How to download photos from Xiaomi to your computer via USB: a detailed guide

Transfer photos from Xiaomi to your computer via USB-cable seems like a simple task – until you encounter errors like “Device not recognized” or no folder DCIM Even experienced users sometimes lose hours of finding a solution when the phone is stubbornly not defined as a drive. In this article, we will discuss all the working ways of transferring photos, including bypassing typical problems with the use of a computer. MTP-protocol, drivers and settings MIUI.

Feature of Xiaomi smartphones (including Redmi models, POCO Black Shark – Aggressive optimization of background energy consumption that can block USB-Not only will we show you the standard method through Windows Explorer, but we'll show you the alternatives: from use to use. ADB Mi Cloud services, and if you're faced with an error «USB-The device is not working correctly, at the end of the article there is a section with solutions.

1. Preparing Xiaomi phone for USB connection

Before you connect Xiaomi to a PC, you need to configure the smartphone itself, and many people miss this step, which causes Windows to not see the phone or display it as "Unidentified Device."

First, check the regimen. USB-Connection. Default. MIUI It can use Charging Only mode, which blocks data transmission, to change it:

1. Connect the phone to the computer.
2. Smash the notification bar down.
3. Tap on the Charge notification via USB (or USB for file transfer).
4. Select File Transfer (MTP).

If the MTP item is not on the list, the developer's settings have disabled USB access to enable it:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. 7 times tap the MIUI version to activate the developer mode.
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Activate the USB Debugging and Installation switch via USB.

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If the phone is not detected after connecting, try using the original phone. USB-Cheap cables often don't support data transmission, just charging.

2. Standard method: Transmission through Windows Explorer

The most obvious method is to connect Xiaomi to a PC and copy photos through Explorer, but there are nuances that can cause the process to freeze or interrupt.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phone to your computer with the original cable (preferably via a USB 3.0 port on your PC).
2. On your phone, select File Transfer (MTP) mode (see previous section).
3. Open this computer (My computer in Windows 7)
4. In the Devices and Disks section, your Xiaomi icon (e.g., Redmi Note 12) should appear.
5. Double-click on the device and go to the Internal storage → DCIM → Camera folder (there are photos taken by the camera).
6. Select the files you need and drag them to the folder on your computer.

If the DCIM folder is empty, check the other directories:

• 📁 Pictures – screenshots and uploaded images.
• 📁 Download – photos saved from messengers.
• 📁 MIUI → Camera – backup photos (on some models).

MTP mode | Cable supports data transfer | Xiaomi | DCIM folder is not hidden on PC

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3. Solving Connection Problems: Drivers and MTP

About 30% of Xiaomi users are experiencing a bug «USB-device is not identified” or «MTP-No device installed. It's because there's no driver or because there's a conflict with the protocol. MTP (Media Transfer Protocol).

Ways to fix:

Installation of official Xiaomi drivers

• 🔧 Download Mi. PC Suite (official software from Xiaomi).
• 🔧 Or install drivers manually through Device Manager:

Reset MTP-protocol

If the drivers are installed, but the phone is still not determined:

1. Disconnect Xiaomi from the PC.
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
3. Find a media storage (or media storage)
4. Slip the Warehouse → Clear the data and Clear the cache.
5. Reboot the phone and reconnect it.

4. Alternative ways to transfer photos without USB

If USB-The connection is down or the cable is damaged, and there are a few alternative methods, some of which are even faster than standard copying.

📱 Method 1: Wi-Fi transmission (FTP-server)

No additional programs are needed for this purpose – built-in MIUI functions are enough:

1. Open Explorer on your phone (File app).
2. Go to the photo folder, tap it. ⋮ → FTP.
3. Launch. FTP-server, write down the address of the view ftp://192.168.x.x:xxxx.
4. On your computer, open Explorer → This computer and paste the address in the address bar.
5. Copy files as if they were from a regular network drive.

☁️ Method 2: Cloud Mi Cloud

If photos are synced with Mi Cloud, they can be downloaded via the browser:

1. On your phone, check if sync is enabled: Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud → Gallery.
2. Go to i.mi.com and log in.
3. Choose Camera album or All photos.
4. Select the files and click Download.

🔄 Method 3: Applications for Transfer (Send Anywhere, Xender)

Utilities like Send Anywhere or Xender allow you to send files without cable over the local network or over the Internet. Transfer speeds vary depending on Wi-Fi, but are usually higher than Bluetooth.

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FTP and cloud services are convenient for regular synchronization, but USB remains the fastest way for large volumes (for example, 10+GB photos).

5. Use ADB to copy photos (for advanced ones)

If standard methods don’t work, you can extract photos through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires command line skills, but is guaranteed to work even if MTP crashes.

Instructions:

1. Install ADB and Fastboot Tools on PC.
2. Enable USB debugging on your phone (see section 1).
3. Connect Xiaomi to your PC and open Command Prompt (Win + R → cmd).
4. Enter the commands in order:

adb devices


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

Where:

• /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/ - The path to the photo on the phone.
• C:\Xiaomi_Photos\ — PC folder (create it in advance).

If you need to copy all photos from the gallery, use:

adb pull /sdcard/Pictures/ C:\Xiaomi_Photos\Pictures\

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To speed up the process, archive your photo directly on your phone with the command adb shell tar -czvf photos.tar.gz /sdcard/DCIM/, and then download the archive: adb pull /sdcard/photos.tar.gz.

6. Comparison of ways to transfer photos from Xiaomi to PC

The choice of method depends on the amount of data, the availability of the cable and the technical skills, and in the table below is a comparison by key parameters:

7. Frequent errors and their solutions

Even after you set up your connection correctly, you can still experience failures, and here are the most common errors and ways to fix them:

⚠️ Warning: If the phone starts charging when you connect, but is not defined as a drive, check the cable. Many non-original cables only support charging, but not data transfer. Try a cable from another device or check it for damage.

Mistake 1: «USB-Device not recognized (code 43 in Device Manager).

• 🔌 Turn off your phone, restart your PC and reconnect.
• 🔧 Remove Xiaomi drivers in Device Manager and install them again.
• 🔄 Try another one. USB-port (preferably) USB 2.0).

Error 2: The phone is connected, but the DCIM folder is empty.

• 📂 Check if files are hidden in the Explorer settings (View) → Hidden elements).
• 🔍 Use a file manager on your phone (such as Total Commander) to make sure the photo is actually there.
• 📱 Restart your phone - sometimes MIUI does not update the contents of folders for MTP.

⚠️ Note: On some Xiaomi models (e.g, POCO F3 or Redmi K40) post-refresh MIUI permit-reset USB. If everything worked before and now it doesn’t, reset the Warehouse settings and USB In Settings → Annexes → Application management → ⋮ → Reset permits.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions