How to save phone number to Xiaomi phone: all ways with instructions

Saving phone numbers on Xiaomi smartphones (including the Redmi, POCO and Mi series) seems like a simple task — until you encounter unexpected problems. From contacts disappear after resetting, then duplicated during synchronization, then not displayed in instant messengers. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to save numbers, from manual input to automatic synchronization with cloud services, and also tell you how to avoid typical errors that cause loss of important contacts.

Xiaomi phones feature the MIUI, which imposes its own rules on the work with contacts. For example, here by default can be enabled synchronization with Mi Account, not Google, which confuses users accustomed to “clean” Android. We will discuss in detail how to configure the save so that the numbers never disappear even after changing the phone or flashing.

1. Manual entry of the number: the basic method

The most obvious method is to add a contact manually through the Contacts app, which is good if you need to save 1-2 numbers, but becomes tedious with a large volume.

1. Open the Contacts app (a icon with a person's silhouette).
2. Press the + button in the lower right corner.
3. Choose where to keep contact: 📱 Device – the number will only be stored in the phone’s memory (risk of loss when resetting). ☁️ Google – syncs with your account (recommended). 🔄 Mi Account – Save to the Xiaomi Cloud (an alternative to Google).

Fill in the fields: name, number, additional data (email, address, etc.).

Save.

⚠️ Note: If you choose to save to your device, contact will not be available on other gadgets and may disappear after resetting.

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To quickly add a number from the call log, open the Phone, find the desired call, click on it and select Save to Contacts.

2. Import of contacts from SIM-card

Many users still keep numbers on the SIM-To transfer them to Xiaomi, take the following steps:

1. Open Contacts. → press three points (⋮) top-right.
2. Select Contact Management → Import/export of contacts.
3. Press Import with SIM-map.
4. Check the necessary contacts (or select Allocate).
5. Specify your target account for saving (Google or Mi Account is recommended).
6. Confirm the import.

After importing, check that the contacts appear in the main list. If some numbers are not moved, they may be in an incorrect format (for example, with extra characters).

3. Synchronization with Google: a reliable way

Syncing with a Google account is the most reliable method of maintaining contacts, allowing you to restore numbers on any Android device, even after losing or replacing your phone.

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Synchronization.
2. Select Google and log in to your account (if you are not already logged in).
3. Activate the Contact Switch.
4. Press More (⋮) → Synchronize now.

⚠️ Note: If you have previously saved contacts to your device, you must first export them to Google. → Contact management → Imports/exports → Export to the device (save the file) VCF), Then import it into Google.

4.Export and import of contacts via VCF file

The.vcf file (vCard) is a universal format for backing up contacts, which can be transferred to another phone, sent by email or saved to the cloud.

Export of contacts:

1. Open Contacts. → Contact management → Imports/exports.
2. Select Export to the device.
3. Mark your contacts for export (or select All).
4. Click Export and save the file in your phone’s memory.

Import of contacts:

1. Copy the.vcf file to your phone (for example, via Google Drive or USB cable).
2. In Contacts, select Import from the device.
3. Specify the file and target account to save.

📌 Tip: Regularly (once in a week) 1-2 months) export contacts to the file VCF And you save it to the cloud (Google Drive, Mi Cloud). It's insurance in case of sync failure.

5. Backup through Mi Cloud

Xiaomi offers its own cloud storage, the Mi Cloud, which automatically backs up contacts if synchronization is enabled.

1. Open Settings → Mi Account (or Accounts and Sync → Mi Account).
2. Sign in to your Xiaomi account (sign up if you don’t have an account yet).
3. Activate the Contact Switch.
4. Press Sync.

To check the backup:

• 🌐 Go to i.mi.com.
• 🔍 Contacts should show all saved numbers.

⚠️ Note: If you use both Google and Mi Account for sync, you may experience duplicate contacts. To avoid this, select one primary account and disable sync in the other.

Make sure sync is enabled in your account settings

Check the number of contacts in Mi Cloud or Google Contacts

Export backup to the VCF file

Save the file in the cloud (Google Drive, Mi Cloud)

Update your backup periodically (once in a week) 1-2 month)-->

6.Moving contacts from iPhone to Xiaomi

If you're switching from an iPhone to Xiaomi, you can transfer contacts in a number of ways, and the most reliable is through your Google account.

Method 1: Through Google Account

1. On iPhone, open Settings → Contacts → Accounts.
2. Add a Google account and enable contact sync.
3. Wait for the sync to complete (check at contacts.google.com).
4. On Xiaomi, log in to the same Google account and enable sync.

Method 2: Through the VCF file

1. On your iPhone, open iCloud.com and log in to your account.
2. Go to Contacts, highlight everything and click on the gear → Export vCard.
3. Copy the file to Xiaomi (e.g. via email or cloud).
4. Import the file through Contacts → Import/Export.

📌 Important: When transferring from your iPhone, check the format of phone numbers. Sometimes they are saved with a country prefix (for example, for example, +7 instead of 8), which can cause problems with the number determinant on Xiaomi.

7 Recovery of remote contacts

If contacts are accidentally deleted, they can be restored — but only if sync with Google or Mi Cloud was enabled.

Recovery via Google:

1. Open contacts.google.com.
2. In the left menu, select Cancel Changes.
3. Please indicate the time range (up to 30 days ago).
4. Confirm recovery.

Recovery through Mi Cloud:

1. Go to i.mi.com.
2. In the Contacts section, find the Recycle Bin (available within 30 days of removal).
3. Select the necessary contacts and click Restore.

⚠️ Note: If synchronization has been disabled, you can only restore contacts from a local backup (file) VCF), If it was done in advance, you can't get back the deleted numbers without a backup.

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Always enable contact sync with Google or Mi Cloud – this is the only way to guarantee that numbers will be restored after accidentally deleting or resetting your phone.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even experienced users sometimes face problems with maintaining contacts on Xiaomi, and here are the most common mistakes and ways to solve them:

• 🔄 Duplicate contacts: occurs when you sync with Google and Mi Account at the same time. Solution – disable sync in one of the accounts and delete duplicates manually (or use the Contacts app). → Contact management → Combine the takes).
• 📵 Contacts are not displayed in messengers: check that the numbers are saved in an international format (for example, the number is not in the same format, +79123456789, not 89123456789).
• ⚠️ Loss of contact after update MIUI: Before updating, make a backup through Settings → The phone. → Backup.
• 🔒 You can not edit contacts: if the contact is saved SIM-Transfer it to Google or to your device.

📌 Tip: If you often encounter contact issues, install an alternative application to manage them, such as Simple Contacts or Contacts.+. They offer more features for sorting and backup.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions