How to transfer all data from your old phone to your new Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Why migrating data to Xiaomi requires a special approach

The transition to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting: fresh design, powerful hardware and the manufacturer’s promises of a seamless experience. But reality often makes adjustments: old contacts are lost, photos are not synchronized, and app settings are reset. Unlike the iPhone, where the Apple ecosystem takes the lion’s share of the work, Android devices — especially from Xiaomi — require a more careful approach due to the features of MIUI firmware.

Main problem: Xiaomi actively uses its own cloud services (Mi Cloud), which are not always compatible with universal solutions from Google. For example, backup messages in SMS Backup & Restore may not recover due to the limitations of MIUI 14+, and transferring applications through ADB requires unlocking the bootloader. This article will help avoid typical errors and choose the best method depending on the model of your old phone and the version of MIUI on the new Xiaomi.

We tested all the methods on devices from Redmi Note 12 Pro to Xiaomi 14 Ultra and highlighted the key nuances: where Mi Mover works faster than Google Drive, how to get around the restriction on transferring system applications, and why data transmission over cable is always more reliable than Wi-Fi for files larger than 10 GB.

Preparation for transfer: what to do on an old phone

Before you rush to search for cables or download applications, follow 3 critical steps on your old device, ignoring them can cause data loss or transmission failures:

• 🔋 Charge both phones to at least 50%.Transfer data over Wi-Fi or cable is actively consuming battery (33W+) The process may be interrupted by overheating if the charge level falls below 20%.
• 📶 Turn it off. VPN Services like NordVPN or NetGuard block connection between devices, which leads to the Mi Mover "Unconnected" error.
• 🗃️ Clear the cache of system applications. Go to Settings → Annexes → Application management → Three dots (menu) → Reset application settings. This will eliminate conflicts when migrating accounts.

Pay special attention to storage. If your old phone has less than 1 GB of free space, backing up through Google Drive or Mi Cloud can end in an error. Check the amount of space you take up in Settings → Storage and if necessary:

• 📸 Move your photos to the cloud (Google Photos or Mi Cloud) or to PC.
• 🎵 Remove downloaded tracks from Spotify/Yandex Music (they occupy up to) 500 MB on 100 song).
• 📱 Clear the cache of messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp), where it accumulates to 2-3 GB of garbage.

⚠️ Warning: If your old phone runs Android 8.0 or older, upgrade to at least Android 9.0 before porting. Devices on Oreo and below do not support modern Xiaomi data protocols, which will cause the Mi Mover to permanently shut down.

Method 1: Mi Mover – the official solution from Xiaomi

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary data migration tool pre-installed on all devices with MIUI 9 and up. It supports porting:

• 📞 Contacts, messages (SMS/MMS) and call logs
• 📷 Photos, video and audio files
• 📱 Applications (including some of them, such as WhatsApp)
• 🔧 System settings (wallpaper, sound circuits, brightness)

However, there are limitations:

Step-by-step:

1. On the new Xiaomi, when you first turn on, select Data Transfer (if the phone is already configured, find Mi Mover in Settings → About Phone → Data Transfer).
2. On an old phone, download Mi Mover from Google Play (if it’s not there) and open the app.
3. Select “I am the sender” on the old phone and “I am the receiver” on the new one.
4. Connect via Wi-Fi Direct (automatically) or hotspot (if Wi-Fi is not working).
5. Select the data to transfer and confirm the start of the process.

⚠️ Warning: If the Mi Mover is stuck in the Preparation phase, check if the old phone is power-saving. Turn it off in Settings → Battery → Energy saving regime.

Charge both phones >50%|Shut down. VPN firewalls|Clear the cache of system applications|Connect to a single Wi-Fi network (if you use an access point)|Select only the necessary data (do not transfer everything in a row)-->

Method 2: Google Account – a universal method for Android

If Mi Mover doesn’t work or you’re switching from a phone of another brand (such as Samsung or Huawei), syncing through a Google Account will be a salvation.

• 📇 Contacts (from the Google Contacts app)
• 📅 Calendars and reminders
• 📧 Emails from Gmail and Email Settings
• 📱 Some system settings (language, date/time)
• 🎮 Progress in games (if the games support Google Play Games)

How to set up synchronization:

1. On your old phone, go to Settings → Accounts → Google → Account Sync.
2. Enable synchronization for all categories (especially Contacts and Calendar).
3. On the new Xiaomi, log in to the same Google Account when you first enable it.
4. Wait for automatic synchronization (it can take up to 15 minutes).

