How to Transfer Data from Huawei to Xiaomi: A Complete Guide

Changing your smartphone is always an exciting process, often accompanied by personal information anxiety. When you move from Huawei devices to the Xiaomi ecosystem, you are challenged to migrate contacts, photos, messages and installed apps, and fortunately, modern technology allows you to do this as quickly as possible and without losing important data, if you know the right tools.

The main and most effective tool for this is the Mi Mover app, developed by Xiaomi engineers specifically for such cases. However, there are alternative methods, such as using cloud services or manual copying, which can be useful in specific situations. In this article, we will discuss each method in detail, paying special attention to the nuances of transferring data from EMUI and HarmonyOS shells to MIUI or HyperOS.

Before starting the procedure, it is essential to prepare both devices: charge them to a minimum of 50-60% and make sure that the software is stable. Ignoring this stage can lead to interruption of the transfer process, which in rare cases causes errors in the file system. The most reliable way to migrate is to use Wi-Fi Direct through the Mi Mover application, since it does not require an Internet connection and provides maximum speed.

Preparing devices for data migration

Successful transfer of information directly depends on the correct pre-preparedness of both smartphones. On the Xiaomi device, you need to make sure that you have a fresh system update installed, as older versions of the Mi Mover may not have the necessary protocols to work correctly with new versions of Android or HarmonyOS from Huawei. Check for updates in the settings menu by going on the Settings path → About Phone → MIUI version.

On the old phone side, Huawei also recommends a storage audit, removing temporary files, social media cache and unnecessary video files will significantly speed up the copying process, and avoiding errors if the amount of data being transferred is close to the free space limit on the new device.

If you’ve been using Huawei Cloud extensively, make sure your contacts and calendar are synced, although we’ll use other, more direct methods to switch to Xiaomi. VPN-services or ad blockers that can interfere with the installation of a local connection between gadgets.

Using the Mi Mover application for portability

The Mi Mover app is a regular tool that is usually pre-installed on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones. If your new device doesn’t have it for any reason, it can be downloaded for free from the GetApps store or Google Play. On an old Huawei phone, the app also needs to be installed, as it acts as a data client.

The process of launching is as follows: on a new Xiaomi phone, open the app and select the role “I’m a recipient.” On a Huawei device, select the role “I’m a sender.” The app on the new device will create a Wi-Fi hotspot that you need to connect to from the old phone. Important: it does not require mobile traffic, the connection is established directly between devices.

Once the connection is established, the system will suggest selecting data categories to transfer. You can copy contacts, messages, call history, images, music, video, and even some system settings. The Mi Mover algorithm is optimized to minimize downtime, but the speed can vary depending on the amount of data and the version of the Wi-Fi modules.

• 📱 Contacts and phone book are transferred with the preservation of all fields and avatars.
• 📸 Photos and videos are copied in original quality without compression.
• 📲 Apps are automatically installed if they are available on Google Play or GetApps.
• 📝 SMS and call history is saved in native shell format MIUI.

Transfer through Google Account and Cloud Services

An alternative and commonly used method is sync through a Google account, ideal for those who are already used to the Google ecosystem and want to have a backup of data in the cloud, and on a Huawei phone you need to go to your account settings, select Google, and make sure that your contacts, calendar, and app data syncs are activated.

Once the data is synced to the old device, take a new Xiaomi smartphone. When you first turn on or in the account settings section, add the same Google account. The system will automatically prompt you to recover data from the cloud. This method is especially effective for transferring contacts and calendar events, since they are tied directly to the account, not to the device.

⚠️ Note: When recovering from Google Cloud, some specific shell settings EMUI, It might not be possible to do things like dictaphone recordings or notes in Huawei's own format, but it might be better to use manual export or Mi Mover.

Google Photos is great for photos and media files. Install the app on Huawei, enable autoload and wait for the process to end. On the new Xiaomi, it is easy to log in to the same account, and your entire library will be available instantly, taking up minimal space on the internal drive thanks to the “Saving Space” feature.

Manual transfer of files via computer

In cases where wireless methods are unstable or huge amounts of data need to be transferred (e.g., hundreds of gigabytes of video into a video) 4K), The most reliable option is to use a PC. Connect your Huawei phone to your computer via a computer USB-cable and select file transfer mode (MTP). Copy the required folders (DCIM, Download, Music to your computer's hard drive.

Then disable the old phone and plug in the new Xiaomi. Move the saved files to the appropriate directories of the new device.This method ensures that no bit of information is lost due to connection errors, and allows you to pre-sort files, removing unnecessary debris before downloading to the new smartphone.

When using a computer, it is recommended to use the original cables that came with the devices. Cheap charging cables may not support high data rates, which will turn the copying process into a long wait. Also make sure that the USB ports on the computer are good and provide sufficient power.

Nuances of WhatsApp and messengers transfer

You should also consider migrating your WhatsApp history, as it stores data locally or in the cloud tied to a specific number and account. When switching from Huawei to Xiaomi, it is important to back up your chats to Google Drive on your old device. Open WhatsApp, go to Settings → Chats → Backup, and click Backup.

On a new Xiaomi phone, install WhatsApp and log in using the same phone number. The app will automatically detect a backup on Google Drive and prompt you to restore your message and media history. Critically, don't start using WhatsApp on your new phone until you restore your backup, otherwise new messages can create a database version conflict.

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For Telegram and Viber, the history of correspondence is stored on servers, so it is enough to simply install the application and log in - all chats will be downloaded automatically without additional actions.

In some cases, especially when changing operating systems (which is not relevant here, since both phones are on Android, but is relevant when changing accounts), local portability through the Chat Transfer feature inside WhatsApp settings may be required. QR-code and local area network, similar to Mi Mover, and often runs more stable than cloud recovery for large media volumes.

Solving problems and errors in synchronization

Despite the fact that the process is fine, users may encounter difficulties. One of the common problems is interruption of the connection while Mi Mover is running. This often happens if one of the devices is power-saving mode, which aggressively restricts the work of the background processes and the Wi-Fi module, and it is recommended to temporarily disable all battery optimizations for the migratory application.

Another common mistake is the incompatibility of Android versions: If Huawei has a very old version of Android and Xiaomi has the latest version, some system settings may not be transferred, in which case you should not panic: basic user data (photos, contacts) will be saved and the settings will have to be configured again, which sometimes even more useful for clean operation of the system.

⚠️ Note: If the process is suspended during the stage 99%, Don't rush to interrupt it with the back button. Often the system completes the final indexing of files in the background. 5-10 minutes before the forced reboot.

Also worth mentioning is the Wi-Fi password problem, which is that when you transfer data, passwords may not be copied for Android security reasons, but you'll have to re-enter them when you first connect to your home network on a new device, which is standard security behavior, not an application error.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

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Mi Mover is the gold standard for migration between Android smartphones, providing a balance between speed, convenience and completeness of data.