How to transfer music from conductor to playlist on Xiaomi: all ways

Transferring your favorite tracks from the file manager to the playlist on Xiaomi smartphones seems like a simple task — until you encounter the features of the MIUI shell. Unlike “pure” Android, here the standard music player behaves not always predictable: it does not see the folder with music, creates duplicate playlists, ignores changes in the file structure. In this article, we will analyze 5 working ways to transfer music from basic to advanced, including bypassing typical errors.

Xiaomi is also actively promoting its own services, such as Mi Music (or Music in new MIUI versions), which by default scans only standard folders (/Music/, /Download/Music/), ignoring user directories. In addition, after the updates to MIUI 14+, the logic of working with playlists has changed — they are now tied to the Mi Account, which adds complexity. We took into account all these nuances and prepared current instructions for Redmi, POCO and flagship models Xiaomi 13/14.

1. Method: Standard Addition via Mi Music

The most obvious method is to use the built-in Mi Music player (or just Music in newer versions of MIUI) which automatically scans music in /storage/emulated/0/Music/ and /Download/ folders, but often doesn't see files in other directories. Here's how to make it work correctly:

• 📁 Open Explorer and find the music folder. If the tracks are not in the standard directories (Music or Download), move them there, which will make it easier to continue.
• 🎵 Launch the Music app (desktop note icon) wait for the library scan to be completed (top screen indicator).
• 🔍 If the tracks don't appear, click on three dots (⋮) → Settings → Scan files. Select Scan manually and specify the music folder.
• 📋 To create a playlist: go to the Playlist tab, click + New playlist, give it a name, then hold your finger on the track. → Add to the playlist.

⚠️ Attention: B MIUI 14+ Playlists are synced by default to Mi Account. If you're not logged in, they may disappear after you reboot. To turn off sync, go to Settings Music. → Account and deactivate the option.

2. Method: Using a file manager with playlist support

If the standard Mi Music refuses to see your tracks, try alternative file managers who know how to create playlists directly.

• 📂 Solid Explorer – Supports the creation of.m3u-Playlists with the possibility of exporting to Mi Music.
• 🗂️ FX File Explorer – has a built-in audio player and a tool for generating playlists.
• 🎶 Mixplorer – allows you to add tracks to playlists of other players (including: VLC poweramp).

Instructions for Solid Explorer:

1. Open the music folder in Solid Explorer.
2. Select tracks (hold your finger on the file → mark the necessary ones).
3. Press three points (⋮) → Add to the playlist → Create a new one.
4. Save the playlist in.m3u format to /Music/Playlists/.
5. Open Mi Music – the playlist will appear in the Local Playlists section.

⚠️ Note: If the playlist doesn’t appear in Mi Music, check the file extension – it should be.m3u, not.m3u8 (Also make sure that the playlist file shows relative paths (e.g., the playlist file,../Music/track.mp3), not absolute (/storage/emulated/0/...).

3. Method: Move over Google Play Music (for older versions of MIUI)

Before the Google Play Music service was shut down in 2020, this was one of the most reliable methods, and now it only works on devices with MIUI 11-12, which still support the old API. If you have old firmware, follow the instructions:

1. Install Google Play Music from APK (e.g. with APKMirror).
2. Open the app and allow access to the storage.
3. Go to Settings → Scan the device and wait for the process to complete.
4. Select tracks → click Add to playlist → create a new one.
5. The playlist is automatically synced to Mi Music via Android MediaStore.

🔹 Alternatives for new versions MIUI: Use YouTube Music (it has a function to download local files:

1. Open YouTube Music → Library → Tracks → Downloaded files.
2. Click Add Music and select the folder with tracks.
3. Create a playlist and add downloaded tracks to it.

4. Method: Manual creation of a playlist file (.m3u)

If the automatic methods don't work, you can create a playlist manually through a text file, which is universal and works on all versions of MIUI.

1. Open any text editor (such as QuickEdit or the built-in Notepad in Explorer).
2. Enter the track paths in the format:

#EXTM3U


#EXTINF:123,Artist - Track Name




/Music/Album/Track1.mp3




#EXTINF:234,Artist - Track Name 2




/Music/Album/Track2.mp3

1. Save the file with the.m3u extension to /Music/Playlists/ folder (e.g. myplaylist.m3u).
2. Open Mi Music – the playlist will appear in the Locals section.

📌 Important nuances:

• The paths should be relative (from the root of the /Music/ folder).
• File names are case sensitive (Track.mp3 ≠ track.mp3).
• For Cyrillic names, use the UTF-8 encoding.

5. Method: Computer Transfer (ADB or MTP)

If nothing works on a smartphone, you can transfer music and playlists through a computer, which is suitable for large collections (100+ tracks) or if you need to save the folder structure.

Option 1: Through MTP (like a flash drive)

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB (select File Transfer Mode).
2. Copy the tracks to the internal memory/Music/ folder.
3. Create a playlist.m3u file (see section 4) and place it in Music/Playlists/.
4. Turn off the device and update the library in Mi Music.

Option 2: Through ADB (for Advanced)

If MIUI blocks folder access, use ADB:

adb push C:\Music\*.mp3 /sdcard/Music/


adb push C:\playlists\myplaylist.m3u /sdcard/Music/Playlists/

Then, run a command to update the media base:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE -d file:///sdcard/Music/

💡

If Mi Music still doesn’t see tracks, try restarting the device or clearing the app’s cache (Settings → Apps → Music → Storage → Clear the cache).

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even following the instructions, Xiaomi users often face problems.

• 🚫 Playlist disappears after reboot → Reason: sync with Mi Account, Solution: Turn it off in Music settings or use local.m3u-file.
• 🔄 Tracks are duplicated → Reason: Re-scan folders. Solution: Clean the library (Music Settings) → Clear the data) and rescan.
• 📛 Wrong album covers → Reason: no built-in cover.jpg in the folders of the albums. Solution: add the cover to the folder with music (the file should be called cover.jpg or folder.jpg).
• 🔊 The tracks are playing in the wrong order → Reason: Sort by file name. Solution: rename the tracks in format 01-Track.mp3, 02-Track.mp3 etc.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 14+ and HyperOS (e.g. Xiaomi 14) standard player can ignore playlists created by third-party applications (VLC, Poweramps that are not subject to system limitations.

💡

The most reliable way is to create a manual.m3u-It works on all versions. MIUI It does not depend on firmware updates.

FAQ: Frequent questions