How to completely remove all contacts on Xiaomi Mi 8: safe ways and nuances

Removal of all contacts on Xiaomi Mi 8 may be necessary in a variety of situations: before selling the phone, when changing the phone. SIM-maps or simply to clean the address book from accumulated garbage, but many users face problems - contacts are synchronized with a Google account or a Google account. MI-Some of them are duplicated, and the standard deletion through the Contacts app works incorrectly. In this article, we will analyze three proven methods that are guaranteed to clean your address book, as well as tell you how to avoid typical errors and what to do if contacts suddenly “return” after deleting.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 (codenamed dipper) is based on MIUI, Xiaomi’s proprietary shell, which is deeply integrated with Google’s services and the brand’s own cloud solutions. This means that simply clicking “Delete Everything” in the contact menu often doesn’t work as expected. For example, if you delete contacts locally, they can automatically recover when you next connect to the Internet due to synchronization with Google Contacts or Mi Cloud. So it’s important to understand which source your contacts are stored and how to work with them correctly.

Preparation: verification of contact sources

Before you start deleting, you need to determine exactly where your contacts are stored. On the Xiaomi Mi 8, they can be distributed among:

• 📱 Local storage (on the phone itself)
• ☁️ Google account (synchronization via Gmail)
• 🔵 Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud, tied to the cloud) MI-account)
• 📞 SIM-card (if the contacts are stored on it)

To check sources, open the Contacts app, click on the three dots in the top right corner, and select Contact Management → Sources. Here you will see all the accounts that your contacts are syncing with. If you have Google or Mi Cloud on the list, removing only local contacts will not work, they will recover the next data update.

Also, make sure you have a backup of important contacts, don't plan to restore them, backup will help avoid accidental data loss, and you can export contacts to.vcf:

1. Open Contacts → Settings → Import / Export.
2. Select Export to a file and specify a save location (e.g., internal memory or SD-map).
3. Confirm the export – the file will be saved as contacts.vcf.

Method 1: Remove via MIUI settings (local and cloud contacts)

This method is suitable if you want to delete all contacts at once, including those stored in the Mi Cloud. Importantly, after this procedure, the restoration of contacts will only be possible from a backup.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account.
2. Click on your account and select Mi Cloud.
3. Scroll down to the Contacts section and turn off synchronization (switch to off position).
4. Return to Settings → Applications → Application Management, find Contacts and select Storage → Clear Data.
5. Confirm the removal – it will remove all local contacts.
6. Return to Mi Cloud and enable back sync. Now cloud contacts will also be deleted (since the local base is empty, the cloud is synced to it).

If contacts are still displayed after these actions, check:

• 🔄 Is synced with Google account enabled (disable it in Settings) → Accounts. → Google → Synchronization of the account).
• 📱 Are there any contacts left on SIM-map (check in contact) → Settings → Imports/Exports → S SIM-map).

⚠️ Note: If you are using a double SIM-map on Xiaomi Mi 8, contacts can be shared between two slots. remove them separately for each slot through the Import / Export menu.

Method 2: Delete via Google Contacts (for synchronized accounts)

If your contacts are linked to a Google account, they can be deleted centrally via the web interface, which is convenient because the changes apply to all devices that are logged in to that account.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Google Contacts website on your computer or phone and log in under the same account as you did on the Xiaomi Mi 8.
2. Click on the gear icon (Settings) in the upper right corner.
3. Choose Delete Contacts.
4. Specify range: All contacts or select specific tags (e.g. Mi 8 if they have been tagged).
5. Confirm removal.

After that:

• 📵 On Xiaomi Mi 8, open Settings → Accounts. → Google and turn off contact sync.
• 🔄 Reboot the phone.
• 🗑️ Clear the Contacts app cache (as in Method 1, paragraph 4).

⚠️ Note: If you use multiple Google accounts on Xiaomi Mi 8, make sure to remove contacts from the correct profile. → Accounts. → Google – there will be a main account for synchronization.

Method 3: Reset to factory settings (radical method)

If the first two methods didn’t work or you want to clean your phone completely (like before selling), you can do a hard reset.This method will delete all data, including contacts, messages, apps and settings.

Instructions:

1. Create a backup of important data (photos, documents, contacts in.vcf format).
2. Open Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
3. Select Delete all data (reset to factory).
4. Enter the password from MI-Account (if requested).
5. Confirm the reset - the phone will restart and begin the cleaning process.

After discharge:

• 📱 The phone will be like new, without tied accounts.
• ☁️ Contacts from Google or Mi Cloud will not automatically be restored if you do not log in to your accounts.
• 🔑 If you plan to transfer your phone to another person, remember to get out of the way. MI-Account settings (Settings) → Mi Account → Get out).

⚠️ Note: Xiaomi Mi 8 with firmware MIUI 12 and above after reset may require the entry of a password from previously used MI-This is a security measure against theft. Make sure you remember the login details!

5. How to restore contacts after deletion (if necessary)

If you accidentally delete important contacts, they can be restored depending on the storage source:

For Google Contacts:

• Go to contacts.google.com.
• In the menu on the left, select the basket.
• Mark the necessary contacts and click Restore.
• The storage period in the basket is 30 days.

For Mi Cloud:

• Open i.mi.com and log in.
• Go to the Contact section → Basket.
• Restore the required records (retention period - 15 days).

For local contacts:

• If you have made a backup (.vcf), import it through Contacts → Settings → Import / Export → Import from the file.
• If you don’t have a backup, try using data recovery software (like Dr.Fone or EaseUS MobiSaver), but the odds are low.

💡

If you regularly clear contacts, set up automatic export to Google Drive. To do this, google Contacts → Settings → Export, select backup frequency.

6. Common mistakes and how to avoid them

When removing contacts on Xiaomi Mi 8 users often face the following problems:

1. Contacts are returned after removal

🔹 Reason: Google or Mi Cloud syncs are not disabled.

🔹 Solution: Before deleting, turn off synchronization in account settings.

2 Not all contacts are removed

🔹 Reason: Contacts are distributed among multiple sources (SIM, Google, Mi Cloud).

🔹 Solution: Check all sources in Contact → Contact management → Sources.

3.After reset, the phone requires an old one MI-account

🔹 Reason: Mi Account Lock protection activated.

🔹 Solution: Before reset, log out of your account in Settings → Mi Account → Get out.

4.You cannot delete the contact with SIM-map

🔹 Cause: Operator restrictions or damaged SIM.

🔹 Solution: Try inserting SIM To another phone and delete contacts from there.

💡

Always check the contacts before deleting, and if sync is enabled, local deletion will not work, and the data will be recovered from the cloud.

FAQ: Frequent questions