To transfer photos and videos, use Google Photos:

1. Install Google Photos on your old phone.
2. Enable "Backup and Synchronization" in the application settings.
3. Wait for the download to complete (check in Photo → Library → Devices).
4. On the new Xiaomi, install Google Photos and log in to the same account – the photos will appear automatically.

⚠️ Warning: If you have more than 50GB of photos, use Google One (paid subscription) or transfer files via cable.Free storage in Google Photos is limited to 15GB per account.

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To speed up synchronization, connect both phones to the same 5GHz Wi-Fi network. data transfer will be 2-3 times faster than over the mobile Internet.

Method 3: Transfer over a USB cable (OTG or PC)

The most reliable, but most time-consuming method is manual cable transfer.

• 📡 You don't have stable Wi-Fi.
• 📦 You need to transfer more than 20 GB of data.
• 🔒 You don’t trust cloud services.

Option 1: Direct connection via OTG-adapter

If your new Xiaomi has a port, USB-C, And the old one is Micro-USB, buy it. OTG-adapter (stands) ~300 rubles:

1. Connect your old phone to your new phone via an adapter.
2. The new Xiaomi will be notified "USB-Device is connected. Click on it and select "File Transfer".
3. Open Explorer on your new phone and copy the folders you need (DCIM for photos, Downloads for downloads).

Option 2: Transfer over PC

If the OTG doesn’t work (e.g., on Redmi 9A with outdated firmware), use the computer:

1. Connect your old phone to your PC and copy all the data to your hard drive.
2. Turn off your old phone, connect a new Xiaomi.
3. Transfer files from your PC to your new phone (in Internal Storage folders or to your new phone) SD-map).

To transfer applications (.apk files), use APK Extractor (on the old phone) and File Manager (on the new one). However, note that application data (saves, settings) will not be transferred in this way.

Method 4: Cloud Services (Mi Cloud, Yandex Disk, Dropbox)

If you have slow internet or little space on your phones, cloud storage is a good alternative.

Instructions for Mi Cloud:

1. On your old phone, go to Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Enable "Sync" for the desired categories (contacts, notes, SMS).
3. Click on "Backup" and create a new copy.
4. On the new Xiaomi, log in to the same Mi Account and recover data from the backup.

Instructions for Yandex Disk:

1. Install Yandex Disk on both phones.
2. On an old phone, upload files to the cloud (the “Autoload” folder for photos).
3. On your new phone, download files from Yandex Disk to local storage.

⚠️ Note: If you are using Mi Cloud for porting SMS, Make sure that the new phone has disabled the Google Messages app. It may conflict with the system app. SMS Xiaomi, which is why the messages are duplicated.

Method 5: Transfer applications with data (for advanced users)

If you need to migrate not only.apk files, but also application data (such as game saves, WhatsApp or Telegram settings), additional tools will be required, a method suitable for users with root rights or an unlocked bootloader.

Tools required:

• 📱 Titanium Backup (requires root)
• 🖥️ ADB (Android Debug Bridge)
• 📂 Swift Backup (alternative without root, but with limitations)

Instructions via Titanium Backup:

1. Install Titanium Backup on your old phone and provide root access.
2. Select "Backup" and select the desired applications.
3. Copy the TitaniumBackup folder from internal memory to a PC or a new phone.
4. On the new Xiaomi, install Titanium Backup, place the Titanium Backup folder in the memory root, and recover the data.

Instructions via ADB (without root):

This method works to transfer data to WhatsApp, Telegram and some games:

adb backup -f backup.ab -apk -obb -shared -all -nosystem


adb restore backup.ab

Commands are executed via Command Prompt on a PC with a connected phone. Note: not all applications support backup via ADB (for example, Viber blocks this method).

⚠️ Note: Mi Browser, Mi Music (Mi Browser) transfers to Titanium Backup may cause disruptions MIUI. Remove them from the backup list.

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To migrate these applications without root, use Swift Backup with the option “Create a backup to the cloud” to bypass MIUI’s local copy restrictions.

What to do if the data is not transferred or lost

Even with all the instructions, there are sometimes problems, and let's look at the typical scenarios and their solutions.

If you're missing an SMS:

• Check if SMS backup is enabled in Settings → Google → Backup.
• Use SMS Backup & Restore for manual recovery.
• On Xiaomi, SMS can be stored in /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db, and can be retrieved via Root Explorer.

If the notes are not moved:

• Check sync in Mi Account (Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Notes).
• Export notes to.txt via Google Keep or ColorNote.

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If the new Xiaomi has lost wallpaper or notification sounds after the transfer, check the /MIUI/theme folder. copy files from the old phone (.mtz extension for themes).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions