How to throw a photo from the Xiaomi phone to your computer: step-by-step instructions for kettles

Have you just come back from vacation, taken hundreds of cool photos on your Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 Pro, and now you want to transfer them to your computer? Or just need to free up your memory on your smartphone by transferring old photos to your hard drive? Don't worry, it's easier than it seems! Even if you've never connected your phone to a PC before, our instructions will help you figure out the process in 5-10 minutes.

In this article, we will look at all the current ways to transfer photos from Xiaomi to your computer: from the classic connection to the computer. USB-And each method is detailed with respect to common novice errors, such as, did you know that some Xiaomi models need to manually enable file transfer mode when connecting to a PC? Or that a standard cable from a kit might not be suitable for fast data transfer!

And you'll also learn how to avoid common problems: why the computer can't see the phone, how to speed up the transfer of hundreds of photos at a time, and what way to choose if you have slow Internet. At the end of this article, we'll show you a comparative table of all methods in terms of speed, convenience and hardware requirements. Ready? Then let's get started!

1. Method. №1: Transfer of the photo through USB-cable (most reliable)

It’s a classic and most versatile method that works on all Xiaomi models, from the budget Redmi to the flagship Xiaomi 14.You’ll only need an original (or quality third-party) USB cable and a computer with a USB-A or USB-C port.

Here's the step-by-step instruction:

• 🔌 Connect your phone to your computer with a cable. Use the port. USB 3.0 (usually blue) for maximum transmission speed.
• 📱 On the phone screen will appear a notification "Charging through" USB". Put it on him.
• 🔄 From the menu, select File Transfer Mode (or File Manager on older versions). MIUI).
• 🖥️ The computer will open a conductor window with the phone's folders. Go to Internal Storage. → DCIM → Camera (or Pictures if the photo is saved in the gallery).
• 📂 Copy the photos you need to your computer (just drag them to any folder on your hard drive).

If your computer can’t see your phone, check:

• 🔍 Cable: Try another (cheap cables often only support charging).
• 🔄 Connection mode: sometimes MIUI Resets settings to "Only charging".
• 🖥️ Drivers: Windows may require Mi installation PC Suite (download from the official website of Xiaomi).

The cable supports data transfer (not just charging)

On the phone selected mode "File transfer"

On the PC installed drivers for Xiaomi (or Mi PC Suite)

USB port on your computer is good (try another one)

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⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi) 9A or POCO M3) When you first connect to the PC, a request for debugging permission appears USB. Don't be alarmed, it's a standard security measure. Press "Allow" but don't turn on debugging unless you plan to use it. ADB.

The transfer speed depends on the USB version:

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If the transfer is too slow, try archiving photos in ZIP directly on your phone (use the Files app from Google or ZArchiver), and then copy the archive to your PC.

2. Method. №2 Wireless transmission via Mi Drop (without cables!)

If you don’t have a cable on hand or don’t like wires, use Mi Drop (formerly Mi Share) – a proprietary app that is pre-installed on all Xiaomi phones and allows you to transfer files over Wi-Fi directly to your computer.

How it works:

• 📱 Open the Mi Drop app on your phone (Blue Drop icon).
• 🖥️ On your computer, open your browser and go to drop.mi.com.
• 🔗 Scan it. QR-code from the PC screen using your phone (or enter a 6-digit code manually).
• 📁 Select a photo to transfer and click "Send".

Pros of the method:

• ✅ No need for cables.
• ✅ It works even if it does. USB-port on the phone is broken.
• ✅ Up to 20 MB/s (depending on Wi-Fi router).

Cons:

• ❌ Requires a phone and PC to connect to the same Wi-Fi network.
• ❌ On some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi 7), Mi Drop may not support PC transmissions – only to other phones.

Po Po Po USB-cable|Through Mi Drop (Wi-Fi)|Cloud services (Google Photos, Mi Cloud)|Other methods-->

⚠️ If you are sending photos through Mi Drop by 99%, try to turn off the photo. VPN Also check if the antivirus is blocking the transmission (for example, Avast or Kaspersky).

3. Method. №3: Cloud services (Google Photos, Mi Cloud, Yandex Drive)

Cloud storage is ideal if you need to regularly sync photos between your phone and your computer, and the main advantage is that files are accessible from any device and you can not lose them when your phone breaks.

