Changing the owner of the number, fixing typos or simply wanting to systematize the phone book are the tasks that every smartphone user faces. On Xiaomi devices, including the popular Redmi 9T model, the process of editing records can be different from the usual interface of pure Android due to the MIUI shell. Understanding the logic of the contact book will help avoid confusion and loss of important data.
In this article, we will discuss not only basic renaming, but also more complex scenarios, such as combining duplicates and working with accounts. The system interface may change depending on the firmware version, but the basic principles remain unchanged. You will learn to quickly find the right features and manage your records with maximum efficiency.
Often users find that after saving changes, the name is not updated immediately or displayed incorrectly in various applications, this is due to the peculiarities of synchronizing and caching data in the system. The correct approach to editing ensures that changes are applied to all services, including messengers and social networks.
Basic editing through a standard application
The easiest way to change your name is to use the regular Contacts app, which is preinstalled on Redmi 9T. Open the app and find the entry you want in the list. Please note that editing requires you to have permissions to access the specific account where the number is saved.
Click on the contact name to open the card. At the bottom of the screen or in the top corner (depending on the MIUI version), you'll see a pencil icon or an "Change" button. Clicking on this element puts the interface into edit mode, where text fields are available.
Make the necessary changes to the fields "Name", "Family" or "Company". After editing, be sure to click the "Done" button or the tick icon to save. The system will automatically update the entry in the local database and send the changes to the server if synchronization is enabled.
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If the edit button is inactive (gray), check if the contact is blocked or if it is a system record that cannot be changed manually.
It’s worth noting that when editing, you can also add a photo, assign a special ringtone, or set a vibration for a specific subscriber, which is stored in the contact profile and will work even after you transfer the SIM card to another smartphone, as long as the data is stored in the cloud.
Working with duplicates and combining records
A common problem with changing a phone or SIM card is the appearance of duplicates, the same person can be recorded twice: once from a SIM card number, the other from a Google account, combining these records allows you to have one full card with all the numbers and addresses.
To do this, open a contact, click on the menu (three dots), and select "Combine" or "Connect." The system will offer a list of similar contacts that can be combined with the current one.
- 📱 Open the main contact card you want to leave.
- 🔗 Click the Action menu and select the Unification function.
- ✅ Confirm the selection of duplicate records for the merger.
☑️ Pre-unification checks
Once combined, all phones, email addresses and addresses from the combined cards will be available in one entry, and the name in such a composite card can be changed in the standard way, but the change will affect only the main profile, unless otherwise indicated.
⚠️ Note: When combining contacts from different sources (SIM and Google) priority is often given to data from your cloud account.
Editing via Google Contacts account
The most reliable way to manage contacts on Xiaomi Redmi 9T is to use a web interface or a separate Google Contacts app, which ensures that changes apply to all devices tied to your inbox.
Go to your phone's settings, look for Accounts and Sync, and select Google. Make sure that the contact box is synced, and if you change your browser name on your computer, it will automatically update on your phone when you have Internet access.
Google's cloud service also makes it easy to recover deleted records, and the web version of contacts has a Recycle Bin and Change Story feature that stores data for up to 30 days, which is critical for mass editing.
| Parameter | Local storage | Google account | SIM-map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo preservation | Yes. | Yes. | No. |
| Access to PC | No. | Yes. | No. |
| Recovery | Hardly. | Easy. | Impossible. |
| Symbolic limit | No. | No. | Limited. |
Why can’t contacts be synchronized?
Contact management on SIM-map
While modern smartphones like Redmi 9T recommend storing data in the cloud, many users still store numbers on a SIM card, and editing such records has its own features and limitations related to the memory capacity of the chip.
To change the contact name on the SIM card, go to the Contacts settings, select Import/Export or Contact Management. SIM-Here you'll see a list of all the records that are physically stored on the chip.
Select the number you want and click "Change." Note that the name field on the SIM card is often limited to 10-15 characters. Long surnames may be cropped or not saved completely. Text encoding may also be limited, resulting in "crackers" instead of letters.
- 📀 Get in contact management. SIM-maps through settings.
- ✏️ Select a record and edit a name, given the character limit.
- 💾 Save the changes by waiting for the chip to be recorded.
⚠️ Note: SIM card has very limited memory, and trying to add a photo, multiple numbers or a long address will result in a saving error or a suggestion to copy the record to the phone's memory.
It is recommended to periodically copy contacts from the SIM card to the memory of your phone or Google account, this will not only protect data from loss when the card breaks, but also remove restrictions on the length of the name and the number of characters.
Display and sorting setting
Sometimes users think that the name hasn't changed, but in fact, the changes have been made, and the problem may be that you can set the contact list settings, and you can flexibly set up what contacts to show and in what order in the MIUI shell.
Go to the Contacts app settings and find the Contacts Display section, where you can select by name or surname, and you can also set the order of the display: "First name" or "First name," which affects how the entry looks on the list, but does not change the data itself.
Check the filter of your display accounts. If you change your name on your Google account and your phone has a Phone Only or SIM filter, you won't see the updated version. Take off all the filters to see the full picture.
It's also worth checking for "Favorites" contacts. If you added a person to your favorites before renaming, the "Favorites" widget on your desktop or call widget may show a cached version of the name. Delete from your favorites and add back will update the data.
Addressing common problems
Although the operation is simple, technical failures sometimes occur, such as the contact name may return to the old version after a reboot or not appear on WhatsApp and Viber.
If the name doesn't change in the messengers, try clearing the app's cache. Go to your phone's settings, select "Apps," find the messenger you want, and click "Clear Data" (be careful, this can reset the login settings) or just "Clear Cache." After that, the messenger reads the phone book again.
If the system does not allow you to save the new name at all (the "Done" button is inactive or gives an error), check the required fields. Some versions of MIUI require at least one phone number to save the record.
- 🔄 Reboot your smartphone to update system services.
- 🗑️ Clear the cache of the Contacts and Phone app».
- ☁️ Check the synchronization status in the account settings.
⚠️ Note: If you use third-party launchers or themes, they may conflict with the standard contact interface.
In rare cases, removing a problematic contact and creating a new one from scratch helps, and before doing so, make sure you choose the right save location (Google account) so you don’t lose the call history associated with that number, even though the call history itself is stored separately.
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Timely sync with a Google account is the only way to ensure that your phone book is safe and up-to-date in case of any system failure or loss of your device.