Local reservation on Xiaomi: a complete guide to creating and restoring backups

Have you ever lost important data on a smartphone because of a setup reset, a breakdown or a theft? Local backup on Xiaomi devices is your lifeline in these situations. Unlike cloud services, which depend on Internet connection and volume constraints, local backups are stored directly on your device or external drive, which means that you control the process completely, from the selection of data to save to where it is stored.

But how does this function work? Why can it be more useful than cloud backups through Mi Cloud? And most importantly, how do you properly backup your system to recover everything without loss? In this article, we will break down all the nuances of local reservations on Xiaomi, from basic principles to advanced settings, and also reveal secrets that are not written in the official instructions.

What is Local Reservation and Why You Need It

Local backup is the process of creating a copy of your Xiaomi device’s data while storing it on internal memory, a microSD card, or an external drive (such as a flash drive via OTG). Unlike cloud backups that are downloaded to Xiaomi servers, local copies remain under your physical control.

• 🔒 Sensitive data (passwords, correspondence, documents) that you do not want to store in the cloud;
• 📱 Devices with limited internet traffic or unstable connection;
• 💾 Large amounts of data (photos, videos, applications) that are not placed in free cloud storage;
• 🔧 Before selling or putting the phone in repair, when you need to completely clean the device.

The main advantage of local backup is independence from Xiaomi servers. Even if the Mi Cloud is temporarily unavailable (as it happens during maintenance), you can recover data from a local copy. In addition, local backup often works faster, since it does not require uploading data to the network.

⚠️ Attention: Local backups are not protected from physical damage to the device. If the phone is lost or drowned, and the copy was stored only in internal memory, the data will be lost.

Differences between Local and Cloud (Mi Cloud)

Many Xiaomi users confuse local reservation with cloud backup via Mi Cloud. These are actually two fundamentally different approaches, each with its own pros and cons. Let's compare them in the table:

The choice between on-premises and cloud backups depends on your priorities, for example, if you change devices frequently and want settings and data to automatically sync, Mi Cloud will be more convenient, but if you care about privacy or you work with large files (like 4K video), local redundancy will be the best solution.

What data can be saved in the local backup Xiaomi

Unlike some manufacturers, Xiaomi allows you to flexibly customize the composition of a local backup, so you can choose individual categories of data or save almost all the content of the device.

• 📱 System settings: wallpaper, sounds, screen brightness, network settings;
• 📞 Contacts and call logs (including history) SMS/MMS);
• 📅 Calendar and reminders;
• 📷 Multimedia: photo, video, audio files (optional);
• 🎮 Application data (not all, but most standard and some third-party applications);
• 📡 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings;
• 🔐 Passwords and accounts (unless protected by additional authentication).

However, there are limitations, such as local backups that do not store data from some apps (such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or banking programs) unless they support export through standard Android APIs.

• 🚫 Files, protected DRM (For example, purchased movies in Google Play Movies);
• 🚫 Application data that explicitly prohibits reservations (for example, some messengers);
• 🚫 Security settings (fingerprints, pattern lock).

Step-by-step: how to create a local backup on Xiaomi

It takes no more than 10-15 minutes to create a local backup on Xiaomi devices, and the main thing is to prepare and follow the instructions correctly.

1. Preparation of the device: 🔋 Charge your phone at least 50% (when discharged during the backup process may be interrupted). 📶 Connect to Wi-Fi if you plan to save a copy to the Mi Cloud in parallel. 📁 Free up enough space on internal memory or microSD (backup can reach several gigabytes).

Launch of reservations:

Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup → Local Backup.

Click Create Backup and select data categories (or leave everything by default).

Selection of conservation site:

The system will offer to save the copy to internal memory or microSD. For reliability, choose an external drive.

Completion of the process:

Wait until the end (time depends on the amount of data) and when you complete the notification, you will see the path to the backup file (usually the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder).

Battery charge > 50%|Enough space has been vacated.|External storage device selected (recommended)|Memory optimizers are disabled (if any)-->

If you want to save a copy to your computer, connect your phone to USB in file transfer mode (MTP) and copy the MIUI/backup folder to your hard drive, which is an additional insurance policy in case you lose your phone.

⚠️ Warning: Don't interrupt the backup process even if the phone seems to be "hangy." On some models (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro), it can take up to 30 minutes to create a backup with a lot of data!

How to recover data from local backup

Recovery from local copy may be required after resetting, buying a new phone, or losing data.The process is easier than it sounds, but there are a few nuances:

1. Preparation: Make sure the backup file (.mbk) is in the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder on internal memory or microSD. If the copy was stored on your computer, transfer it back.
2. Start Recovery: Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup → Local Backup. Click Restore and select the file you want (if there are more than one).
3. Data selection: Mark the categories you want to restore, for example, you can only return contacts and SMS by skipping multimedia.
4. Confirm the action and wait for the device to restart. Some data (such as wallpaper or Wi-Fi settings) will only be used after restart.

Important point: recovery is possible only on devices with the same or newer version of MIUI. For example, a backup created on Xiaomi 12 with MIUI 14 will not be restored on Redmi 9 with MIUI 12.

💡

If the recovery has been stalled in the Preparation phase, try restarting your phone and repeating the process. Sometimes cleaning the com.miui.backup app cache through Settings → Applications → Application Management helps.

Common mistakes and their solutions

Even if you follow instructions correctly, Xiaomi users sometimes experience problems with local reservations, and here are the most common errors and ways to fix them:

If none of the solutions worked, try resetting the Backup app settings:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find com.miui.backup (or "backup").
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the data.
4. Restart the device and try again.

Another little-known fact is that on some models (such as the Xiaomi 13 Ultra), the local backup can be password-encrypted, which is hidden in additional backup settings and allows you to protect the copy from unauthorized access.

FAQ: answers to frequent questions about local reservations Xiaomi