How to change your email in your Xiaomi account: instructions for all devices

Changing your Xiaomi email account is a procedure that every user of the Mi Account ecosystem will face sooner or later. The reasons can range from the banal desire to update an outdated mail.ru on @gmail.com to the need to unlock the device after buying from hand. However, many users face errors such as “This mail is already in use” or “I failed to send a confirmation code”, not to mention the risk of blocking the account if you do not do it.

In this article, we will discuss all the official and alternative ways to change mail on Xiaomi devices, including smartphones (Redmi Note 12, POCO X5), tablets (Pad 6) and smart watches (Mi Band 8). Particular attention will be paid to bypassing restrictions when changing mail on the account associated with the device - this is the only situation where the standard instructions from Xiaomi do not work, you will also find a table with error codes and their solutions, a checklist for preparation for the procedure and answers to frequent questions about the consequences of changing email.

Why you can’t just change your email in Xiaomi settings

Unlike Google or Apple ID, where it takes a couple of clicks to change an email, Mi Account is tightly tied to the device, and it's designed to protect against theft -- if the email could be swapped without confirmation, the thief could easily untie the stolen smartphone from the original owner.

• 📧 Confirm the old email – it will receive a code to unlock the shift.
• 🔒 Accessing the device – if the phone is locked (for example, after a reset), you will need to unlock through Find Device.
• ⏳ 30 days waiting – when changing mail on some devices (e.g. Redmi) 10C) Account blocked for a month.

Moreover, if you bought a smartphone with your hands and the previous owner did not untie your account, changing mail without his participation is impossible – you will need a complete reset through the Internet. EDL-The mode (we'll talk about it in the section about unlocking) is one of the reasons why Avito or OLX Xiaomi is often sold with tied accounts at a low price.

Official way: change mail through phone settings

If you have access to old mail and your phone is not locked, follow this guide, which is suitable for all devices on MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS (2026).

1. Open the Settings. → Xiaomi account (or Mi Account on older versions).
2. Slip your mail at the top of the screen, then select Account Management.
3. Scroll down to Security and click Change email.
4. Enter the password from Mi Account and confirm with the code from SMS (if two-factor authentication is enabled).
5. Enter new mail (supported by @gmail.com, @mail.ru, @yandex.ru, etc.) and confirm it with a code.
6. Wait for the email from service@account.xiaomi.com asking you to confirm your shift. Don't ignore this email - without confirmation, the mail won't change!

If the mail has not changed after this, check:

• 📥 Spam folder in new email – sometimes a letter from Xiaomi gets there.
• 🔄 Update your account page – sometimes changes are not immediately applied.
• 🕒 Time on the device – if it is knocked down, the confirmation code may not arrive.

Check access to the old mail

Make sure your phone is not in "Lost" mode.

Disable VPN (can block SMS)

Battery charge > 50%

Save a backup of the data (settings → Additional → Backup)

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What to do if you don’t have access to your old mail

The situation when a user does not remember the password from an old email or it was deleted is one of the most difficult. Xiaomi does not provide official ways to change mail without confirmation, but there are workarounds:

1. Restore email. If it's @gmail.com, try re-accessing through Google Account Recovery. For @mail.ru or @yandex.ru, use similar recovery services.
2. If the phone is bought with hands, try contacting the seller via Avito/OLX Ask them to unplug their account, offer to pay for the service (usually worth it). 300–500 ₽).
3. Contact Xiaomi for support. Write to the official forum or support chat (Settings → About phone → Feedback). Attach a purchase check (if any) and a photo of the box with IMEI. The chances of success are ~30%.
4. Dumping through EDL-This method removes the account’s link to the device, but requires disassembling the phone and using the Mi Flash Tool.

⚠️ Note: If you bought Xiaomi with a linked account and the seller refuses to help, return the phone under warranty (if it is valid) or through the Consumer Protection Act!

Unlocking through EDL: the extreme method for experienced

EDL (Emergency Download Mode) allows you to flash your phone bypassing the Mi Account lock, but has risks:

• 🔧 Requires disassembly of the phone (decoupling the battery and closing contacts).
• 📉 Possible loss IMEI Serial number (on some models).
• ⚠️ Guarantee voided.

If you are ready for this, follow the instructions:

1. Download the Mi Flash Tool and firmware for your model (e.g. Redmi Note) 11 — vili_fastboot.zip).
2. Disassemble the phone, disconnect the battery, and close the EDL contacts (search for 4PDA for your model).
3. Connect the phone to a PC, and it will be defined as a Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008.
4. In the Mi Flash Tool, select the downloaded firmware and press Flash. Use Clean All mode (delete all data!).
5. Once you've done the firmware, the phone boots up without being tied to your account, and you can now create a new Mi Account with any mail.

⚠️ Warning: On new models (Xiaomi 13, Redmi Note 12 Pro)+) post-flip EDL The antirollback can work, the phone will lock at the bootloader level, in which case only the official service will help.

Errors in changing mail and their solutions

Even with the right actions, users are faced with errors, and we put the most common ones in a table:

If your error is not in the table, check:

• 🌐 Account Region – some features (e.g., change mail) may not be available in China or India.
• 📶 Internet connection – use a mobile network if Wi-Fi blocks requests.
• 🕘 Time on the device – if it is downed for more than 5 minutes, the Xiaomi server will refuse confirmation.

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If you see error 40001 ("Too frequent requests") when you change your email, wait 24 hours and try again.

Change mail on smart watches and fitness bracelets Xiaomi

On devices like Mi Band 7, Mi Watch or Redmi Watch 3, you can’t change your email directly, it’s linked to your Mi Fitness (or Zepp Life for new models) account.

1. Open the Mi Fitness app on your phone.
2. Go to Profile → Settings → Account.
3. Click Exit (this will untie the clock from the old account).
4. Come back, but with a new post.
5. Connect the watch to a new account through Add Device.

⚠️ Note: When you log out of your Mi Fitness account, all steps, sleep and workout data will be deleted from Xiaomi servers! → Data export (not available on all models).

If the watch was purchased with a tied account, you can reset it to factory settings:

1. On your phone, remove the watch from the device list in Mi Fitness.
2. On the watch itself, go to Settings → Reset (the way the menu is called depends on the model – usually holding the button for 10 seconds).
3. Connect the watch again through the app using a new account.

Consequences of changing mail: what to check

After successfully changing your email to Mi Account, be sure to follow the following steps:

• 🔄 Update your email in related services: Mi Cloud (cloud storage), Mi Home (smart home), Mi Fitness (watches, bracelets) Xiaomi Community (forum)
• 📱 Check the synchronization: go to Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud and make sure contacts, notes and photos are synced.
• 🔐 Update your login details: If you used old email to log in to games or banking apps, update it there.
• 🛡️ Enable two-factor authentication: Go to Security → Two-step check and link the phone number.

If you notice after changing the mail that:

• 📵 Notifications have stopped coming – check the settings in Settings → Notifications → Annexes.
• 🔋 Battery goes down quickly - reset the cache to Settings → Annexes → Application management → Mi Account → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• 🌐 Mi Cloud is not working – log out and log in again.

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After changing your email, be sure to check Mi Cloud — sometimes photos and contacts sync is lost. If the data doesn't pull up, try restarting your phone.

FAQ: Frequent questions about changing email in Xiaomi