Let’s look at three popular services:

Instructions for Google Photos (recommended!):

1. Install the Google Photos app from the Play Market.
2. Open it and log in to your Google account.
3. In the settings, turn on "Backup and Synchronization".
4. Choose the quality "Original" (if space allows) or "High" (free but compressed).
5. Wait for the photo to be uploaded to the cloud (you can monitor the progress in notifications).
6. On your computer, open photos.google.com and download the photo.

Mi Cloud (branded cloud Xiaomi):

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery.
• 🔄 Turn on sync and wait for the loading.
• 🖥️ On PC, open i.mi.com, log in to your account and download photos.

4. Method. №4: Bluetooth Transfer (slowly but without internet)

Bluetooth isn’t the fastest way, but it’s a great way to do it if you don’t have cable, Wi-Fi, or mobile internet, and it’s good for sending multiple photos (not hundreds!).

Instructions:

1. 📱 On your phone, turn on Bluetooth in the Quick Settings Panel.
2. 🖥️ On your computer, turn on Bluetooth (in Windows: Start). → Parameters → Devices → Bluetooth).
3. 🔗 Connect devices (on your phone, select your computer from the list of found devices and confirm the code).
4. 📁 In the gallery of the phone, select a photo → "Share" → Bluetooth → Choose a computer.
5. 📥 On the PC, confirm the file acceptance.

Transfer speeds: ~1–2MB/s (very slow for large files!). Bluetooth 5.0 on new Xiaomi models (e.g. Xiaomi 13 Lite) can give up to 5MB/s, but it’s still 10 times slower than USB 3.0.

⚠️ Attention: On Windows 10/11 Sometimes you get a file error when you're transferring over Bluetooth, so you can either update your Bluetooth drivers through Device Manager or use third-party programs like Bluetooth File Transfer.

5. Method. №5: Through email or instant messengers (for 10-20 photos)

If you only need to upload a few pictures, the easiest way to send them is to send them to your own mail or messenger (Telegram, WhatsApp), which is inconvenient for a large number of photos, but does not require any settings.

Mail (Gmail, Mail.ru):

• 📧 Open the mail app on your phone.
• 📎 Write a letter to yourself, attach a photo (maximum 25 MB per letter to Gmail).
• 📥 Open your email and download the attachments.

Telegram:

• 📱 Open the "Saved Messages" chat).
• 📎 Send a photo (up to 2 GB per file!).
• 🖥️ On PC, open web.telegram.org and download files.

Limitations:

• 🚫 In messengers, photos are often compressed (except for Telegram in the File mode").
• 🚫 Gmail limits email size to 25MB (for large files, use Google Drive).

6. Comparison of all methods: which one to choose?

To make it easier for you to determine, we have compiled a comparative table with all the pros and cons of each method:

Our advice:

• 📸 Use hundreds of photos for this. USB-cable or Google Photo.
• 🌐 If there is no cable, Mi Drop or cloud.
• 🚑 In case of emergency, Bluetooth or Telegram.

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For maximum transmission speed, use USB-cable USB 3.0+ And plug it into the blue port on your computer, which is 10 to 20 times faster than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth!

7. Frequent errors and how to fix them

Even the simplest instructions sometimes have problems.-5 Errors in transferring photos from Xiaomi to PC and their solutions:

• 🔌 The computer can't see the phone. USB: Try another cable (original of the kit). Turn on the phone settings → Additionally. → Developer mode → Debugging by USB (Only if you need debugging!! Update your drivers on your PC via Mi PC Suite.
• 📶 Mi Drop doesn't connect: Make sure your phone and PC are on the same Wi-Fi network. VPN Re-start the Mi Drop app on your phone.
• ☁️ Google Photos won't upload photos: Check if there's enough space in your Google account (15GB for everything); Turn off the traffic savings in your phone settings. Convert photos from your phone. HEIC into JPG (in the gallery: highlight the photo → "More" → "convert").
• 🔵 Bluetooth breaks the connection: Make sure the distance between the devices is no more than 10 meters. Remove old paired devices in the Bluetooth settings. Disable other Bluetooth devices (earphones, keyboard).
• 📁 Can't see the file. DCIM: Check if the folder is hidden (turn on the hidden files on the PC) and the photos may have been saved to another folder (for example, Pictures/Screenshots). Use the file manager on your phone (like Google Files) to find photos.

If nothing helps, try alternative methods:

• 📱 Put it on the phone. FX File Explorer or Solid Explorer – lets you create a new FTP-server and download photos on the local network.
• 🖥️ Use programs like AirDroid or Pushbullet for wireless transmission.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions