Owning a modern Xiaomi smartphone involves creating a huge amount of content, whether it is highly detailed shots from the main camera or screenshots of correspondence. Sooner or later, the internal storage is overflowing, and the user is faced with the question of transferring data to a more reliable medium, not only to free up space, but also to create backups of valuable memories that can be lost when accidentally resetting or breaking the gadget.
There are many methods of copying files, and the choice of the particular one depends on your priorities: speed, convenience or no wires. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the current ways of transferring images, including classic cable connection, wireless protocols and cloud services. You will learn to manage the Android file system as easily as folders on the Windows desktop.
Many users mistakenly believe that you need complex programs to work with files, but MIUI or HyperOS has built-in synchronization tools. We will look at both standard functions and specialized software from the manufacturer. Understanding the principles of the file manager will allow you to optimize the process and spend on the maintenance of the device minimum time.
Device preparation and cable selection
Before you start transferring data, you need to make sure that the physical connection is working properly. Often the problem is not the software settings, but the banal absence of drivers or damaged wire. Make sure you use the original USB Type-C cable that came with the kit, or a quality analogue with data transfer support, not just charging.
Connect your smartphone to your computer and pay attention to the lock screen. Android defaults to blocking file access for security purposes, so you'll need to confirm permission manually. If the computer makes a connection sound but the folders don't show, it's likely that Charge Only mode is activated.
To change the USB mode, follow the following steps:
- 📱 Swipe down from the top edge of the screen to open the notification curtain.
- 🔌 Find the notification “Charging through” USB» and press it.
- 💾 In the menu that appears, select File Transfer or Android Auto».
⚠️ Attention: If you are using USB-Hub or extension, try connecting the cable directly to the motherboard port (back of the system unit.
Once you select the right mode, a new device will appear on your computer screen, and in Windows Task Manager, it will appear as a removable disk. Now your Xiaomi file system is read and written, allowing you to copy large amounts of data at high speed.
Classic Method Through Windows Explorer
The most reliable and quick way to transfer thousands of photos is to use a standard operating system conductor, which requires no additional software installation and provides maximum transfer speeds limited only by the bandwidth of your cable and USB 3.0 ports.
Open "My Computer" or "This Computer." Search your Xiaomi phone in the list of devices. Double click will open the root directory of the internal drive, so it's important to not get confused in the system folders and find the ones where your pictures are stored.
The main directories with images are usually located in the following ways:
- 📷 DCIM/Camera — All photos and videos taken on the main camera are saved here.
- 📸 Pictures/Screenshots — screenshot.
- 📥 Download – here often get images from browsers and messengers.
- 💬 Tencent/MicroMsg/WeiXin — Hidden folders with pictures from WeChat (the path can vary).
Select the files you want, press Ctrl+C to copy, go to the folder on your PC hard drive and press Ctrl+V to paste. When copying large amounts of data (over 10 GB), the process can take time, but it is not recommended to interrupt it to avoid damaging the archives.
⚠️ Warning: Do not delete files from your phone until you have completed the integrity check of the copied data on your computer. Make sure that thumbnails are opened and the weight of the files is the same as the original.
☑️ Pre-copying check
Use of cloud services and synchronization
For those who prefer wireless solutions, cloud storage is the ideal option. Google Photos is the standard application on all Google-certified devices, providing unlimited (in compressed format) or limited space for the originals.
The sync setting is automatically set up after you log in to your account, and you just have to open the app, click on the profile avatar, and make sure that Autoboot and Sync is active, and then all the new images will be flown to the cloud without you noticing.
To access the photo on your computer:
- ☁️ Open your browser and go to photos.google.com.
- 🔑 Log in to the same Google account as on your phone.
- 💾 Select the desired pictures and press Shift+D for loading.
The alternative is Xiaomi Cloud, which is deeply integrated into the system, which is convenient for synchronizing settings and contacts, but the amount of free storage there is limited, and for large archives, it is better to use a bundle of Google Drive or OneDrive, which also have convenient PC clients.
Secrets of Google Photos
Wireless transmission over FTP and Wi-Fi
If you don’t have a cable on hand, but your computer and phone are on the same Wi-Fi network, you can use FTP. This is one of the most underrated but effective ways built into Xiaomi’s standard conductor.
Open the Explorer app on your smartphone. In the side menu or in the Remote section, select FTP Access or PC Access. Click Launch and an address like ftp://192.168.1.55:2121 appears on the screen.
Type this address into the address bar of any conductor window on your computer, and you can access all the folders of your phone instantly, and the speed depends on the quality of your router, and can reach 5-10 MB/s, which is quite acceptable for photo shoots.
⚠️ Warning: Make sure both devices are connected to the same LAN. If your router distributes two networks (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) with different subnets, the connection may not be established.
Specialized software: Mi PC Suite and analogues
For users who want to have full control of the device, including creating full backups of the system, there is a program Mi PC Suite. However, it is worth noting that official support for this utility for global versions of firmware is limited, and it works more often with Chinese versions of smartphones.
A more versatile and modern solution is to use OpenMTP or Android File Transfer (for macOS), which work more stable with the MTP protocol than the standard Windows driver. They avoid connection breaks when transferring files larger than 4 GB.
Comparison of data transmission methods:
| Method | Speed. | Convenience | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|
| USB Cable | High (up to 400 MB/s) | Medium (wire required) | Maximum |
| FTP (Wi-Fi) | Mean (5-10 MB/s) | High (no wires) | Tall. |
| The cloud (Google) | Depends on the Internet. | Maximum (auto) | Tall. |
| Bluetooth | Low (< 1 MB/s) | Low. | Medium |
Using third-party software is justified if you regularly work with gigabytes of data and the standard Windows Explorer periodically “falls off” or does not see the phone.
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To speed up the process of copying thousands of small photos, first archive them on your phone in one ZIP-file, pass the archive, and then unpack it on the PC, which will reduce the time of operation by many times.
Solving Connection Problems and Errors
A common problem is that the computer sees the phone only as a charger, 90 percent of the time it's done by replacing the cable, cheap wires from Chinese marketplaces often lack data lines, use a 5A or original cable out of the box.
If the drivers are not installed automatically, open Device Manager in Windows. Find a device with a yellow exclamation point, right-click and select Update Driver -> Auto Search. Enabling USB debugging mode in the Developer Menu can also help.
To access the Developer menu:
- ⚙️ Go to Settings. → The phone.
- 🔨 Click 7 times in a row on the line "Version" MIUI» or "Version" OS».
- 🔧 Go back, go back to the extra. → For developers and activate the item "Debugging by USB».
Sometimes, antivirus software on your computer can block new media devices from connecting, try temporarily disabling security software or adding your phone to exceptions, and check if the Media Storage cache on your smartphone is full by clearing it in your application settings.
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The most common cause of problems with the transfer of photos is faulty or poor quality USB-Replacing the wire solves the problem in most cases.