How to know the exact date of activation of the Xiaomi phone: official and hidden methods

Did you buy Xiaomi hand-held or want to check if the phone was activated earlier than stated? The first activation date is a critical parameter that affects the warranty, the ability to unlock the bootloader and even the cost of the device when resold. Unlike the date of production (which can be found by the serial number), the activation date is only fixed when you first connect to the network or link to your Mi Account.

The problem is that Xiaomi doesn’t display this information publicly — it has to be pulled through service menus, requests to company servers, or third-party services. In this article, we’ll look at 5 working ways, including those that work even after resetting, and you’ll also learn why the date on the warranty card may not match the actual activation date and how to check this.

Verification through Mi Account (official method)

The most reliable way to do this is to use the Mi Account data that your phone is linked to, and this method works if you:

• 🔹 The device was not detached from the account after activation.
• 🔹 You are logged in under the same account as the first owner.
• 🔹 The phone did not pass the procedure of anlock bootloader with a complete reset.

Instructions:

1. Open the Settings app → Mi Account.
2. Scroll down to the Device block and select your smartphone.
3. Click on Device Management → Activity History.
4. In the First Connection section, the date and time of activation will be indicated.

⚠️ Note: If the phone was dropped via Fastboot or flashed over an unofficial firmware, the date in the Mi Account may be lost.

Try logging in to another account (maybe the first owner used a different email)

Check the binding via the web version of Mi Account on your computer

Use the method with IMEI (Section 3)

Contact the service center with a check of purchase-->

2. Hidden engineering menu (for advanced users)

In the firmware MIUI There is a hidden menu ##4636##, but it doesn't show the activation date. Instead, we'll need a service menu that's accessible via a button combination or ADB-This method works for most Xiaomi, Redmi and other models. POCO 2018–2026.

Step-by-step:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone and click on MIUI Version 7 times.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your phone to your computer and execute the command in ADB: adb shell dumpsys activity service com.miui.securitycenter/com.miui.permcenter.autostart.AutoStartActivity
4. Find the line in the conclusion first_boot_time — This is the timetamp (number of seconds with) 1 January 1970 Convert it to a date using this service.

💡 Useful advice: If ADB Does not recognize the device, install the Mi drivers USB Driver from Xiaomi’s official website or use the Mi Flash Tool to install automatically.

3. Checking by IMEI through Xiaomi services

Each Xiaomi phone is assigned a unique IMEI (or two if the device supports two SIM-This number not only provides the date of activation, but also the warranty status, the region of sale and even the history of repairs. However, the official Xiaomi website does not provide this information directly, you will have to use workarounds.

Methods of verification by IMEI:

• 📱 Through the Mi Verification website: Go to the checkout page. Enter IMEI (You can find it in the settings. → The phone. → General information or box: If the phone is activated, the system will show the date of the first connection to the network (not to be confused with the date of production!).

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⚠️ Attention: If during the inspection IMEI On the Mi Verification website, you see a message saying “This device has not been activated” but the phone is working – this could mean that the device is not activated:

• 🔄 The device was unlocked and re-flashed with custom firmware (for example, LineageOS).
• 📦 The phone is unofficially imported (gray imports) and not registered in the Xiaomi database.
• 🔧 IMEI It was modified software (found on recovered devices after theft).

🔍 Important: If there are several logs BOOT_COMPLETED, Focus on the first one. The next ones can refer to reboots after updates or resets.

💡

If you don’t have root rights, try using the Logcat Extreme app from Google Play.It lets you browse logs without ADB, but with restrictions.

5. Check through the warranty card and box

If you buy a phone with your hands, the seller can show you a warranty card or check from a formal store, but the date on the ticket does not always match the activation date - here's why:

• 📅 Date of sale ≠ The phone could be bought and activated in a month (or not activated at all if it was in stock).
• 🔄 Reactivation after reset. When you reset it through Recovery, the date in the system is reset, but the original entry remains in the Xiaomi database.
• 📦 Fake documents: There are cases where fraudsters forge checks, indicating a later date to hide the real age of the device.