Xiaomi smartphone owners, particularly the Redmi 9, often have to move the phone book when changing devices or recovering data. The standard import procedure may not seem obvious, since the MIUI shell interface has its own unique features that differ from pure Android. Understanding exactly where numbers are stored and how to access them is a key skill for any user.
Modern gadgets offer to store data in a Google cloud account by default, which ensures their synchronization and security. However, many subscribers still prefer to store important information directly on a physical medium, a SIM card, this may be due to the desire to have a backup off the Internet or a habit formed by years of using button phones.
In this article, we will take a look at all the ways you can view the contents of your SIM card on your device, we will look at the standard system tools, the capabilities of third-party applications and methods of forced importation if the standard path does not work, you will learn to manage your phone book as efficiently as possible.
Where are the numbers physically stored and how does SIM memory work?
Before embarking on technical manipulation, it is important to understand the architecture of data storage. SIM-The Subscriber Identity Module is not just a piece of plastic with a chip, but a full-fledged microcomputer with its own file system, but its capabilities are extremely limited compared to the internal memory of a smartphone or cloud storage.
Unlike the Xiaomi Redmi 9’s internal memory, which allows you to store thousands of contacts with photos, additional numbers and email addresses, the SIM card chip has tight limits. It usually only has 250 or 500 entries. Moreover, the recording format often trims long names to 10-12 characters and does not support Cyrillic in some old standards, which can lead to “crackers” instead of names.
When you save a number to a SIM card, it is written to a special memory sector that is readable by any phone you insert it into, but modern operating systems, including Android 10 and higher, which runs Redmi 9, often hide direct access to this sector for security and stability reasons.
⚠️ Note: SIM card memory is not intended for long-term storage of important information. If the chip is damaged or lost, you will lose all recorded numbers without the possibility of recovery.
That’s why Android is trying to pull all the contacts out of the SIM card when it first starts and save them to a more secure location, and understanding this process helps to avoid situations where the book is empty after the card is moved to a new phone.
Standard method of import through the Contacts app
The most common and secure way to see what is recorded on your SIM card is to use the built-in Contacts app. In the MIUI shell, this process is implemented through the import function, which copies the data from the card to the phone's internal memory, making it visible to the user.
To start, open the standard Contacts app (an icon with a human silhouette) and in the upper right corner of the screen you will see a three-dot icon or a gear that represents the settings menu. Click on it and select Import/Export contacts, which is where the key to managing SIM memory lies.
In the menu that opens, the system will prompt you to select a data source. You need to find and click on the option Import from the data source. SIM-If you have two SIM cards on your phone, the system will ask which one is the one (SIM 1 SIM 2) the data must be read. After the selection, the scanning process will begin.
- 📱 Select destination folder: the system will offer to save contacts to Google account, phone or memory Mi Account.
- 📂 Mark all numbers: not all records may be highlighted by default, make sure it is ticked "Select all".
- 💾 Confirm the action: click the "Import" or "Copy" button to complete the transfer.
Once the operation is complete, all the numbers previously hidden on the SIM card will appear in your shared contact list, and you can now edit them, add photos, and combine duplicates, which was impossible with the limited interface of the card itself.
Configure the display of contacts in MIUI
There are times when the import has already been made, but the user still does not see the numbers. This is often due to display filters in the settings of the application itself. Xiaomi Redmi 9 allows you to flexibly configure which contact sources should be displayed in the common list.
Go to the Contacts settings and find the Contacts Filter or Display section, and here you will see a list of all available storage facilities: internal memory, Google, SIM-Map, WhatsApp, Viber and other messengers. Make sure the switch is opposite the item"SIM-map activated.
Sometimes the problem is duplicates. The system can automatically combine the same numbers from different sources, hiding the original entry from the SIM card. To verify, you can use the function of sorting or searching by name. If the number is searched but not visible in the general list, the problem is in the filter.
It's also worth checking if the "Favorites Only" mode or some third-party launcher that could have changed the standard behavior of the phone book is turned on, and returning to standard display settings often solves the "missing" subscriber problem.
⚠️ Note: When you turn on the display of contacts from messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram), the list can become very large and confusing.
Competent filtering allows you to keep your phone book clean and tidy, displaying only the right sources of information, and this is especially true for users who actively use multiple SIM cards and accounts.
Using third-party applications to manage SIM
If standard MIUI tools for some reason do not display the contents of the SIM card or work incorrectly, specialized applications from the Google Play store come to the rescue. They have deeper access to the phone's API and can read data directly from the chip.
One popular solution is the SIM Card Manager app, or high-rated analogues, and once you install it, you need to give it permission to access your contacts and phone, and it scans the card and displays the list of numbers in a readable format.
The advantage of third-party utilities is that you can not only view it, but also analyze the memory in detail, so you can see how much space is left, and delete unnecessary entries directly from the card without first copying them to the phone.