Where phone conversations are saved on Xiaomi: a complete guide to search and manage records

Recording phone conversations on Xiaomi smartphones is a useful feature that helps you capture important conversations, interviews, or just save memorable conversations. However, many users face the problem: where exactly do these recordings go after a call is completed? Unlike photos or messages, audio files of conversations are not always visible in the file system of the device.

In this article, we will analyze in detail where Xiaomi stores conversation records depending on the smartphone model, firmware version. MIUI You'll learn how to find these files in internal memory, on a microSD card, in the Mi Cloud cloud storage, and how to manage them from listening to complete deletion. MIUI (12 to 14) and popular models such as the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 Xiaomi 13.

Standard ways to store conversation records in MIUI

By default, Xiaomi smartphones store phone records in a system folder, the path to which depends on the firmware version. In most cases, files are.amr or.mp3 format and stored in the following location:

• 📁 Internal memory: /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/sound_recorder/call_rec/ — standard-way MIUI 12–14. Here files are sorted by date and subscriber number.
• 🔄 Alternative path (older versions): /storage/emulated/0/Recordings/Call/ — relevant to devices MIUI 10–11 (For example, Redmi Note 8 Pro).
• 📱 Dictophone folder: If the recording was conducted through the built-in voice recorder, the files can be located in the /storage/emulated/0/Recorder/.

It's important to consider that paths can vary depending on regional firmware, such as on global versions. MIUI (Global suffix file call_rec may be called call_record. Also, some mobile operators (for example, MTS or Beeline) block the recording of conversations at the network level, so files are simply not created.

To quickly find records, use the built-in file manager Mi File Explorer:

1. Open the Files app (folder icon).
2. Go to the Category section → Audio.
3. Filter files by date or name (look for prefixed files) call_ or rec_).

How to Enable Conversation Recording on Xiaomi

Before you look for records, make sure that the recording function is activated at all. There are two ways to enable it in MIUI:

1. Automatically record all conversations: Go to Settings → Applications → Phone → Record conversations. Activate the switch Automatic Record. Select the file format (AMR is compact, MP3 is better quality).
2. Manual recording: During the call, click on the icon 🎤 (microphone) in the phone interface, recording will start with a notification in the status bar.

On some models (such as the POCO F4 or Xiaomi 12T), the path to settings may be different:

Settings → System → Additional → Recording conversations

Note: On Chinese firmware devices (CN suffix), the call recording function may be disabled at the software level due to local privacy laws, requiring the installation of alternative applications such as Cube Call Recorder or ACR.

Is automatic recording enabled in the phone settings|Is there enough free space on the device (minimum 1 GB)|Is access to the microphone for the "Phone" application allowed"|There are no restrictions on the operator-->

Cloud storage: Mi Cloud and Google Drive

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud sync enabled, the conversation records can be automatically uploaded to the cloud.

1. Open the Mi Cloud app (cloud icon).
2. Go to the Backups section → Application data → Phone.
3. Check if the option of synchronizing conversation records is enabled.

Files in Mi Cloud are stored in encrypted form and are only accessible from the associated Mi Account. Alternatively, manual upload of records to Google Drive:

• 📤 Open the files. → Audio, select the required recordings.
• 🔗 Press Share. → Save it to Drive.
• 📁 Select a folder in Google Drive (it is recommended to create a separate folder Call Records).

⚠️ Note: When you delete a record from your device’s internal memory, it is not automatically deleted from the Mi Cloud. To free up space in the cloud, manually clean the data through the i.mi.com web version.

Search for records on a microSD memory card

If you use a microSD card as your primary storage, the conversation records can be stored directly on it, and the path to the files is as follows:

/storage/XXXX-XXXX/MIUI/sound_recorder/call_rec/


or




/storage/XXXX-XXXX/Recordings/Call/

(where XXXX-XXXX is a unique card identifier).

To transfer the recordings to the microSD:

1. Open Settings → Storage → By default write to the SD card.
2. Reset the device.
3. Check that new records are saved along the way. /storage/XXXX-XXXX/....

An important nuance: on some models (e.g. Redmi 10C), when you remove the microSD card, the records are temporarily unavailable until the card is inserted back, due to the peculiarities of mounting external drives in Android.

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If the entries are not displayed on the memory card, check its file system. Xiaomi works better with exFAT or FAT32 cards (NTFS may not be supported).

How to Recover Deleted Records of Conversations

If you accidentally delete an important record, you can try to restore it with specialized utilities.

• 🛠️ DiskDigger scans internal memory for deleted audio files.
• 🔍 Recuva (for PC) – requires a smartphone connection in mode MTP rooting.
• 📱 GT Recovery – works without root, but with limitations.

The recovery algorithm:

1. Install DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. Select the type of audio files.
3. Start a deep scan (can take 10 to 30 minutes).
4. Save the files found to the cloud or PC.

⚠️ Warning: The more recording operations you perform after deleting a file, the lower your chances of recovery. For example, if you shot a video or installed a large application, the recordings may have been overwritten.

If the recording is synced with Mi Cloud, check the cloud cart:

1. Go to i.mi.com.
2. Open the basket section (the bin icon).
3. Find the file by date or name (format: call_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.amr).

Delete records: how to completely erase data

To make room or to ensure privacy, recordings of conversations can be deleted in several ways:

• 🗑️ Through File Manager: Open Files → Audio. Select the unnecessary recordings, press Delete.
• 🧹 Cleaning through the Phone app: Go to the Call Log. Click on the icon ⋮ → Delete the records.

Non-refundable deletion (for sensitive data):

Use apps like Shreddit or Secure Delete that overwrite files with random data before deleting them.

To completely clean the cache of records:

Settings → Applications → Phone → Storage → Clean the cache

Critical information: Even after deletion, files can remain in Mi Cloud backups for up to 30 days.To ensure that they are erased, clear the cloud cart and disable synchronization of records in your account settings.

Problems with recording conversations and their solutions

Sometimes, recording conversations on Xiaomi doesn’t work properly, so let’s look at the typical problems and ways to fix them:

If none of these methods worked, check the logs for errors:

Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 5 times to turn on Developer Mode)


Settings → Additional → For developers → Error logs

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On devices with MIUI 14 and later, recording conversations can be blocked due to the privacy policy of Android 13+. In this case, you need to manually allow access to the microphone for system applications.

FAQ: Frequent questions about recording conversations on Xiaomi