How to download photos from the phone Xiaomi: all the ways of 2026

Saving photos from Xiaomi, Redmi or phone POCO On a computer or other device seems like a simple task – until you encounter errors like «USB-Device not identified" or "folder DCIM empty. 2026 The problem has been complicated for the year: MIUI 14/15 It automatically hides some files and Android 13/14 This article will help you understand how to unload images without loss of quality, regardless of the model — whether it is the flagship Xiaomi. 14 Ultra or budget Redmi Note 12.

We tested all the current methods: from the classical connection to the USB Up to cloud services and hidden features MIUI. We have been focusing on common mistakes, such as why. MTB-Files (miniatures) replace originals or how to circumvent the transfer restriction RAW-If you just have to reset a few pictures or move the whole gallery at a time, here's the solution.

1. USB Connection: Why the Phone Is Not Seen as a Storage

The most obvious way to connect Xiaomi to your computer is by cable, often crashes because of MIUI settings. By default, the smartphone turns on Charging mode, not File Transfer. To fix this:

• 🔌 Connect your phone to your PC with the original cable (cheap analogues may not transmit data).
• 📱 Xiaomi will have a notification on the screen «USB To charge, tap it.
• 🔄 Select File Transfer (or File Manager on older versions) MIUI).
• 🖥️ Open This Computer – The Phone Should Show as a Removable Disc.

If the device is not recognized:

⚠️ Attention: On Windows 10/11 Check Device Manager (Portable Devices section). If there is an exclamation mark next to the Xiaomi name, update the driver manually through the site MIUI Downloads (select your phone model).

On the phones with MIUI 15 and Android 14 may need to unlock the screen to confirm access when you first connect to a new PC — even if you’re not connected to a new PC. USB-debugging off.

2. Transfer via Mi Cloud: Limitations and workarounds

Xiaomi’s Mi Cloud offers 5GB of free space, but it has nuances: for example, photos in original quality are stored only for 30 days, and then compressed.

1. Open i.mi.com and log in with the same account as you do on your phone.
2. Go to the Gallery section → Albums.
3. Select the photos you want (or click Select All).
4. Click Download - the files will be packed into ZIP-archive (maximum 2 GB at a time).

Important limitations:

• 🚫 RAW-Photos (with.dng extension) are not synced to Mi Cloud.
• 🔄 If the option “Storage Optimization” is enabled, the originals are replaced with compressed versions (.heic).
• ⏳ Downloading large archives may be interrupted – use IDM for renewable loading.

⚠️ Warning: If you delete photos from your phone, they will automatically disappear from the Mi Cloud after 60 days (even if you were in the Recycle Bin). To save them forever, transfer them to the album Favorites or download them to PC.

Enable Wi-Fi (mobile traffic is limited to 500MB/day)

Check the space available on PC (ZIP can weigh more than originals)

Disable VPN (Mi Cloud blocks access from certain regions)

Use a browser Chrome/Firefox (Safari may not display gallery correctly)-->

3.Google Photos: How to Download Originals, Not Compressed Copies

Google Photos is an alternative to Mi Cloud, but by default uploads photos in “high quality” (compressed to 16 MP).

1. Open the Google Photos app on your phone.
2. Slip on the avatar → Photo settings → Backup.
3. Choose Original Quality (requires payment of over 15 GB).
4. Wait for the sync to complete (check in the web version of photos.google.com).

For download:

• 🖥️ On PC, open photos.google.com.
• 📂 Select the photo → More (⋮) → Download.
• 📦 Files will be uploaded to ZIP-archive (maximum 2 GB or 500 photos at a time).

If you need to download the entire gallery:

1. Use Google Takeout (Google Photos section).
2. Choose the archive format (.zip or.tgz) and the maximum size (up to 50 GB).
3. The download link will be sent to email (valid for 7 days).

4. Wi-Fi transmission: no cables or clouds

If USB-The cable broke, and the cloud didn't fit, so you can transfer the photos over the local network:

Method 1: Integrated MIUI "Transfer Files" function

• 📱 On the phone, open Settings. → Connection and sharing → Pass the files.
• 🖥️ On the PC, go to the address. ftp://[IP-Phone address (will appear on the Xiaomi screen).
• 📂 Enter the login / password (by default - anonymous without password).
• 📤 Copy files from the Internal folder Storage/DCIM.

Method 2: Send Anywhere, LocalSend

If the built-in function does not work:

1. Install Send Anywhere on your phone and PC.
2. On the phone, select a photo → Send → Generate a key.
3. On the PC, enter a 6-digit code - the transfer will begin automatically.

Advantages: speeds up to 10MB/s (faster than USB 2.0), no file size restrictions, disadvantages: both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network.

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If Wi-Fi transmission is interrupted, turn off power saving mode on your phone: Settings → Battery → Performance mode. MIUI can pause background processes to save charge.

5. Hidden folders and RAW-Photo: Where to look for originals

MIUI automatically creates multiple folders with photos, and not all of them are visible through a standard Explorer:

To see hidden folders (such as with RAW):

1. Use the FX File Explorer file manager.
2. Enable the display of hidden files: Settings → Show hidden files.
3. Go to /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Camera.

On 200-camera phones.+ MP (e.g. Xiaomi 13 Ultra) RAW-files can weigh up to 120 MB each. USB 3.0 or cloud with support for large files (e.g. Google Drive).

6.Alternative methods: Bluetooth, Telegram and ADB

If the standard methods don’t work, try:

⚡ Quick transfer via Telegram

• 📱 Open the chat “Saved messages” in Telegram.
• 📎 Attach the photo as a file (not as an image – so there will be no compression).
• 🖥️ On PC, open web.telegram.org and download files.

🔌 Transfer through ADB (power-user)

If the phone is not recognized as a storage device, but USB-debugging is on:

adb pull /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/ C:\Xiaomi_Photos\

Where C:\Xiaomi_Photos\ — PC folder.

📲 Bluetooth (small files only)

• 🔵 Turn on Bluetooth on your phone and PC.
• 📱 In the gallery, select a photo. → Share. → Bluetooth.
• 🖥️ On the PC, confirm the file acceptance.

⚠️ Attention: Bluetooth compresses photos up to 1-2 MB and is limited to a speed of 1-2 MB / s. Suitable only for 1-2 shots.

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For the transfer of a large number of photos, the methods are priority: 1) USB 3.0 + MTP, 2) Wi-Fi via Send Anywhere, 3) Google Photos in original quality. Bluetooth and instant messengers are suitable only for single files.

FAQ: Frequent questions about downloading photos from Xiaomi