How to transfer photos from Xiaomi to your computer: all the ways from USB to the cloud

Transferring photos from Xiaomi smartphone to computer seems like a simple task – until you encounter connection errors, lack of drivers or unexpected limitations of MIUI. Even experienced users sometimes lose hours to find a solution when the PC “can’t see” the phone or files refuse to copy. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways of transferring photos, including hidden nuances for different versions of MIUI and models (from Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 14).

Special attention will be paid to the typical problems: why a computer can not recognize a device as a drive, how to circumvent the restrictions MIUI And what if you can get photos that have disappeared after you copy them, and then you can compare the speed and convenience of each method, from the classic method. USB-cable to cloud services and wireless protocols.

1. Transfer of the photo through USB-cable: step-by-step instruction

The most reliable and fastest way is to connect your phone to your PC via cable, but even here, users are still facing pitfalls, from the lack of drivers to the wrong mode of connection, and we'll take it Step-by-step.

First, prepare your phone and computer:

• 🔌 Use the original Xiaomi cable (or a certified USB-type) C/Micro-USB). Cheap cables often don’t support data transfers.
• 🔄 On the phone go to Settings → About the phone and 7 times click on the version MIUI, activate the developer mode.
• 🖥️ On PC, install Mi drivers PC Suite (download from the official website) or ADB Driver for stable connection.

Now connect the phone to the computer:

1. Insert the cable into the USB 3.0 port on your PC for maximum speed.
2. On your phone screen, select File Transfer (MTP) mode in the Connection Notification.
3. On PC, open This computer – the phone should appear as a removable drive (e.g., Redmi Note 12 Pro).
4. Go to DCIM → Camera (or Pictures for screenshots) folder.

Phone screen unlocked|The regime is chosen MTP (Not "Only charging")|Cable connected to USB 3.0|On the PC installed drivers Mi PC Suite-->

The transfer speed depends on the USB version and the phone model:

⚠️ Warning: If your computer can’t see your phone, try restarting both devices, changing your cable or port. USB. On some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi) 9A) You need to additionally allow access to files in the Security settings → Application privileges → USB-installation.

2. Wireless transmission over Mi Cloud (Xiaomi cloud)

If you don't have a cable and you need to transfer a little photos, use Mi Cloud cloud storage, which is convenient for backup, but has limitations on volume (5 GB free) and download speed.

Instructions for setting:

1. On the phone, open Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Turn on the synchronization of the Gallery (if disabled).
3. Wait until the photo is uploaded to the cloud (progress is displayed in notifications).
4. On PC, go to the Mi Cloud website and log in.
5. Select the Gallery section, mark the desired photos and click Download.

Important: Mi Cloud automatically compresses photos when uploading if their size exceeds 16 MP. To maintain the original quality, before syncing, go to Cloud Settings → Download quality and select Original.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method:

• ✅ No cable required and works on any PC with internet access.
• ✅ Automatic backup (can be set to schedule).
• ❌ 5GB limit for free account (expands to 100GB for 99) ₽/month).
• ❌ The download speed depends on the Internet connection (on the 4G ~5-10 Mbit/s).

USB-cable|Mi Cloud|Bluetooth/Wi-Fi|Other Clouds (Google Drive, Yandex Disk)|I can't stand the photo.-->

3. Wi-Fi Transmission: Mi Drop and Local Area Network

For wireless transmission without cable and without cloud, you can use Mi Drop (a built-in Xiaomi app) or local network, which is faster than Bluetooth, but requires connecting your phone and PC to the same Wi-Fi network.

How to use Mi Drop:

1. On your phone, open the Mi Drop app (if not, download from Google Play).
2. Select Send → Photos and mark the desired files.
3. In the Whom section, select the computer.
4. On PC, open your browser and go to the address that will appear on your phone screen (e.g. http://192.168.1.100:8080).
5. Download files through the web interface.

