Moving to a new Xiaomi smartphone is always exciting, especially when it comes to keeping important data safe. Contacts accumulated over the years can disappear in an instant if you don't prepare in advance. Fortunately, syncing through a Google account remains the most reliable way to transfer a phone book between Android devices. But what if contacts don't automatically recover? Or if you forget to link an account on an old phone?
This article will help you understand all the nuances from basic synchronization settings to recovering randomly deleted numbers. We will look at the specifics of working with Xiaomi (including Redmi models, POCO And we'll go through the typical errors and we'll give you a checklist to check each step. FAQ with solutions for 90% of cases.
Important: the manual is relevant for devices on MIUI 12-14 and Android 10-14. If your Xiaomi runs on an older version, some menu items may differ - we will also mention this separately.
1.Preparation: Checking the synchronization on the old phone
Before you transfer contacts to the new Xiaomi, make sure they are saved to your Google account at all. Many users have been using a smartphone for years, unaware that the phone book is only stored in the device's memory.
Open the Contacts app on your old phone → click on the three dots (menu) → select Contact Management → Import/Export. Here you will see where your numbers are stored:
- 📱 Locally on the device – contacts are not synced with Google and will disappear when reset.
- ☁️ Google account – numbers saved in the cloud and ready for the penos.
- 🔄 SIM-map – an outdated method, limited in scope (maximum 250 contacts).
If you only see local contacts, export:
- In the same menu "Import / Export" select "Export to the device" (created file.vcf).
- Send this file to your email or Google Drive.
- On the new Xiaomi, import it through Contacts → Import/Export → Import from the device.
Critical: If your old phone is already dropped or lost, go straight to the Recovery section, but remember, Google only stores deleted numbers for 30 days, after which they disappear forever.
2. Set up a Google account on the new Xiaomi
If you’ve just turned on a new Xiaomi (like the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ or Xiaomi 14 Ultra), the system will prompt you to sign in to your Google account at the initial setup stage. Don’t miss this step!
Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google. Here:
- 🔑 Enter the login and password from the same account that was on the old phone.
- 🔄 Enable the Contact Sync slider (and other data if needed).
- ⚙️ Click on the gear icon on the right. → «Synchronize now».
On Xiaomi with MIUI 14, the path may be slightly different: Settings → Memory and Sync → Google → [your account] → Data Sync.
Log in to a Google account|Enable contact synchronization|Run manual synchronization|Check the appearance of contacts in the app "Contacts"-->
If no contacts have appeared after synchronization:
- Make sure you have a stable internet connection (better via Wi-Fi).
- Check if traffic savings are turned off in Settings → Connections → Data Use → Traffic Savings.
- Restart your phone – sometimes it speeds up the process.
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On Xiaomi, two SIM-To avoid this, turn off the contact maps before synchronization. SIM c.Contact → Settings → Display contacts
3. Manual contact recovery via Google Contacts
If automatic sync doesn’t work, manually restore contacts through the web version of Google Contacts.This method will also help if you accidentally delete numbers on your old phone.
Open contacts.google.com on your computer or phone and follow the steps:
- Sign in with the same account as Xiaomi.
- On the left menu, select “More” → “Restore Contacts”.
- Specify the date on which you need to roll back the phone book (options are available in the last 30 days).
- Click on “Restore” and confirm the action.
Then go back to Xiaomi and start the manual sync again (see the previous section).
What to do if Google Contacts does not have the “Restore” option
Important: Restore your current Google contacts for the date you were on, and if you add new numbers after you delete them, you have to re-enter them.
4. Recover Remote Contacts via MI Cloud (for Xiaomi)
If syncing with Google didn’t work, try to restore contacts through the branded MI Cloud.This method only works if the old Xiaomi backup was enabled in the Mi Account.
Instructions:
- On the new Xiaomi, sign in to Mi Account (the same one that was on the old phone) via Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account.
- Go to MI Cloud → Backup.
- Select the last backup with the desired date and click “Restore”.
- Check the “Contacts” box and confirm the recovery.
Please note:
- ⚠️ MI Cloud only keeps backups for 3 months (as opposed to 30 days for Google).
- 📱 Recovery will replace current contacts on your phone.
- 🔄 If the backup is damaged, try an earlier date.
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MI Cloud is the only way to restore contacts if they were stored locally on Xiaomi and not synced with Google.
If this method doesn’t work, then the last chance is to use third-party utilities like Dr.Fone or Tenorshare UltData, which scan the phone’s memory for deleted data, but require root access and don’t guarantee 100% results.
5. Solving typical synchronization errors
Even with the right setup, contacts may not recover, and consider the most common problems and their solutions:
| Mistake. | Reason. | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts are not synchronized | Synchronization in Google account is disabled | Enable Settings → Accounts → Google → Synchronization |
| The error is "Synchronization stopped" | Unstable Internet connection | Connect to Wi-Fi or restart your phone |
| Duplicate contacts | Contacts are imported from both Google and SIM | Clear doubles in Contacts → Management → Combine |
| Contacts are available on Google Contacts, but not on your phone. | Contacts cache damaged | Clear the cache in Settings → Applications → Contacts → Memory |
If none of the methods worked, try the extreme option:
- Delete your Google account on Xiaomi (Settings → Accounts → Google → Delete your account).
- Reboot the phone.
- Add the account again and enable synchronization.
Warning: Deleting your Google account may cause some app settings (such as Gmail or YouTube) to reset, but will not affect the data on the device itself.
6. How to avoid future contact loss
To avoid having to deal with missing contacts, follow these rules:
- 🔄 Enable automatic synchronization in the settings of Google account.
- ☁️ Regularly create backup copies of MI Cloud (Settings) → MI Cloud → Backup).
- 📤 Export your contacts to a.vcf file every six months and save it in a safe place (e.g. Google Drive).
- 📱 Do not keep your contacts only on SIM-map is unreliable and limited in scope.
It is also useful to enable Auto-Recovery in MI Cloud on Xiaomi.
- Go to Settings → MI Cloud → Synchronization settings.
- Enable the option "Data Auto Recovery".
- Select “Contacts” from the list of data to be restored.
This will automatically return remote contacts within 15 days of their deletion.
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If you change phones frequently, use the Google Contacts app instead of the standard Contacts app on Xiaomi.It syncs faster and has advanced duplicate management features.