How to upload a photo from the cloud to your Xiaomi phone: all working ways

You took hundreds of photos, they automatically uploaded to the cloud Xiaomi or Google Photos, but now you need to transfer them back to your phone? Or do you want to free up space in the cloud storage by saving pictures locally? In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to upload photos from the cloud to Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones — from standard MIUI functions to workarounds for complex cases.

The process can vary depending on which cloud you use (Mi Cloud, Google Photos, Yandex.Disk, etc.), which version of MIUI your phone is equipped with, and even the device model. For example, on the Xiaomi 13 Pro with MIUI 14, the algorithm will be slightly different than on the Redmi Note 10 with MIUI 12.5. We took into account all the nuances and collected universal instructions that will suit most of the brand’s devices.

Important: If you encounter any download errors (e.g. photos don’t load or disappear after uploading), there is a problem solving section at the end of the article, and we have prepared an FAQ with answers to frequent user questions.

1. Upload photos from Mi Cloud to Xiaomi

Mi Cloud is Xiaomi’s proprietary cloud storage that automatically syncs photos, contacts and other data. To download photos from there to your phone, follow the following steps:

1. Open the Gallery app on your smartphone.
2. Slip on three horizontal lines (menu) in the upper left corner and select Mi Cloud (or Cloud in newer versions of MIUI).
3. Sign in to your Xiaomi account if necessary.
4. Select the album or individual photos you want to download. To highlight a few pictures, hold your finger on one of them, then mark the others.
5. Click on the Download icon in the bottom panel. Photos are saved to the Download or Mi Cloud folder on the internal drive.

If you have MIUI 14 or newer, the interface may be slightly different: instead of Mi Cloud, the gallery menu will have Cloud Albums, and the functionality remains the same: highlight photos and download them to the device.

Xiaomi account is linked to phone |

Enough free space on the device |

Stable connection to Wi-Fi|

The cloud is not blocked by IP (relevant to some regions)-->

Attention! If you download a large number of photos (for example, several gigabytes), we recommend connecting to Wi-Fi to avoid wasting mobile traffic. Also make sure that there is enough free space on the phone, otherwise the download will stop.

2. Download photos from Google Photos on Xiaomi

Google Photos is one of the most popular cloud storage for backup photos, and if your photos are synced there, you can upload them to Xiaomi in a number of ways.

Method 1: Through the Google Photos app

1. Open the Google Photos app (if not, download from the Play Market).
2. Find the photo or album you want, and to highlight a few pictures, hold your finger on one of them.
3. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner and select Download.
4. Photos will be saved to the Download or Google Photos folder on the internal drive.

Method 2: Browser (for large archives)

If you need to download a lot of photos (for example, the entire backup), it is more convenient to use the web version of Google Photos:

1. Open a browser (such as Chrome or Mi Browser) and go to photos.google.com.
2. Sign in with the same Google account as you do on your phone.
3. Select the right photos (or create an album in advance).
4. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Download.
5. After preparing the archive, click Download again - the photos will be uploaded in the form ZIP-Unpack it with any file manager (e.g. Explorer or Mi File Manager).

Important: When downloading through the browser, Google may limit the size of the archive (usually up to 2 GB per download). If you have more photos, break them into several archives.

Mi Cloud|

Google Photo |

Yandex.Disk|

iCloud|

Other-->

3. uploading photos from other cloud services (Yandex.Disk, Mail.ru Cloud, etc.)

If you store photos in Yandex.Disk, Mail.ru Cloud or other service, the download algorithm will be similar.

1. Install the official Yandex.Disk application from the Play Market (or use the web version in your browser).
2. Log in to your account.
3. Find a folder with a photo (usually a photo or a Camera Uploads).
4. Select the files you want (holding your finger on one of them) and click Download (the arrow icon down).
5. The photos will be saved to Download or YandexDisk.

The same thing happens for Mail.ru Cloud and other services, and the key is to make sure that the official app is installed on the phone, as web versions can run unstable on mobile devices.

Attention! ⚠️ Some cloud services (e.g. iCloud) don’t have official Android apps, so you’ll have to use the web version via your browser or transfer photos to your computer and then transfer them to Xiaomi via cable.

4. How to save a photo from the cloud to a memory card (SD)

If there's not enough space on the phone's internal memory, you can download it directly to the memory card.

1. Put it in. SD-card to slot (if not already installed) Make sure the phone recognizes it (check Settings) → Warehouse).
2. Download photos from the cloud in any convenient way (see sections above).
3. Open a file manager (such as Mi File Manager or Explorer).
4. Find the downloaded photos (usually in the Download folder), highlight them and click Move or Copy.
5. Choose your destination as your destination. SD-map (it may be called a map) SD card, extra storage or card model).
6. Create a folder (e.g., Photos from the cloud) and confirm the movement.

If you MIUI 12.5+, The system may request permission to access the SD-Leave it to the map, or it won't be possible to move it.

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In order not to search for downloaded photos manually, before downloading create on the SD-A folder with a clear name (e.g., "Cloud 2026") can be stored there without internal memory.

5. Solving problems when downloading photos from the cloud

Sometimes users encounter errors when uploading photos, and let's look at the most common problems and their solutions:

If none of these methods worked, try an alternative method: download photos to your computer via the web version of the cloud, and then transfer them to your phone via cable or through Xiaomi File Transfer (a Wi-Fi file transfer application).

6. Automatic uploading of photos from the cloud to Xiaomi

If you want to download a picture from the cloud to your phone regularly, you can set up automatic uploading, for example, in Google Photos, this is how you do it:

1. Open Google Photos and go to Settings → Backup and Sync.
2. Enable the option to Save Originals on your device (if available).
3. Choose which folders should be synced back to your phone (e.g., just Camera or all albums).

For Mi Cloud, automatic unloading is not provided, but you can use a workaround:

1. Download the photo manually (as described in the first section).
2. Create a task in the Automation app (if you have one in your firmware) or use Tasker to periodically copy files from the Mi Cloud folder to the main gallery.

Attention! ⚠️ Auto-uploading can quickly fill up your phone’s memory if there are a lot of photos in the cloud.Tune filters by date or file size to only download current photos.

7. Alternative methods: transfer photos without downloading

If you cannot download through the cloud for some reason, you can use alternative methods:

• 📱 Wi-Fi Direct Transfer: Use apps like Xiaomi File Transfer or Send Anywhere to transfer photos from another device (where they are already downloaded from the cloud).
• 🖥️ Download photos to your PC via the web version of the cloud, then connect Xiaomi to the Internet USB and transfer files.
• ☁️ Sync through third services: upload photos from one cloud (such as Mi Cloud) to another (such as Google Drive) and then download them to your phone.
• 📡 FTP-server: if you have access to a router USB-port, you can connect to it a flash drive with a photo and download them over the local network.

These methods may be useful if:

• 🚫 You have a slow internet connection and it takes too long to download from the cloud;
• 🔒 Cloud is blocked in your region (relevant for some countries);
• 📵 No access to your account linked to the cloud.

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If you often transfer photos between devices, set up automatic sync via Google Photos or Mi Cloud, which will eliminate the need for manual downloads in the future.

FAQ: Frequent questions about uploading photos from the cloud to Xiaomi