And can you save traffic when backing up?

In this article, we’ll look at all the nuances of synchronization settings, from basic activation to solving common bugs, how to make Xiaomi and Google Photos work together, even if you have a Redmi Note 12 on MIUI 14 or Xiaomi’s flagship 14 Ultra with custom firmware, and how to optimize the process so as not to waste extra gigabytes of mobile Internet.

Syncing photos between a smartphone and the cloud is not just a backup, it's a way to free up the memory of a device, share snapshots quickly, and never lose important shots. But on Xiaomi, this process has its own peculiarities because of the proprietary MIUI shell, which sometimes blocks the background activity of applications. Let's figure out how to set things up correctly the first time.

1. Preparation of Xiaomi smartphone for synchronization

Before you set up Google Photos, make sure your smartphone is ready to work with cloud services. Xiaomi devices often include energy-saving features that can interrupt photo loading in the background.

First thing you do is check:

• 🔋 Battery charge – at a level below 15%, the system can suspend background processes.
• 📶 Connect to the network – Wi-Fi is best for the first sync, especially if you have thousands of photos.
• 🔄 Updates to the software in the old versions MIUI (Below 12.5) there may be bugs with Google Photos.

Pay special attention to battery settings. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Management of battery consumption by apps and find Google Photos in the list. Set No Limits mode – this will prevent sync from stopping when you lock the screen.

⚠️ Note: On some Xiaomi models (e.g, POCO X5 Pro after updating to MIUI 14 resets app permissions. Check if Google Photos have been disabled from the storage!

We also recommend clearing the Gallery and Google Photos app cache through Settings → Apps → App Management. This will help avoid conflicts when you first sync.

2. Step-by-step setting up Google Photos on Xiaomi

Now, to the main thing, set up automatic boot. Follow the instructions carefully to avoid typical errors:

1. Install or update the App Download Google Photos from Google Play (if not), or upgrade to the latest version. Some Xiaomi firmware preinstalled an outdated version that may not support new features like Magic Eraser.
2. Log in to your Google account Open the app and log in to the same account you use on other devices. If you have multiple profiles, select the primary one - Later you can switch between them.
3. Activate backup Click on the profile avatar in the upper right corner → Photo settings → Backup and sync. Switch the slider to the On position..
4. Set up the download options here you can choose: 📸 Download quality: Original (without compression, takes up space in Google Drive) or High quality (free compression up to 16 MP for photos). 📶 Download method: Wi-Fi only or also over mobile network (risky with limited traffic!). 📁 Backup folders: All photo folders are selected by default, but you can exclude, for example, screenshots or downloads from messengers.

On Xiaomi devices with MIUI Global firmware, backups can automatically turn off after rebooting due to the energy saving policy. To avoid this, add Google Photos to the list of “Secure Apps” through Settings → Apps → Special Rights.

Wi-Fi enabled or mobile internet enabled |Google account authorized in app | Backup activated in settings |Google Photo added to battery exceptions | The correct folders to download-->

3. Solving synchronization problems

Even after you set up Google Photos correctly, you may not be able to upload photos, and here are the most common problems and solutions:

If the photos never appear in the cloud, try Forced Sync:

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Pull the screen down to update the library.
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner → Backup now.

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi) 10C) After resetting to factory Google Photos may require re-authorization, even if the Google account is already added to the system. → Accounts and synchronization.

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If sync is too slow, try temporarily disabling VPNs or proxy servers, as some Google servers may block suspicious connections.

4.Sync optimization: how to save traffic and battery

Automatically uploading photos to the cloud can quickly consume mobile traffic and battery power, and this is how to make it more economical:

1. Limit downloads over the mobile network

• 📵 Open the Settings. → Mobile network → Use of data.
• Find Google Photos in the list and turn off the background data.
• 🔄 In the Google Photos app itself, select Download only over Wi-Fi.

2. Set up a synchronization schedule

On devices with MIUI 13/14, you can schedule a nighttime download:

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Sleep Mode.
2. Add Google Photos to the list of exceptions.
3. Set a sleep schedule from 23:00 to 7:00 – at this time, the download will go only over Wi-Fi.

3. Reduce the size of the downloaded files

If you don’t need original quality, select High Quality in Google Photos settings, which saves up to 80% of the cloud space without a noticeable loss of quality for most images.

5. Alternative synchronization methods

If the standard method is not suitable (for example, due to corporate restrictions or an unstable Internet), consider alternative options:

1. Manual download via web version

You can upload photos via your browser at photos.google.com, which is useful if:

• 🖥️ You have slow mobile internet but have access to PC.
• 📂 You only need to download specific folders, not everything.
• 🔒 Google’s mobile apps are blocked at work.

2.Use of Mi Cloud with subsequent export

If you already have sync with Mi Cloud, you can:

1. Download the photo archive from i.mi.com.
2. Upload it to Google Photos via the web version.

The disadvantage of this method is double loading and possible loss of metadata (dates, geotags).

3 Automation via Tasker or MacroDroid

For advanced users, you can set up automatic uploads to Google Photos when you connect to a specific Wi-Fi network or at a specific time of day. For example, in MacroDroid, create a rule:

Trigger: Connecting to Wi-Fi "Home Network"


Action: Launch the Google Photos app → Forced synchronization




Limitation: Only if the battery charge is > 30%

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For maximum reliability, use a combination of automatic synchronization over Wi-Fi + manual check once a week via the web version.

6. Security and confidentiality

Uploading photos to the cloud always raises security questions, and this is what Xiaomi users need to know:

1. What does Google do with your photos?

By default, Google Photos analyzes images for features like object search or Magic Eraser, but doesn’t use them for targeted advertising. You can turn off the analysis in Google account privacy settings.

2. How to protect personal photos?

• 🔒 Create a Closed Album in Google Photos (available in the library settings).

3. How to delete a photo from the cloud, but leave it on your phone?

Open Google Photos, select photos → Delete from the cloud (don’t Delete everywhere!) On Xiaomi, photos deleted from the cloud will remain in the DCIM/Camera folder if you haven’t cleaned the shopping cart in the gallery.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI China (CN-version) may not be available on Google Play, and therefore the official Google Photos app. APK manually or use alternatives like Sync for Reddit (for tech-savvy users).

7. Synchronization on different Xiaomi models: features

The process of setting up Google Photos is slightly different depending on the model and version of MIUI. Here are the key nuances:

On flagship models (Xiaomi 14 Ultra, MIX Fold 3), dual backup is available, which allows you to upload photos to both Mi Cloud and Google Photos at the same time. However, this can lead to duplication, so you better choose one service.

For devices with MIUI in China (without Google services), the only reliable way is to manually download via a browser or use a VPN to access Google Photos.

FAQ: Frequent questions about synchronization