How to copy photos on Xiaomi: full ways to transfer

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the need to migrate their accumulated image archives, which may be due to buying a new device, cleaning up internal memory, or simply wanting to back up important moments. Modern MIUI and HyperOS shells offer many built-in tools for this task, but not all users know how to use them correctly.

The copying process can vary depending on where you plan to send files to your computer, to the cloud storage, or to another phone, each method has its own advantages, for example, a wired connection guarantees maximum speed, while cloud services ensure that data is available from any device.

In this article, we will discuss all the current methods available at the moment, we will pay attention to the nuances of working with the Android file system and the features of the Mi Mover application, you will learn to avoid common errors that can lead to loss of image quality or damage to files.

Using the Mi Mover app for quick migration

The most effective tool for transferring data between Xiaomi smartphones is the Mi Mover app, which is pre-installed on most of the brand’s devices and allows you to transfer files over Wi-Fi Direct without using the Internet, ideal if you need to copy thousands of photos to a new phone.

To get started, you need to run the app on both devices. On the old smartphone, select the role "Sender" and on the new one, "Receiver." After scanning. QR-If you have code or manually connect to the network you've created, you'll have to choose the types of data you want to use.

⚠️ Warning: Do not turn off smartphone screens during the process of transferring large amounts of data, as some models can break the Wi-Fi connection to save energy.

The speed of transfer is directly dependent on the number of files and their total weight. The application automatically compresses some metadata to speed up, but the photos themselves remain in original quality. If the connection is interrupted, the process can be resumed from the stoppage, which is a big plus when working with gigabytes of information.

It’s worth noting that Mi Mover is also available for devices based on other operating systems, but the functionality may be limited. iOS will require a separate app from the App Store.

Copying photos to a computer through USB-cable

The classic method that does not lose relevance is the direct connection of the smartphone to the PC. USB-cable, preferably original, because cheap analogues often only support charging and do not transmit data. USB.

By default, the smartphone can go to Charge Only mode. You need to lower the notification curtain, click on the corresponding notification and select File Transfer or MTP. After that, a new device will appear in the computer conductor, inside which you need to find the DCIM folder, and then the Camera.

This is where all the pictures taken by the main camera are stored. You can just select the right files or entire folders, click the right mouse button and select Copy, and then paste them into the right directory on the computer's hard drive, which is a method that provides maximum speed and is independent of the quality of the Internet connection.

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If your computer can’t see your phone, try using another one. USB-port, preferably USB 3.0 (blue) and check if the driver is installed MTP in Windows Device Manager.

When working with a file system, it is important to understand the structure of folders. Screenshots are usually in the Screenshots folder, and photos from messengers are in Android/media. Be careful when deleting files from your phone after copying, so as not to lose the necessary data.

Synchronization with cloud storage

Cloud technology allows you to forget about wires and physical media. Xiaomi smartphones are integrated by default cloud Mi Cloud, but also popular Google Photos, Yandex.Disk and other services. To activate synchronization, just go to your account settings and enable autoload.

The main advantage of the cloud is data security, and even if your phone is lost or broken, your photos will remain safe, but you have to consider that free space is limited. For the Mi Cloud, it's 5GB, which is pretty low for a high-resolution photo archive.

When using Google Photos, you should pay attention to the download quality settings. High Quality mode allows you to save space by slightly compressing images, while Original mode ranks in your Google account quota. For most users, the difference is visually imperceptible.

It is important to remember traffic consumption. It is recommended to configure sync only over Wi-Fi, so as not to exhaust the limits of the mobile operator. In the settings of each cloud application, there is a corresponding switch that should be activated immediately after installation.

Transfer files via Bluetooth and Nearby Share

If you don't have a cable on hand and the Internet is unstable, short-distance wireless technologies come to the rescue. Standard Bluetooth is good for sending multiple shots, but its speed leaves much to be desired. For large albums, it's better to use the Nearby Share feature.

This technology, similar to Apple’s AirDrop, allows files to be transferred between Android devices at high speed, and both phones must have Bluetooth and geolocation enabled. In the gallery, select a photo, click Share, and select a device from the list of nearby ones.

• 🚀 Transfer speed is much higher than that of classic Bluetooth.
• 🔒 The connection is secure and requires confirmation on the receiving device.
• 📱 It works without Internet traffic consumption using only wireless communication modules.

Some users also use third-party file managers, such as Send Anywhere or XShare, which work on the principle of creating a local access point, one phone generates code, another reads it, and transfers it, which is convenient if you want to transfer a photo to a device of another brand, such as a Samsung or iPhone.

It should be borne in mind that when transferring via Bluetooth or third-party applications, file metadata (date of shooting, geolocation) may be stored incorrectly if the transmission format does not support the image. EXIF-In the case of Nearby Share, this is a rare problem.

Transfer through messengers and social networks

The fastest, but least-quality, way is to send it via instant messengers, and many users simply throw photos to their favorites on Telegram or WhatsApp, but by default, these apps compress images heavily, removing details and lowering resolution.

To maintain quality, Telegram needs to send files as File, not Photos. WhatsApp has an HD-quality send feature, but even that is inferior to the original, a method that is good for quickly transferring a couple of pictures, but is categorically not suitable for archiving important moments.

Telegram allows you to create a personal feed and upload photos without compression, which gives you unlimited cloud storage that you can use from any device, but the folder structure will be flat, and it will be more difficult to sort thousands of photos by date and event than in a gallery.

⚠️ Note: When sending via messengers, information about the shooting date is often lost (EXIF), because of what in the gallery of the new phone photos can be sorted incorrectly, mixed with current pictures.

For business correspondence or layouts, this is acceptable, but for family archives, it is better to use the methods described in the previous sections. Remember that social networks can use your photos to train algorithms if privacy settings are not configured.

Working with a memory card and OTG-adapter

Not all Xiaomi models support microSD card installation. If your smartphone is deprived of this slot, the use of microSD cards is a great solution. USB-flash drive OTG-This allows you to physically copy the data to an external medium, freeing up space on the phone.

Modern flash drives often have a dual interface: USB-A for a computer and USB-C for a smartphone, and if you plug it into a phone, you'll see it in the file manager as an external drive, and the copying process is similar to working with a PC: you copy it from internal memory and paste it onto a flash drive.

This is particularly useful for creating cold backups, so you can upload new photos to a flash drive once a month and put them away in a safe place, and it protects data from ransomware or accidentally resetting your phone to the factory.

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Using external drives with OTG is the only way to create a complete physical copy of data without depending on Internet service providers and cloud services.

When formatting a flash drive for use on your phone, choose an exFAT or FAT32 file system. NTFS format may not be readable by standard Android tools without obtaining root rights or installing special drivers. ExFAT file system is optimal for storing files larger than 4 GB, such as 4K video.

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