The alternative is to use FTP-server-side FX File Explorer or Solid Explorer:

1. Install the app from Google Play.


2 In settings, enable FTP- server (usually under "Network").




3. Connect to the server from the PC via the Explorer (enter the address of the form ftp://192.168.1.100:2221).

⚠️ Attention: When you're on Wi-Fi, the speed depends on the router standard. 5 (802.11ac) speed — 30-50 Mbps, on Wi-Fi. 6 — before 100 Mbit/s. Disconnect other devices from the network to accelerate.

💡

If Mi Drop can't find your computer, check that your PC and phone are on IPv4 (in Wi-Fi settings).

4.Using Bluetooth and other wireless protocols

Bluetooth is the most versatile, but also the slowest way, suitable for transferring 1-2 photos when other methods are not available, speeds rarely exceed 1-2 Mbps, and files are often compressed.

How to transfer photos over Bluetooth:

1. On your phone, turn Bluetooth on in the notification panel.
2. On PC, activate Bluetooth (via Settings → Devices in Windows).
3. Connect devices (enter the same code on both screens).
4. In the phone gallery, select a photo → Share → Bluetooth and select a PC.
5. On the computer, confirm the file acceptance.

Alternative protocols:

• 📶 Wi-Fi Direct: faster than Bluetooth (up to 10 Mbps), but requires support on PC. → Wi-Fi → Wi-Fi Direct.
• 🔗 NFC: It only works for small files (up to 1 MB) and requires a module. NFC on PC (rareness).

Comparison of speed of wireless methods:

5. Transfer via third-party clouds: Google Photos, Yandex Disk

If Mi Cloud isn’t comfortable with volume or speed, use alternative cloud services. Google Photos and Yandex Disk offer more free space and convenient PC apps.

Instructions for Google Photos:

1. Install the Google Photos app on your phone.
2. Enable autoload photo in settings (backup and synchronization).
3. On PC, open photos.google.com and download the desired albums.

Comparison of cloud services:

• 📁 Google Photos: 15 GB free, automatic sorting by person / place, but photo compression over 16 MP.
• 📁 Yandex Disk: 10GB free, no compression, integration with Yandex Mail.
• 📁 Dropbox: 2GB free, but high sync speed.

6. Problem Solving: Phone is not connected, files are not copied

Even with the right settings, Xiaomi users often encounter errors, and let’s look at the most common ones and how to fix them.

Problem 1: The computer can’t see the phone in MTP mode.

• 🔧 Reinstall drivers through Device Manager (find the device with an exclamation mark) → Update the driver).
• 🔧 Turn on Debugging. USB In Settings → For developers.
• 🔧 Try another cable or port. USB (preferably USB 3.0).

Problem 2: Files are copied with errors or the transfer is interrupted.

• 🛠️ Format the memory card (if the photo is stored on it) FAT32 exFAT.
• 🛠️ Check your phone's file system for errors through Mi PC Suite.
• 🛠️ Copy files in small batches (by 50-100 photo).

Problem 3: Not all folders are displayed on the PC (for example, there is no DCIM).

• 🔍 Enable the display of hidden files in Windows Explorer (View) → Hidden elements).
• 🔍 On the phone in Mi File Manager, check if the folder is hidden (long press). → Properties).

💡

If neither method works, try Recovery mode: connect your phone to your PC in Fastboot mode (keep Volume Down + Power on when turned on) and use ADB pull to extract files.

7. Alternative methods: OTG, card reader, email

If the standard methods do not fit, consider non-obvious options:

1. OTG cartridge or adapter

• 📷 Remove the memory card from the phone and paste it into the card reader connected to the PC.
• 📷 If you have a photo on your internal memory, use it. OTG-adapter with a flash drive (copy files to a flash drive, then to a PC).

2. Email or messengers

• ✉️ Send a photo to your email (for example, Gmail allows you to attach up to 25 MB per email).
• 💬 In Telegram, upload a photo to Save Messages (limit 2 GB per file).

Synchronization programs

• 🖥️ AirDroid – Wi-Fi transmission with a convenient web interface.
• 🖥️ Pushbullet – Synchronize notifications and files between devices.

FAQ: Frequent questions about transferring photos from Xiaomi