How to download data from one phone to another Xiaomi: all ways 2026

The transition to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, but data porting often becomes a headache. Photos, contacts, messages and apps accumulate over the years, and losing them due to the wrong action is scary. Especially difficult for those who have previously used devices of other brands - the MIUI interface has its nuances.

In this article, we’ll look at all the current ways Xiaomi phones communicate (including Redmi, POCO, and Black Shark models), compare them in speed, reliability, and convenience. From classic cable to cloud services, choose your method for your tasks. And if you need to migrate data from your iPhone to Xiaomi, there’s a separate section with life hacks at the end of this article.

Let me warn you right away: not all methods are equally good for large volumes, for example, Bluetooth is suitable for 10-20 photos, but it will be an agonizing experience when transferring 50 GB of video, but Mi Mover (the built-in Xiaomi application) will cope with this task in 15-20 minutes, provided that you have correctly prepared both devices.

1.Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s official migration tool

The Mi Mover app was developed specifically for Xiaomi owners to make it easier to switch to a new smartphone, pre-installed on all devices with MIUI 9 and later (including Redmi Note 12, Xiaomi 13T, POCO F5, etc.).

• 📞 Contacts (including call history)
• 💬 Communications (SMS and chats from Mi Messages)
• 📷 Photo/video (with the preservation of folder structure)
• 🎵 Music and recordings
• ⚙️ System settings (wallpaper, sounds, Wi-Fi passwords)

The disadvantage of the method is that the installed applications are not transferred (only their data, if the application is already installed on the new phone), and Mi Mover does not work between devices of different brands (for example, from Samsung to Xiaomi).

How to use:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset → Data Transfer (Mi Mover).
2. On the new phone, select the same menu item.
3. Scanner. QR-Scan the code from the old device (or connect via Hotspot).
4. Select the data types to be transferred and confirm the start of the process.

⚠️ Warning: If the new phone already has data, Mi Mover will prompt you to erase it before transferring it!

Charge of both phones ≥ 50% |Disable VPN and firewalls |Connect to one Wi-Fi network |Free ≥ 1 GB of storage on a new phone-->

2. OTG cable transmission: fast and without internet

If you have an OTG-enabled USB-C cable (or USB-A → USB-C adapter for older models), this is the fastest method, with transfer speeds of 40-60MB/s — 5-10 times faster than Wi-Fi.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your old phone to your new one OTG-The new device will display a notification on the screen "USB-plug-in".
2. Click on the notification and select File Transfer (or File Manager).
3. In the file manager of the new phone, open the Internal Storage folder (the internal memory of the old phone).
4. Copy the necessary files into the memory of the new device.

Advantages of the method:

• 🚀 Maximum speed (ideal for video in the video) 4K or large archives)
• 🔒 Security – data is not transmitted via the Internet
• 📴 It works on all Android devices (not just Xiaomi)

⚠️ Attention: Not all OTG-The cables support data transmission. Cheap charging cables (without a chip) can only supply power!

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If the phone doesn't recognize. OTG-cable, try to turn on the developer mode and activate the option "Debugging by" USB" customized.

3. Wireless transmission via Wi-Fi Direct or Hotspot

If you don't have a cable on hand and you need to move the data quickly, Wi-Fi Direct or hotspot mode will help, which is slower than OTG (speed ~5-15 MB/s), but does not require additional accessories.

Method 1: via Wi-Fi Direct (for Xiaomi with MIUI 12+):

1. On both phones, open Settings → Connection and Sharing → Wi-Fi Direct.
2. Activate your device search and connect to another phone.
3. In the file manager (Xiaomi Files), select files, click “Send” and select the connected device.

Method 2: Hotspot+ Local Area Network (on all Android):

1. On your old phone, turn on Modem Modem → Wi-Fi Access Point.
2. Connect your new phone to this network.
3. Install Feem or Send Anywhere on both devices and follow the instructions.

Comparison of speed of wireless methods:

4.Cloud Services: Google Drive, Mi Cloud and Alternatives

If you need to move data quickly or reserve it for the future, cloud storage will be a reliable solution. Xiaomi offers its own service - Mi Cloud (5 GB for free), but for large volumes it is better to use Google Drive (15 GB for free) or Yandex Drive (10 GB).

How to transfer data via Google Drive:

1. On your old phone, open the Google Drive app and click “+” → Download.
2. Select files (photos, videos, documents) and wait for the download to be completed.
3. On the new phone, log in to the same Google account and download files.

The advantages of cloud services:

• ☁️ Access from any device (even PC)
• 🔄 Automatic backup (configured in Settings) → Accounts. → Backup)
• 📱 Synchronize contacts and calendar through Google account

Disadvantages:

• ⏳ Long loading with slow internet
• 💰 Restriction of free space (for 50)+ GB will have to buy the tariff)
• 🔒 Privacy – files are stored on the company’s servers

5. Postponement of contacts and messages: separate instructions

Contacts and SMS are often lost when switching to a new phone unless you use specialized tools. There are two reliable ways for Xiaomi to do this:

Method 1: Through a Google account (the easiest one):

1. On your old phone, open Contacts → Settings → Import / Export → Export to.vcf.
2. Save the file to a memory card or to the cloud.
3. On a new phone, import the file through the same path.

Method 2: Through the Mi Messages app (SMS only):

1. Open Messages → Settings → Backup and Restore.
2. Backup your old phone (the file will be saved in the MIUI/Backup/AllBackup folder).
3. Transfer the file to a new phone and restore the messages.

⚠️ Note: If you have used duality SIM-Maps on old Xiaomi, contacts could be saved separately for each card!

6.Switching data from iPhone to Xiaomi: workarounds

The transition from iPhone to Xiaomi is complicated by the closedness of the Apple ecosystem, with standard methods like Mi Mover not working here, but there are workarounds:

Method 1: Move to iOS (from Apple)

• 📱 Install Move to iOS on iPhone and follow the instructions.
• 🔗 On Xiaomi, when you first set up, select Data Transfer from iOS".
• ⚠️ Only contacts, photos, videos and bookmarks will be transferred (apps - no).

Method 2: Using iTunes + Cloud

1. Connect your iPhone to your PC and back up to iTunes.
2. Use iMazing or AnyTrans to export data to readable format.
3. Upload files to Google Drive and download them to Xiaomi.

Method 3: For photo and video

• 📷 Enable sync with Google Photos on iPhone.
• 📲 On Xiaomi, log in to the same Google account and download media files.

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To transfer music from iPhone to Xiaomi, the easiest way is to use Apple Music (if you have a subscription) or manually copy tracks via iTunes to your PC and then transfer them to your smartphone.

7. Frequent mistakes and how to avoid them

Even when following instructions, users face problems, and here are some of the most common solutions.

Problem 1: Mi Mover doesn't see the second phone.

• 🔄 Reboot both devices.
• 📶 Make sure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled.
• 🔧 In the developer settings (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI — Tap it 7 times) turn on "Debugging by USB".

Problem 2: Files are not copied through OTG.

• 🔌 Try another cable (possibly current only for charging).
• 📱 On the old phone in the notification USB Select "File Transfer" instead of "Charging".
• 🔄 Reboot both devices.

Problem 3: There is not enough space on the new phone.

• 🗑️ Delete unnecessary files through Settings → Warehouse → Cleanup.
• 💾 Move some of the data to a memory card (if supported).
• ☁️ Upload temporarily unnecessary files to the cloud.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions