How to transfer photos from Xiaomi to your computer or other phone: all working ways

Transfer photos from Xiaomi, Redmi or phones POCO On a computer or other gadget, it seems like a simple task — until you encounter connection errors, slow transmission speeds or operating system limitations. In this article, we will analyze 5 proven methods, including little-known chips. MIUI, They're going to speed things up by 2-3 times. USB-cable to cloud services with automatic backup - choose the method for your tasks.

We will pay special attention to driver problems (relevant to Windows). 7/10), circumvention MTP-And if you have to reset thousands of images at a time, there's a section at the end of this article about batch processing with Xiaomi Cloud and third-party utilities, and for Mac owners, they added a manual to set up Android File Transfer to bypass typical bugs.

Transfer through USB-cable: step-by-step instructions with error solutions

The most reliable way is to connect Xiaomi to your computer with a cable, but there are a lot of pitfalls. MIUI 12, the manufacturer has changed the logic of the work MTP-So, Windows may not see the phone as a storage device, but we'll look at the connection algorithm and how to get around the typical problems.

First, check the quality of the cable — cheap uncertified wires often do not support data transfer (charging only). The original Xiaomi cables are labeled as USB 2.0 Type-C or USB 3.1 and have a hologram on the package. If you use a charging cable, it probably will not work.

• 🔌 Connect the cable to your phone and computer. On the Xiaomi screen, a notification will appear “Charge through” USB» — tap him.
• 📱 Select File Transfer Mode (MTP). If this item is not available, go to Settings. → Connection and sharing → USB and turn on MTP manually.
• 💻 On your computer, open this computer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). The phone should appear as a removable disk (for example, Redmi Note 11).
• 📁 Go to the folder. DCIM → Camera (retains photos taken with the main camera) or Pictures (screenshots and uploaded images).

⚠️ Note: If the computer does not see the phone, even after the choice MTP, Try to turn off the debugging. USB In Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (Tap 7 times, then go back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers and disable debugging by USB). This solves the problem 60% of the time.

To speed up the transfer of large volumes (for example, 10+ GB photo) use archiving directly on your phone:

1. Install the file manager Mi File Manager (available in Google Play).
2. Select the folder with the photo, click More → Archive.
3. Transfer the resulting.zip to your computer – it will take 2-3 times less time than copying thousands of small files.

Use the original Xiaomi cable|Set the regimen on MTP phone-on|Disable debugging by USB (if it doesn't work)|Check the drivers on PC (for Windows)-->

2. Wireless transmission via Mi Drop (Wi-Fi Direct)

If you don't have a cable and you don't have much to offer, use the built-in Mi Drop (formerly called Mi Share), which is the equivalent of Apple's AirDrop, which runs over Wi-Fi Direct and doesn't require a router connection, with transfer speeds of 10-15 MB/s (versus 1-2 MB/s for Bluetooth).

Mi Drop is only available on phones with MIUI 10 and later. On older models (e.g. Redmi 4X or Mi A1) this feature is not available - use alternatives like Send Anywhere or Snapdrop. Also make sure that the receiving device (another phone or PC) has Mi Drop installed or file reception mode enabled.

• 📲 Open Mi Drop on the sender phone (the icon in the form of two phones with waves).
• 🔍 Click Send and select a photo from the gallery (you can note a few).
• 📡 Turn on Wi-Fi Direct and wait until the second phone or PC appears in the list of devices.
• 📥 On the receiving device, confirm receipt of files. Photos will be saved to the folder. Download/MiDrop.

⚠️ Note: When transferred to PC via the web version of Mi Drop files are automatically compressed to resolution 2048×1536 (even if the originals in 4K). To avoid loss of quality, use USB-cable.

Through USB-cable|By Wi-Fi (Mi Drop, AirDrop)|Through the Cloud (Google Photos, Mi Cloud)|Bluetooth|Another option-->

3. Cloud services: Xiaomi Cloud vs Google Photos

Cloud storage is convenient for automatic backup and access to photos from any device. Xiaomi has its own cloud, the Mi Cloud, but it has limitations: free is available only 5 GB, and downloading large volumes takes a long time. Alternatively, Google Photos, which offers 15 GB for free and knows how to recognize faces / places in pictures.

Compare the two services by key parameters:

• ☁️ Xiaomi Cloud:
• ☁️ Google Photo:

To upload a photo to Xiaomi Cloud:

1. Open the Settings. → Mi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Turn on Gallery Sync and select backup folders.
3. Click Download now (if you need to reset your photo immediately).
4. On PC, go to i.mi.com, log in and download files through the web interface.

For Google Photos, the algorithm is simpler:

1. Install the Google Photos app from the Play Market.
2. Log in to Google account and enable Backup and Sync.
3. On PC, open photos.google.com, highlight photos and click Download (maximum 500 files at a time).

💡

Google Photos automatically groups photos by event and creates collages/animations, but the originals take up high-quality space in the cloud.

4 Transfer to another phone (Android/iOS) without a computer

If you want to reset a photo to another smartphone, you don't have to use a computer. → Xiaomi is optimal Mi Drop (section 2), and for cross-platform transmission (for example, on iPhone or Samsung) will suit universal tools:

• 📱 Send Anywhere:
• 🌐 Snapdrop:
• 📤 Telegram:

You can also use AirDrop to transmit to your iPhone, but Xiaomi doesn't support this protocol directly.

1. On Xiaomi, upload your photos to Google Photos or Dropbox.
2. On your iPhone, open the same app and download the files.

⚠️ Note: When transmitting via messengers (WhatsApp, Viber) photos are compressed to resolution 1280×960 weight ~200 KB: To maintain quality, use Telegram (no compression mode) or cloud services.

5. Use of a memory card (microSD) to transfer photos

If your Xiaomi supports memory cards (such as the Redmi Note 10 Pro or the Redmi Note 10 Pro) POCO X3 Pro, you can upload a photo to a microSD and then paste it into a computer or other phone, and this is a technique that is relevant for devices with little or no internal memory. USB-cable.

Important points:

• 📷 By default, the photos are stored in internal memory to change the path:
• 🔄 MicroSD cards of exFAT format (capacity) >64 GB) may not be readable on older Windows 7 computers. In this case, format the card in the FAT32 (But consider the file size limit of 4GB).
• 🚫 Do not remove the card while recording the photo – this can cause damage to the file system.

Instructions for transfer:

1. Insert microSD into your phone.
2. Open the Gallery, highlight the photo, click More → Move → SD card.
3. Wait for the copy to be completed (the indicator in the status bar).
4. Remove the card and insert it into a computer or other phone.

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If the memory card is not detected on a PC, try plugging it in via a card reader (not directly into the phone slot). Also check the format: NTFS is not supported on Android, and FAT32 does not work with >4GB files.

6 Automation: How to set up autoload photos to the cloud

So, to avoid thinking about manually transferring photos, set up automatic upload to the cloud, which will save your photos even if your phone breaks or gets lost. MIUI has two options for autoloading: Mi Cloud and Google Photos. Let's take them both apart.

Set up autoboot in Xiaomi Cloud:

1. Go to Settings → Mi → Mi Cloud → Gallery
2. Turn on the gallery synchronization switch.
3. Click on Synchronization Settings and select:

Synchronize now

Set up autoload in Google Photos:

1. Install the Google Photos app and log in to your Google account.
2. Slip on the avatar in the upper right corner → Photo settings → Backup and synchronization.
3. Turn on the backup and select:

💡

Autouploading to the cloud not only saves time, but also protects photos from loss, for example, if you steal your phone or reset to factory settings, all the pictures will remain in the cloud.

7. Package processing: how to throw thousands of photos at a time

If you want to move a large archive of photos (for example, 50+ GB), standard methods like Mi Drop or Bluetooth will not work due to speed and volume limitations.

• 💻 USB-cable + archiving:
• ☁️ Cloud with client for PC:
• 🔧 ADB (for advanced users):

When you transfer more than 10,000 photos over USB, you may experience a “Not enough memory” error on your phone, which is due to a restriction on the F2FS file system used by Xiaomi, so you can split the transfer into batches of 2 to 3000 files or use archiving.

To speed up the process on the PC:

• Use TeraCopy (replaces standard copying in Windows and speeds it up by 20–40%).
• Disable the antivirus for the duration of the transfer – it can slow down the verification of each file.
• Connect your phone to the USB 3.0 port (blue) on your computer.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions