Recovering contacts from Google to Xiaomi Redmi: a complete guide to error solutions

Why Contacts Are Lost on Xiaomi Redmi and How to Get Them Back from Google

Losing contacts on Xiaomi Redmi is one of the most frustrating situations, especially if you haven't made backups. Fortunately, if your phone is tied to a Google account, the chances of recovery are close to 100%. MIUI, shift SIM-In this article, we will discuss all the working ways to return contacts, from standard synchronization to recovery of deleted records through the Google archive.

It’s important to understand that Xiaomi Redmi (including Note 10/11/12, Redmi 9/10/13C and others) use a dual contact system – local (save on the phone) and cloud (linked to Google or Mi Account). If only cloud contacts are missing, the problem lies in the sync settings. If all numbers are gone, auto sync may have been disabled or an error occurred when updating MIUI.

Before you start your recovery, check:

• 🔹 Is the phone connected to the Internet (required via Wi-Fi or a mobile network with a good signal).
• 🔹 Are you logged in to the same Google account you used before.
• 🔹 Have you changed your Google account password in recent days (this can reset syncs).
• 🔹 Are there any cache-cleaning apps on the phone (such as Xiaomi’s Clean Master or Security) that could have deleted data.

Method 1: Standard synchronization of contacts with Google

The easiest method is to enable manual synchronization, which works if contacts were previously saved to Google but for some reason stopped showing on the phone.

Instructions for MIUI 12/13/14:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync (or Google depending on version).
2. Select your Google account (if not, add it through Add Account).
3. Activate the Contact Slider (if it is gray, tap it).
4. Click Sync Now (or More) → Synchronize).

If the contact did not appear immediately:

• 🔄 Restart your phone - sometimes MIUI Does not update data without restarting.
• 🔹 Check if sync is disabled in the settings of your Google account on the website (click on the link and log in).
• ⚙️ Make sure that in the settings → Annexes → Application management → Google Account Authorization Contacts Enabled.

⚠️ Note: If you used Mi Account to back up, standard sync with Google won't return those contacts. → The phone. → Backup and reset.

Method 2: Recovery via contacts.google.com

If sync doesn't work, check the contacts directly through Google's web version.They may just not show up on the phone because of a crash.

Step-by-step:

1. Open contacts.google.com on your computer or phone and log in.
2. Check if your contacts are displayed there. If yes, there's a problem on your phone, if not, the data is deleted.
3. If contacts are available but not synced, click More → Export (save the.vcf file to your computer).
4. Import the file back to your phone via Contacts → Settings → Import/Export.

If you don’t have any contacts on the site, you’re sure they were linked to Google:

• 🔍 Check the Archive folder (on the left in the menu) – sometimes contacts are moved there automatically.
• 🗑️ Press More. → Remote contacts are stored there for 30 days.
• 🔙 If the basket is empty, try to restore the old version of contacts through the → Cancel changes (available within 30 days).

Method 3: Import contacts from MIUI backup

If you've previously backed up through MIUI, contacts could be saved to a local or cloud backup, which works even if Google syncs are disabled.

How to restore:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset → Local Backup.
2. Select the last backup (check the date – it must be before the contacts disappear).
3. Click Restore and tick Contacts.
4. Confirm the recovery and wait until the end (the phone will restart).

If there is no local backup, check out Mi Cloud cloud storage:

• 🔗 Open i.mi.com and log in.
• 📁 Go to the Backups section and check for archives.
• 🔙 If there is a backup, restore it through Settings. → Accounts. → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Restore.

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If the backup is damaged or not restored, try extracting contacts manually. To do this, download the backup file to your computer, rename the extension from.mbk to.zip, and find the.vcf contact folder inside.

⚠️ Attention: Recovery from the backup MIUI If there are important numbers on your phone, export them to.vcf via Contacts first. → Settings → Exports.

Method 4: Recovery through Google’s Contacts app

Xiaomi’s standard Contacts app sometimes conflicts with Google’s sync, the solution being to use the official Google Contacts app.

How to do this:

1. Install Google Contacts from the Play Market.
2. Open it and log in to your account.
3. Click on the profile icon in the upper right corner and select Settings → Import.
4. If contacts are displayed in the app but not in standard Xiaomi Contacts, export them to the file and import them back.

Advantages of this method:

• 🔍 More reliable synchronization with Google.
• 📱 Ability to combine duplicate contacts automatically.
• 🔄 Automatic Recovery of Remote Contacts (if they were on Google).

Method 5: Manual recovery via ADB (for power users)

If none of the methods worked and contacts are critical, you can try extracting them through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which is suitable if the data is still physically stored on the phone, but not displayed.

Attention: The method requires command line skills and can result in data loss if used incorrectly.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode on Xiaomi Redmi (go to Settings → About Phone and tap the MIUI version 7 times).

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ADB-The method only works if the contacts were not overwritten with new data. If you add new numbers after you go missing, the old ones can be lost forever.

Frequent mistakes and their solutions

Even after recovery, contacts may not be displayed or duplicated, and we'll look at the typical problems and ways to fix them.

Problem 1: Contacts are duplicated after recovery.

• 🔹 Use the Connect Contacts feature in the Google Contacts app.

Problem 2: Synchronization is suspended in the “Waiting...” stage.

• 🔄 Restart your phone and check your internet connection.
• 🔧 Delete your Google account and add it again (Settings) → Accounts. → Google → Delete the account).
• 📱 Update Google Play Contacts and Services in the Play Market.

Problem 3: Contacts are only displayed in Google Contacts, not in the standard app.

• 🔹 B Settings → Annexes → Contacts → Storage press Clear Cache.
• 🔹 Reset the Contacts app settings (Settings) → Annexes → Contacts → Reset the settings).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions