Smartphone owners often face a notification “Sync is coming” at the top of the screen, but not everyone understands what exactly is happening at this point. Sync on Xiaomi is the process of automatically exchanging data between your device and cloud storages like Mi Cloud or Google Drive. This ensures that your contacts, photos, notes and settings are safe even in the event of a lost or broken gadget.
Many users ignore this process until there is a need to restore data on a new device. However, a correct understanding of how synchronization works allows not only to secure information, but also to optimize the operation of the system. Synchronization Xiaomi works in the background and can consume traffic if the work is not configured only through Wi-Fi.
In this article, we will take a closer look at how cloud services operate in China, learn how to manage them and solve typical problems, learn what data to save first and how to avoid overflowing your phone’s memory.
The essence of the synchronization process in the Xiaomi ecosystem
The data exchange process is a continuous monitoring of changes to the smartphone file system. When you add a new contact or take a picture, the system marks that file as “modified” and prepares it for sending to the server. Two-way communication ensures that changes made from another device (such as a tablet or via the web version) also appear on your phone.
The work is based on the Mi Account, which acts as a key to accessing personal cloud space, without authorization in this account, the use of proprietary cloud functions is impossible, although basic synchronization of Google will work independently.
It's important to distinguish between local copying and cloud storage, and local backups take up space in internal memory, while cloud data is stored on remote servers in the company, allowing you to free up space on your phone by deleting the original photos after they have been successfully uploaded.
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Use the “Clear Memory” feature in the Mi Cloud Gallery to remove photos from your phone that are already uploaded to the cloud, freeing up gigabytes of space.
It's worth noting that it can slow down when the Internet is unstable or when it's running on a low-charging battery, and it intelligently allocates resources to keep the processor from overheating when it's transferring large amounts of data.
Main data types and their priority
The user can flexibly configure which categories of information will be transmitted to the cloud. Not all data is equally important, so the system offers selective synchronization. Contacts and SMS are usually the highest priority, since their loss is most critical for the owner.
Photos and videos take up the most storage.Mi Cloud offers unlimited storage for thumbnails, but full-size originals take up space within your plan. Gallery syncs albums, editing settings and deleted files (they fall into the cloud basket).
- 📞 Contacts and Calls: Call history and phone book are instantly restored.
- 📷 Gallery: photos, videos, albums and settings of artificial intelligence.
- 📝 Notes: text files, to-do lists and voice recordings.
- 📅 Calendar: Events, reminders and schedules of meetings.
- 🔒 Security: blacklist, ad blocking and antivirus settings.
Special attention should be paid to the system settings. When you switch to a new Xiaomi phone, you can restore the location of icons on the desktop, passwords from Wi-Fi and even open browser tabs, which creates a seamless transition between devices.
Setup Mi Cloud: step-by-step instructions
To get started, you need to log in to your account. Go to the Settings menu and select the top item with your profile name or the Sign-in button. After authorization, the main cloud management menu will open.
Next, select Mi Cloud, which shows the amount of memory you're using and the list of apps available for synchronization, and allows you to activate or deactivate data transfers for each category separately.
☑️ Synchronization setting
Pay special attention to the Gallery section, where you can turn on the option "Sync over mobile network", but this is not recommended without a tariff with a large amount of traffic. It is better to leave this item off so that heavy videos do not "eat" your mobile Internet.
⚠️ Note: If you turn off gallery sync, new photos won’t be uploaded to the cloud, and old ones can be removed from the device when you clear memory if appropriate optimization is enabled.
Advanced users can use the advanced synchronization feature via the developer menu or special ADB commands, but for most scenarios, standard MIUI or HyperOS interface settings are sufficient.
Storage management and tariff plans
The basic account provides 5GB of free space, which can be enough for contacts, notes and documents, but for photos and videos, it is extremely small, and the system will notify you when the place is over and offer to expand the tariff.
| Tariff plan | Memory capacity | Cost (roughly) | Who's right for? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 5GB | Free of charge. | Contacts and documents only |
| 50GB | 50GB | ~69 rub/mo | Active users of messengers |
| 200GB | 200GB | ~149 rub/mo | Photo and video lovers |
| 2 TB | 2048 GB | ~499 rub/mo | Professionals and families |
You can pay for your subscription via embedded payment systems or international payment card systems, if they are supported in your region. Often Xiaomi holds promotions, offering the first month of subscription at a reduced price or free of charge.
If the limit is exhausted, the synchronization of new data will stop, but the old files will remain available for viewing, it is important to regularly check the storage occupancy so that important images do not lose when they are needed.
Family access
Typical problems and methods of their solution
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where sync “hangs” or gives an error, most often due to an unstable network connection or a malfunction of Google Play services. Reconnecting to Wi-Fi often solves the problem of suspended boot.
If persists error (saves), try clearing the cloud services cache. To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All apps, search for “Mi Cloud” and “Mi Cloud Services” list, then select “Clean” → “Clean up cache.” This will not delete your data, but will reset temporary files.
- 🔄 Reboot: a banal but effective way to restart system processes.
- 📶 Change the network: switch from mobile to Wi-Fi or vice versa.
- 🔑 Password rechecking: sometimes you need to log in again to your account.
- 📅 Date and time: Make sure that the device has automatic time, otherwise security certificates will not pass.
⚠️ Warning: Don't try to reset your phone to factory settings until you've made sure your data is actually stored in the cloud. Check this out through your browser on your computer by going to i.mi.com.
In rare cases, the problem may lie in the overcrowded memory of the phone itself, and if the internal storage is packed, the system may not have enough space to create temporary files before sending.
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90% of synchronization errors are solved by simply restarting the router or switching flight mode for 10 seconds.
Data security and confidentiality
When users transfer data to the cloud, they often worry about their safety. Xiaomi uses encryption protocols to transfer data, which protects information from interception in open Wi-Fi networks.
Two-factor authentication is a necessary security feature, and even if an attacker learns your password, they cannot log in without a code from an SMS or an authenticator application, and it is recommended that this feature be enabled immediately after registration.
Also worth remembering is Find Device, which allows you not only to track the location of a lost phone, but also to remotely lock it or erase all data, which only works when sync is enabled and the device is online.
Lost device mode
Check the list of devices that have access to your account regularly, Mi Account security settings display login history, and if you see an unfamiliar device or city, change your password immediately.