How to open an HTML file on a Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO phone

A teacher emails a quiz made with ChatGPT. A friend sends a Claude game on WhatsApp. You tap the .html file on your Redmi and get a screen of code, a page whose buttons do nothing, or a list of apps to choose from. This page covers what Xiaomi's own help says about it: where File Manager keeps the file, its Open in another app option, and the choice between Chrome and Mi Browser. Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO phones run Xiaomi HyperOS (Xiaomi's FAQs say the POCO X6 Pro and REDMI Note 15 Pro shipped with it). The steps here come from Xiaomi's generic user guide for HyperOS 3, which names no model, so a label on an older phone may differ. Android's own steps and our full test are in How to open an HTML file on Android.

The Xiaomi and Google help pages quoted here were read on November 6, 2026. Our device test ran in Google's Android emulator, not on a Xiaomi phone, so a label on yours may differ.

The quickest way on a Xiaomi phone: open Convika's free HTML viewer in Chrome, tap Choose an .html file, and pick the file from your downloads. Your browser reads the file, and it isn't uploaded. If someone sent you a file you weren't expecting, ask them first, and turn off Run scripts before you choose it.

Sending a page you made? The upload box at the top of this page turns your file into a preview link without an account. That preview runs no scripts, so a quiz or game won't respond there yet: it's for checking the layout on your own phone. Click Keep this page — free, no card and sign up, and the page moves into your account, where its scripts run and you can publish it.

What happens when you tap an .html file on a Xiaomi phone

Xiaomi's help doesn't say. What its HyperOS 3 guide does describe is File Manager's More menu, where you "Tap Open in another app to open the file with other apps."

We tested a tap in Android's own Files app, not on a Xiaomi phone, on October 21 and 22, 2026, on Android 16 in Google's Android Emulator, with Chrome 133. Android's own Files app showed Open with, listing Chrome and HTML Viewer, with Just once and Always under them:

• Chrome ran the whole page: its script, its button, a web font, and an image from the web.
• HTML Viewer showed the text and the CSS written inside the file. It ran no JavaScript, so the button did nothing, and it loaded nothing from the web.

Pick a browser, then Just once. Always makes that app open every .html file without asking, so pick it only for a browser. The emulator has no Xiaomi File Manager, so we didn't see which apps it lists.

Mi Browser. Xiaomi's guide says you can use Mi Browser to "use file management tools", and that its Files tab shows "all files". It doesn't say whether Mi Browser opens a saved .html file or runs its scripts, and we didn't test it: it doesn't come with Google's emulator. If your phone lists both browsers, Chrome is the one we saw run the page.

Open an HTML file on a Xiaomi phone in 4 steps

These steps open the file in Chrome, where its scripts run. Nothing is uploaded.

1. Save the file to your phone

In Gmail, open the email and tap Download, as Gmail's Android help describes. In WhatsApp or another chat app, use that app's own save button; we didn't test those apps, so a button's name may differ. A file sent from another Xiaomi phone with Xiaomi Share is already saved: Xiaomi says it's in "[File Manager] >> [Download] >> [MiShare] folder".

2. Find it in File Manager

Open File Manager. Xiaomi's help: "It usually has a folder icon and is pre-installed on your smartphone". Xiaomi's HyperOS 3 guide says it sorts files "into various categories, such as images, videos, docs, music, APKs, Bluetooth & downloads, and archives": look under downloads. Xiaomi's older help, written for MIUI, puts a "System download (browser, email attachment download, etc.)" in File Manager's Download folder. If the file isn't there, tap the search icon in the upper right of File Manager and type the file's name.

3. Open it with Chrome

Tap the file. If your phone asks which app to use, choose Chrome, then Just once, as in our emulator test. If it opens in an app that shows code, or in a page that doesn't respond, go back to File Manager and use Xiaomi's route: touch and hold the file to choose it, tap More, then Open in another app, and pick Chrome. A plain tap opens the file; Xiaomi's gesture guide uses touch and hold to "choose multiple items" in a list. In our emulator test, the page opened in Chrome with its scripts running, at an address that points into the phone.

4. If no browser is offered, use the HTML viewer

Open the HTML viewer in Chrome and tap Choose an .html file. In our emulator test, the file picker opened on Recent, which was empty: open the menu at the top left, choose Downloads, and tap the file. Xiaomi doesn't describe this picker, so a label on your phone may differ. The viewer opens .html and .htm files up to 2 MB, and your browser reads them on the phone. Don't open a file you weren't expecting: ask the sender first, and turn off Run scripts before you choose it.

If the code came to you as text in a chat or an email, choose Paste code in the viewer instead, paste it, and tap Show the page.

Choose Chrome or Mi Browser as your default browser

Xiaomi's steps in its HyperOS 3 guide: go to Settings > Apps, tap the icon at the upper-right corner, tap Other settings, then Default apps. "For example, you can tap Browser to select Chrome or Mi Browser as a default App to browse web pages."

• What it changes. Xiaomi doesn't say which browser a new phone uses, or whether File Manager follows this setting for a saved .html file. Open in another app is the route Xiaomi gives for opening one file in another app.
• If Chrome isn't on your phone. Xiaomi's guide says "Google Play Store is pre-installed on the Home screen". Install Chrome from there.
• If you tapped Always. The file then opens in that app without asking. Xiaomi's help doesn't say how to undo that, and we didn't test it.

