How to Transfer All Data from the Old Xiaomi to the New: The Complete 2026 Guide

Shifting data from one Xiaomi smartphone to another seems like a simple task — until you encounter lost contacts, unsynchronized chats or “broken” photos. Even within the same ecosystem, the process requires preparation: from choosing the right method to checking firmware compatibility. In 2026, Xiaomi users have 5 official migration methods, but not all of them are equally effective for different types of data.

If you upgrade from Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 14 Ultra or just transfer files between POCO X5 And Redmi 12, the key differences are in the amount of information that you transmit and the speed that you transfer, for example, wirelessly over Mi Mover takes 3 times longer than cable, but you don't need any accessories. And cloud services Mi Cloud and Google Drive are limited by quotas - if you exceed 5 GB in the Mi Cloud, the download speed drops to 500 KB / s, which makes the method unsuitable for transferring video to the Internet. 4K.

In this guide, we will analyze each method with nuances in mind, from preparing devices to solving typical errors (for example, when the Mi Mover “hangs” by 99% or the new smartphone does not see the old one through the cable). MIUI, which speed up the process, and alternative methods for users with root rights.

Preparation of devices before transfer

Before you migrate, make sure both smartphones meet the minimum requirements, which will eliminate 80% of common errors, such as a connection break or incomplete data transfer.

On the old device (source):

• 🔋 Battery charge at least 50 percent, below 30% MIUI Automatically block the transfer via Mi Mover.
• 📶 Turn it off. VPN They can interrupt the connection during transmission.
• 🗃️ Free up at least 1 GB of storage. If your device has less than 500 MB of free space, the system will not be able to create temporary files for export.
• 🔄 Update. MIUI Up to the last stable version. MIUI 12.5 no wireless Mi Mover support.

On the new device (receiver):

• 📱 Go through the initial setting to the Data Transfer screen. If you've already set up your smartphone, reset it through Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings.
• 🔌 Use the original cable USB-C (Cheap cables may not support the protocol USB OTG, direct-connection.
• 📡 Connect to a 5GHz Wi-Fi network. In the 2.4GHz band, the transfer speed over the Mi Mover drops by 40%.

⚠️ Note: If the old smartphone is enabled Reset Protection (Settings) → Passwords and security, disable it in advance, otherwise, after transferring the new phone will require you to enter the password from the old Mi Account.

2. Method 1: Mi Mover is the official tool of Xiaomi

Mi Mover – built-in solution from Xiaomi, optimized for data transfer between devices on the Internet MIUI. It supports the transfer:

• 📞 Contacts, messages (SMS/MMS) and call logs
• 📷 Photos and videos (including Google Photos albums, if synced)
• 🎵 Music and documents (formats.mp3,.pdf,.docx)
• 📱 Applications and their data (only for applications that support backups)
• 🔧 System settings (wallpaper, sound schemes, screen brightness)

However, there are limitations:

• ❌ Not tolerated:
• ⚠️ On devices with MIUI 14+ Application transfer takes 30% longer due to additional security checks.

Step-by-step:

1.On the new smartphone at the setup stage, select Data Transfer → Mi Mover.

2.On an old smartphone, open Settings → Additionally. → Mi Mover.

3. Select the role of the device:

• 📱 New phone → "It's a new phone"
• 📱 Old phone. → "It's an old phone"

4. Connect the devices in one way:

• 🔗 Cable: Use an adapter USB-C → USB-C (or USB-A → USB-C old-model).
• 📶 Wi-Fi: Create an access point on an old phone or connect both devices to the same network.

Synchronize time on both devices|Turn off Bluetooth|Close background annexes|Check the vacant space (minimum 1 GB)-->

5. On the old phone, select the data to transfer and confirm the beginning of the process.

⚠️ Warning: If the process is 99 percent frozen, don't interrupt it for 10 minutes, which is where the integrity checks are done. If nothing changes after the time, restart both devices and try again.

💡

If Mi Mover can't see the old device over Wi-Fi, try connecting via a mobile hotspot. To do this, activate modem mode on the old phone (Settings) → Access Point and modem) and connect a new smartphone to it.

Method 2: Transfer over cable and PC (for large volumes)

If the data is more than 50GB or you want to select specific files to transfer, the best way to do this is to use a computer as an intermediary.

