6 Ways to Recover Lost Contacts on Xiaomi Phones

If you have lost contacts on your Xiaomi phone, don’t get upset. In most cases, this situation is correctable, you just need to know what to do. In this article, we will go through 6 ways to recover contacts on Xiaomi. These methods are suitable for all Mi and Redmi models.

How to recover contacts

Disable the display filter

One of the reasons why contacts disappear from your phonebook can be a display filter turned on. This feature tends to turn on by itself sometimes, much to the dismay of Xiaomi owners.

Depending on the Miui version, the location of the items may vary.

1. Go to Settings and open Apps > System apps;
2. Open “Contacts” and there find “Contact Filter”;
3. In the filter itself, the value should be set to “All contacts”.
   • If you are missing contacts without a phone number, then deactivate the “Hide contacts without number” option.
   • If you find it difficult to find the filter setting, there is an alternative way. Open your phonebook and just above the list of contacts will be the filter we want.
   • If no filter is detected in the above location, then tap the three dots in the top right corner. The drop-down menu will have the right item – “Settings” (further see point 2 above).

Restore contacts from Mi Cloud

These methods are suitable for those who have previously created a mi account and enabled data sync.

To start with, you can try to do everything through your smartphone.

1. In the settings, go to Mi account > Xiaomi Cloud;
2. Press the “Sync” button, thereby activating the forced synchronization with the cloud notebook. To be sure, you can additionally press the “Sync” button opposite the “Contacts” item.

For Miui 11

For those who have Miui 11 version, the way is different – Settings > Synchronization > Mi Cloud > Details button opposite the item “Synchronize data” > Sync button opposite the item “Contacts”;

If you have recorded phone numbers in the cloud storage, they will all appear on your smartphone.

Recovering data from recycle bin

It’s worth trying to restore from a backup (recycle bin). We recommend doing everything through a browser, an Internet connection is required.

1. Go to https://i.mi.com, click on “Sign in with your MI account”;
2. If necessary, go through the authorization process;
3. In the next step, select the “Contacts” section;
4. Sometimes you may be asked to confirm your phone number (or add if you don’t have one);
5. A list of contacts will be displayed in front of you;
6. If the list is empty or incomplete, press the Restore contacts button in the bottom left corner with a clock;
7. On the right side of the screen, use the slider to select the desired synchronization date and click Restore;
8. The window that appears will show you the changes you made during recovery (which entries will disappear and which will appear). If you are satisfied with the settings, click yes;
9. Confirm changes Confirm changes

After a couple of minutes, the restored contacts should appear on your smartphone (if not, activate synchronization from the previous sub-heading).

If you don’t find any contacts in your browser when you open the cloud, don’t press the restore button, otherwise, all contacts will be deleted from the phone!

A similar action can be done from your phone.

1. In the settings select “Mi account” > “Xiaomi Cloud”;
2. Open the shopping cart > “Contacts”;
3. Recycle bin
4. Choose a backup to restore.
5. Restore contacts from recycle bin Restore contacts from recycle bin
6. If the item you are looking for is not in the menu
7. If this is the case, you should use the search. Use it whenever something doesn’t match the images.
8. Enter the word “Restore” into the search in the settings and open the “Restore contacts” item;
9. Select the backup you created and click “Restore this backup”.

Restore contacts from the Google account

A method for those who have a Google account connected to their Xiaomi device.

1. In the settings, open Google > Settings for Google Apps;
2. Settings for Google AppsSettings for Google Apps
3. Select “Synchronise Google Contacts” and check that synchronisation is enabled. Open “Contacts in Recycle Bin”;
4. To restore, click on the gear icon in the top right corner > Undo changes and select the restore date for the last 30 days.

You can do all this via the Google contacts web service at https://contacts.google.com/.

1. Go to the website, and log in with Gmail if needed. Browse the Recycle Bin and Other Contacts (if there is no menu on the left, click on the three bars in the top left corner);
2. To undo changes, click the gear icon in the top right corner > Undo changes.
3. Restore entries from a system backup
4. Be sure to check for a backup in the system itself:
5. In the settings, open About phone > Backup and restore;
6. Select “Mobile device” and select the “Restore” tab at the top;
7. If a backup has been created, you will see a list with the dates in front of you. Select the copy you want, the data you want to restore and click Restore.
8. Otherwise, it is advisable to enable auto backup of important information, contacts, applications, settings. This may be useful in the future.

Software for restoring files

If no copies are found, it’s worth trying special data recovery software for android. The chance of success depends on:

• The intensity of use of the gadget;
• The amount of time since the subscriber records disappeared;
• The volume of the recorded data.

Mobile applications

Some mobile apps require root access for their full functionality, but you can try without it. There are a few applications to choose from that have performed quite well according to user reviews. It’s worth pointing out that no solution will provide a 100% guarantee of recovery. Each program works according to its own algorithm, so it’s worth trying a few software solutions.

Undeleter Pro;

A completely free program that only asks for an advertisement for its work. This solution scans the internal memory and external drives. It recovers many formats after deletion: audio, video, photo, notes, contacts and more.

DiskDigger photo recovery;

One of the most popular applications on Google Play. The developer claims to recover files even after formatting.

All Data Recovery;

All Data Recovery; The program is not only able to recover media files, but also documents and text data.

PC software

PC software tends to be more productive. Depending on your device, you may need root access.

EaseUS MobiSaver;

Downloadable from the official website www.easeus.com. This utility has a paid version and a free version, which should suffice for you. The trial version recovers no more than 10 files. This will be enough for contacts as all numbers will be displayed on the screen. You will only need to take a screenshot or write out the data manually.

1. Launch software;
2. Connect Xiaomi USB cable to computer;
3. Press “Start” and wait for scanning to finish;
4. On the left side select Contacts. Existing entries on the device are black, and restored ones are orange. Only 10 contacts can be returned to the phone through the “Recover” button. VCF creation is not available in trial mode. There is only manual overwriting of numbers.

Android data recovery;

Another program from a well-known vendor that supports all devices with Android 9 and below. Download it from www.fonepaw.com. There is a version for Windows and Mac.

1. Launch the program;
2. Connect your device;
3. Select the type of data to recover and press “Next;
4. On the left side choose “Contacts” and we will see all contacts recovered (they are marked with red colour). All you have to do now is to overwrite the numbers.
5. If the software does not see the smartphone or the process fails, try the following:
6. Change the cable to the original one;
7. Connect the phone in developer (debugging) mode;
8. Install MTP drivers.

Tips from users

We’ve collected various tips that have worked.

If some contacts are erased after syncing – try disabling syncing with a Google account or Mi Cloud, sometimes missing contacts appear in the phone after that;

If contacts disappeared after the firmware update – check the sync, you may have quit your accounts;

Be sure to check your device for viruses;

If contacts are missing after changing the sim card, most likely contacts were stored on an old sim.

Alexey

Make sure you make a copy of all contacts for the future. In the address book, press the three dots at the top right > Import and export > Export to memory > Remember the location of the vcf file and press “OK”. Then copy the file to another storage medium and to cloud storage.

Friends, post in the comments what method helped you, let other users know about it. After all, it is extremely unpleasant to lose important data.