Whatever app is set, the HTML viewer works the same way. It's a web page you open in Chrome, so the file never goes to the app your phone picks.

Ways to open it on a Xiaomi phone, compared

Why it shows code or a blank page

An app that shows the code is reading the file as plain text, not as a page; open it in Chrome instead. A page that looks right but doesn't respond was opened by an app that runs no scripts, as HTML Viewer did in our test. Missing pictures and styles usually mean that files saved next to the .html file didn't come with it. Why does my HTML file open as code (or a blank page)? checks each cause, and How to play an HTML game on your phone covers a game that opens but won't play.

Send a page that opens on any phone

If you're the sender, a link saves the other person every step above. They tap it in Gmail, WhatsApp, or Messages, the phone's browser opens the page, and its buttons work, on a Redmi, a Galaxy, or an iPhone.

With Convika:

1. Drop your file into the upload box at the top of this page, or paste the code, and click Get my preview link. You get a link in seconds, without an account. It works for 3 minutes, with scripts and forms off, so it's for checking your page, not for sending.
2. Click Keep this page — free, no card and sign up. The page moves into your account, and its scripts run in the dashboard preview.
3. Click Publish page. Under Who can open this page?, choose Public and click Next. The first time, click Publish free: the page goes live with a small Convika bar at the bottom. Under it, Publish without the Convika bar opens an order for Pro monthly ($12 a month, after a free 1-day trial with a card).
4. Copy the page's address, such as yourpage.convika.page, and paste it into the chat or the email instead of the file.

On Free, the page is published as Public: anyone with the link can open it, and it may show up in search results and in Convika's gallery. The Free plan includes 1 published page and 10,000 page views a month, and the dashboard shows how many people opened the page. How to send an HTML page on WhatsApp covers the sender's side in a chat, and How to share an HTML file as a link compares other free hosts. On a Galaxy, see How to open an HTML file on a Samsung phone or tablet, on a Huawei, How to open an HTML file on a Huawei phone or tablet, on an OPPO, realme, or OnePlus, How to open an HTML file on an OPPO, realme, or OnePlus phone, and on a vivo or iQOO, How to open an HTML file on a vivo or iQOO phone.

Frequently asked questions

How do I open an HTML file on my Xiaomi phone?

Open File Manager and find the file under downloads. Touch and hold it to choose it, tap More, then Open in another app, and pick Chrome: in our Android 16 emulator test, Chrome ran the page's scripts. If no browser is offered, open Convika's free HTML viewer in Chrome and tap Choose an .html file. If someone sent you a file you weren't expecting, ask them first, and turn off Run scripts before you choose it. We didn't test a real Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO phone.

Where do downloaded files go on a Redmi or Xiaomi phone?

Into File Manager. Xiaomi's HyperOS 3 guide lists "Bluetooth & downloads" among File Manager's categories, and Xiaomi's older MIUI help puts browser and email attachment downloads in the Download folder. A file received with Xiaomi Share is in Download, then MiShare. If you can't find it, tap the search icon in the upper right of File Manager and type the file's name.

Can Mi Browser open HTML files?

Xiaomi's help doesn't say, and we didn't test Mi Browser. Its guide says Mi Browser has a Files tab and "file management tools", not that it runs a saved .html file. Chrome ran an .html file in our Android 16 emulator test, so choose Chrome if your phone lists both. The HTML viewer is a web page, so it needs no app beyond a browser.

How do I make Chrome open HTML files on Xiaomi?

For one file, touch and hold it in File Manager, tap More, then Open in another app, and pick Chrome. To make Chrome your browser, Xiaomi's route is Settings > Apps, the icon at the upper-right corner, Other settings, Default apps, then Browser. Xiaomi doesn't say whether File Manager follows that setting for a saved file.

Why does my HTML file show code on my Redmi?

The app that opened it is reading the file as plain text instead of running it as a page. A browser is what turns HTML into a page. Open the file again from File Manager with Open in another app and choose Chrome, or paste the code into Paste code in an HTML viewer and tap Show the page. If the sender can give you a link instead, that opens straight in your browser.

How do I send an HTML file so it opens on a Xiaomi phone?

Send a link to the published page, not the file. Put the file on a host that runs its scripts, then paste the address into the chat or the email. With Convika, the upload box makes a preview link without an account, with scripts off, for checking the layout. Keep the page on the Free plan and publish it, and the link opens in any phone's browser with its buttons working.

Sources

• Generic User Guide for HyperOS 3 (Xiaomi, PDF) (no date on the page; checked November 6, 2026)
• How to check local APKs on the REDMI Note 12 Pro+ 5G? (Xiaomi FAQ) (no date on the page; checked November 6, 2026)
• Common storage paths for mobile phone system cache files (Xiaomi UK) (no date on the page; checked November 6, 2026)
• Xiaomi Share Function Introduction FAQ (Xiaomi) (no date on the page; checked November 6, 2026)
• POCO X6 Pro FAQ (Xiaomi) (no date on the page; checked November 6, 2026)
• REDMI Note 15 Pro FAQ (Xiaomi UK) (no date on the page; checked November 6, 2026)
• Open & download attachments in Gmail, Android (Gmail Help) (checked November 6, 2026)