• 🎥 Video in resolution 4K/8K
• 🎵 Local music collections (formats.flac,.wav)
• 📂 Backup copies of applications (.apk and.obb files)
• 📊 Application databases (such as WhatsApp or Telegram)

Advantages of the method:

• ✅ Transfer speeds up to 40 MB/s (when used) USB 3.0)
• ✅ Possibility of selective copying
• ✅ There are no limits on volume (unlike cloud services)

Instructions for Windows/macOS:

1. Connect your old smartphone to your PC via cable and select File Transfer Mode (MTP).

2. Copy the data you want to use into a folder on your computer.

Xiaomi_Transfer/


├── Contacts/ # Export of contacts in.vcf format




├── Photos/ # Photos and videos




├── Apps/ # APK- files and OBB




├── Documents/ # PDF, DOCX, et al.




└── Music/ #Music files

3. disconnect the old phone and connect the new one.

4. Move the data back by following the folder structure MIUI:

• 📷 Photo Photo → Internal Storage/DCIM/Camera
• 🎵 Music. → Internal Storage/Music
• 📄 Documents → Internal Storage/Downloads

5. Use applications and their data to transfer ADB (Developer rights are required):

adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -f backup.ab


adb restore backup.ab

⚠️ WARNING: When transferring WhatsApp data via PC, be sure to copy the folder WhatsApp/Databases file-wise msgstore.db.crypt14. Without it, chats won’t recover even if you migrate media files.

Method 3: Cloud Services (Mi Cloud and Google Drive)

Cloud storage is convenient for carrying small amounts of data (up to 15 GB) or when there is no cable at hand. Xiaomi offers two main options: Mi Cloud (5 GB free) and Google Drive (15 GB free).

Transfer via Mi Cloud:

1. On your old phone, go to Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud.

2. Enable synchronization for the desired categories:

• 📞 Contacts (export to.vcf)
• 📷 Gallery (original quality or compressed)
• 📝 Notes and Records

3. On the new phone, log in to the same Mi Account and wait for the sync to complete.

Transfer via Google Drive:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Google → Backup.

2. Click Create a backup and select:

• 📱 Application data (e.g. Telegram, Viber)
• 📞 Call logs and SMS
• 🔧 Device settings (Wi-Fi, wallpaper, brightness)

3. On the new phone, when setting up, select Restore from Google backup.

💡

Google Drive does not automatically transfer media (photo/video) files, but must be downloaded manually through the Google Photos app or Google Drive.

5. Method 4: Transfer through a Google account (for contacts and applications)

If you only need to migrate contacts, calendars and apps, sync through a Google account is enough, and this method does not require additional actions – the data is synced automatically when you add an account to a new device.

What's transferable:

• 📞 Contacts (from the Google Contacts app)
• 📅 Calendars (Google Calendar)
• 📰 Subscriptions RSS Google Chrome data
• 🎮 Save games (via Google Play Games)
• 📱 List of installed applications (without data)

How to check the synchronization:

1. On your old phone, open Settings → Accounts. → Google.

2. Make sure that synchronization is enabled for:

• 📞 Contacts
• 📅 Calendar
• 🌐 Chrome (bookmarks, history)

3.On a new phone, add the same Google account and wait for the sync to complete (usually takes 5-15 minutes).

⚠️ Note: If your contacts are stored in local memory (not in your Google account), they must be exported to.vcf and then imported to the new device.

Method 5: Alternative methods (for advanced users)

If standard methods are not suitable (for example, due to large amounts of data or specific requirements), consider alternatives:

🔧 Transfer through TWRP (root-rights)

1. Install. TWRP Recovery on both devices.

2. Build a full backup of your old phone:

adb shell twrp backup /data

3.Transfer the backup to the new phone and restore it through TWRP.

Advantages:

• ✅ Transfer all data, including system settings
• ✅ It even works on unofficial firmware.

Risks:

• ⚠️ Possible conflicts when restoring to another model
• ⚠️ Requires unlocking the bootloader (resetting all data)

📲 Transfer through third-party applications

If you need to transfer messages from instant messengers (for example, WhatsApp or Viber), use specialized utilities:

• 🔹 Dr.Fone – Phone Transfer (paid, cross-platform transfer support)
• 🔹 MobileTrans (free version with 1000 file limits)
• 🔹 Send Anywhere (Free, Wi-Fi Direct)

Example of WhatsApp porting via Send Anywhere:

1. Install the app on both phones.
2. On your old phone, select WhatsApp database files (/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases).
3. Create a 6-digit code or QR-code.
4. On the new phone, enter the code and wait for the transfer to be completed.
5. Install WhatsApp and restore chats from the transferred file.

7.Typical errors and their solutions

Even when following instructions, users encounter problems, and here are the most common mistakes and ways to fix them:

If none of these methods worked, try:

• 🔄 Reset network settings on both devices (Settings) → Reset → Resetting network settings).
• 📡 Use a different Wi-Fi band (switch from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz).
• 🔌 Try another cable (preferably the original Xiaomi).

8 Frequently Asked Questions