How to completely disable synchronization between Xiaomi and Samsung: 3 proven ways

Why synchronization between Xiaomi and Samsung can be a problem

Today’s Android devices are using cloud services to synchronize data between gadgets. When you have smartphones from different brands — like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 and Samsung Galaxy S23 — their cloud ecosystems can conflict or duplicate information, leading to chaos in contacts, calendars, notes, and even photos that suddenly appear on an “alien” device.

The main reason for automatic synchronization is in Google services (all Androids are universal) and manufacturers’ proprietary clouds: Xiaomi’s Mi Cloud and the Korean brand’s Samsung Cloud. Even if you didn’t set up sync consciously, it could turn on automatically when you first log in. Let’s look at how this works and why you sometimes need to shut down completely.

What data is synchronized between devices automatically

Before you turn off sync, it’s important to understand what data is being transferred between your Xiaomi and Samsung, which will help you avoid losing important information.

• 📇 Contacts – phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays from the address book
• 📅 Calendars and Events – Meetings, Reminders, Tasks from Google Calendar or Branded Apps
• 📝 Notes – Texts from Mi Notes, Samsung Notes or Google Keep
• 📷 Photo and video – media files from the gallery (if you have enabled autoload to the cloud)
• 🔑 Passwords and bookmarks – data from Chrome or Samsung Internet browsers
• 📍 Location data – history of visited locations (if geolocation is enabled)

Hidden background processes are particularly insidious: for example, Xiaomi can sync your SMS via Mi Cloud, and Samsung can back up your settings through Samsung Cloud, both devices pulling data from Google Account at the same time, creating duplicates.

Method 1: Disabling synchronization through Google Account (universal method)

The most effective way to stop the exchange of data between Xiaomi and Samsung is to manage the settings of the Google Account, which is used on both devices.

Follow the following steps on each device separately:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync (on Xiaomi, accounts and backups may be called).
2. Select your Google Account (usually an email at @gmail.com).
3. Click Account Sync or Sync Management.
4. Turn off all switches for applications you don’t want to sync (contacts, calendars, Chrome, etc.).
5. Go back and click Delete Account (if you want to completely break off Google connection on this device).

Important! Deleting your Google Account will result in loss of access to the Play Market and other services, and if you need apps, you'd better just turn off syncing of individual data rather than deleting your account entirely.

Method 2: Deactivate Mi Cloud on Xiaomi devices

Xiaomi's proprietary cloud, the Mi Cloud, can sync data even when Google syncs are disabled, to stop this process completely:

1. Go to Settings → Mi Account (or Xiaomi Account on new models).
2. Choose Mi Cloud (the cloud may be called Xiaomi Cloud on global firmware).
3. Turn off all switches: Contacts, Notes, Gallery, Records, etc.
4. Scroll down and click Out of Mi Account if you want to completely break the connection with the cloud.

On some Xiaomi models (such as the POCO F5 or Redmi K60), the path may be slightly different:

Settings → Password and security → Mi Account → Mi Cloud

On global firmware devices (such as the Xiaomi 13T Pro for the European market) after leaving the Mi Account, you may need to reset via the Mi Unlock Tool the next time you sign in.

Method 3: Disable Samsung Cloud on Samsung gadgets

Samsung has its own cloud ecosystem, the Samsung Cloud, which syncs data by default to the company's servers to turn it off:

1. Go to Settings → Accounts and backups.
2. Select Samsung Cloud.
3. Click Synchronization and Autocutting Copy.
4. Turn off all app switches (contacts, calendar, Samsung Notes, etc.).
5. Go back and select Delete Data from the Cloud if you want to erase information that has already been downloaded.

On the new models (Galaxy S24, Galaxy Z Fold 5) the path can look like this:

Settings → Cloud and accounts → Samsung Cloud → Synchronization settings

⚠️ Note: Some Samsung firmwares will stop using Find My Mobile after the cloud is turned off. If you use it to find a lost phone, don't delete your Samsung account completely - just turn off synchronization of individual data.

Additional measures: disabling cross-platform services

Even after major cloud services are disabled, some applications can continue to sync.

Pay special attention to messengers, many of them (including Viber and Signal) automatically upload contacts to the cloud.

• 📱 In each messenger go to Settings → Confidentiality.
• 🔍 Find options like Contact Sync or Cloud Backup.
• ❌ Disable all switches associated with automatic data exchange.

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If you have duplicates left in your contacts after you turn off sync, use the Contacts Optimizer app (available in the Play Market) to automatically combine duplicate entries.

What to do if the synchronization resumes on its own

Sometimes, after a firmware update or a device reboot, the sync is turned on again, and this is due to Android background processes that restore default settings to prevent this from happening:

1. Turn off application auto-update: Play Market → Profile → Settings → Network settings → Auto-update apps → Select “Do not update automatically”
2. Freeze unnecessary system applications (root rights or ADB required): adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.cloudservice # For Xiaomi adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.sec.android.app.scloud # For Samsung
3. Use apps to monitor background activity, such as Greenify or Brevent.

On Samsung devices with a One UI shell, disabling the Automation feature can help:

Settings → Additional features → Automation → Disable all rules

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 11 Pro)+) After disabling system applications through ADB You may not be able to use push notifications from Mi Accounts, but keep this in mind.

How to check if the synchronization is actually disabled

To make sure that data exchange between devices is stopped, perform several checks:

1. Contact Test: Add a new contact to Xiaomi. check if it shows up on Samsung (and vice versa).
2. Calendar test: Create an event on one device. Make sure it doesn't show up on the other.
3. Gallery check: Take a photo on Samsung. Make sure it doesn't show up in Google Photos or Mi Gallery on Xiaomi.

Traffic monitoring:

• Use the NetGuard or GlassWire app to track which apps are transmitting data in the background.

If after all the manipulations, the data continues to synchronize, the reason may be:

• 🔄 Third-party apps (e.g. Sync for Reddit or IFTTT), who have access to accounts.
• 📡 Local sync via Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth (check Quick Transfer settings on Xiaomi and Quick Share on Samsung).

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If you use the same Google Account on both devices, you can’t completely disable sync without deleting your account, in which case you can consider creating separate accounts for each smartphone.

FAQ: Frequent questions about synchronization Xiaomi and Samsung