Where to look for a folder with notes on Xiaomi: a full guide to the location of files in 2026

Have you ever lost important notes on Xiaomi and couldn’t find them in your phone’s memory? or tried to back up your phone but didn’t know where the app files were stored? This problem is familiar to many users of Redmi, POCO and Mi smartphones. The fact is that the notes folder on Xiaomi’s Android is hidden from direct access — it can’t be seen through a standard file manager without additional actions.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible locations where notes can be stored on your device, from the standard com.miui.notes app to third-party services like Google Keep or ColorNote. You’ll learn how to access these folders through File Manager, ADB or Root rights, and how to export notes to a safe place.

1. Standard Notes on Xiaomi: Where Files Are Stored

By default, Xiaomi smartphones use the proprietary Notes app, which is installed along with the MIUI shell. All records are stored in a secure system folder, the path to which depends on the version of Android and MIUI. Here are the key details:

• 📁 Main folder: /data/data/com.miui.notes/databases/ — Here is the Note.db database with all the records.
• 🖼️ Attachments (photo, audio): /data/data/com.miui.notes/files/attachments/
• ⚠️ Restriction: without a Root or ADB folder access blocked.

If you try to find notes through File Manager (e.g., Xiaomi Explorer), these folders won’t show up — they’re hidden at the system level.

1. Connect your phone to your PC and use ADB (instructions below).
2. Get Root Access and Use Root Explorer
3. Make a backup through the Notes app settings.

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If you don’t plan to receive Root, the most reliable way to save notes is to export them in.zip format through the app menu: Settings → Export / Import → Export notes.

2.How to access the note folder without Root

If you don’t have a Root-right but need to copy notes urgently, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which works on all Xiaomi models, including the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 and Mi 11.

• 🖥️ A computer with installed Xiaomi drivers and ADB.
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on the phone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times to tap according to the version → return to → For developers → Debugging by USB).

Next, run commands in the terminal (or PowerShell on Windows):

adb devices


adb shell




run-as com.miui.notes




ls /data/data/com.miui.notes/databases/




cp /data/data/com.miui.notes/databases/notes.db /sdcard/




exit




exit

After that, the note.db file will appear in the root folder of the phone’s internal memory, which can be copied to a PC and opened with SQLite Browser or converted to a readable format.

3. Ways to Notes in Different Versions of MIUI and Android

The location of the note files may vary depending on the firmware version, and here is a table of current paths for popular MIUI versions (reviewed for 2026):

Please note: in MIUI 12.5 The way to invest has changed with notes_attach on attachments. if you use POCO Launcher or custom firmware, location may differ.

4. Where notes from Google Keep and other apps are stored

If you use third-party note-taking apps, their files are stored in other folders, and here are the main locations for popular services:

• 📝 Google Keep: data is synced to a Google account and not stored locally as separate files. /data/data/com.google.android.keep/cache/.
• 🎨 ColorNote: Notes are stored in /data/data/com.socialnmobile.dictapps.notepad.color.note/databases/ (colornote.db file).
• ⚡ Evernote: Local copies are available in the /data/data/com.evernote/databases/.
• 📱 OneNote (Microsoft): Data syncs to the cloud, but cache can be found in the cloud /data/data/com.microsoft.office.onenote/cache/.

Important: Root rights or ADB are also required to access these folders. If you don't want to mess with technical details, use the built-in export features in each application. For example, ColorNote can save notes to.txt or send them to the mail.

5. How to Transfer Notes from Xiaomi to Another Phone

If you’re planning to change your smartphone or reset Xiaomi to factory settings, it’s important to keep your notes in advance. Here are 3 reliable ways to port:

1. Through Mi Account: Open the Notes app. Go to Settings → Sync and enable the option. Sign in under the same account on the new device - notes will be downloaded automatically.
2. Export to file: From the app menu, select Export/Import → Export notes. The file will be saved as.zip in the Download folder. Move the archive to the new phone and import it.

Through Google Drive:

• Export notes to.txt or.html.
• Upload the files to Google Drive.
• On your new phone, download files and import them to a new note-taking app.

⚠️ Attention: If you are using MIUI 14 and older, the exported notes may contain encrypted data, in which case they will not be opened on phones of other brands (such as Samsung or iPhone), the solution is to first transfer notes to Google Keep or Evernote, and then sync with the new device.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you work with notes on Xiaomi, users encounter typical errors. Here's how to fix them:

• 🔄 Mi Account notes don't sync: Check your internet connection. Update Notes app on Google Play. Go to Xiaomi account in your phone settings.
• 📉 Disappeared notes after the update MIUI: Try to roll back the update through Settings → Annexes → Notes → Delete the updates. Check the folder. /sdcard/Miui/backup/Notes/ — Sometimes there are backups.
• 🔒 Can't get access through ADB: Make sure the phone has the option to allow debugging on USB (Try the adb root command before running run-as.

If you've lost your notes without recovery, try using data recovery software like DiskDigger or EaseUS MobiSaver, which scans your phone's internal memory for deleted files, but the odds of success depend on how long it's been since you deleted them.

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The most reliable way to keep your notes alive is to enable automatic sync with Mi Account or Google Drive, and local files can be lost when you reset your phone or update your firmware.

7. Alternative methods of backup

In addition to standard methods, there are non-obvious ways to save notes:

• 📧 Posting to the post: highlight a note → Share. → Email. Minus, you'll have to manually save every record.
• 🖨️ The seal in PDF: Use the Print function → Save how PDF (readily MIUI 13 and newer).
• ☁️ Cloud services: download exported.zip to Yandex Drive, Dropbox or Telegram (Saved Messages).
• 📱 Transfer of Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Direct: Send notes to another phone as a text file.

To automate the process, you can use applications like Automate or Tasker that will periodically export notes to a given folder, for example, you can set up a task that stores a copy of notes.db to a memory card once a week.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions