How to Set a Custom Ringtone: Turn Any Song Into a Ringtone for iPhone

Before you start, the song you want to use must be in your iTunes library on your computer.

If the song isn't in your library, you can import any MP3 or AAC file into iTunes, and I find it effective to use the Voice Memos app on my iPhone to record real-world sounds or people's voices to turn into ringtones.

Launch iTunes by double-clicking its shortcut or by finding it in the Start menu. From your music library, right-click on the song you want to use as a ringtone and then select Get Info. (It's called Song Info in the latest version of iTunes.)

Select the Options tab and then tick the Start and Stop boxes. Enter times at which you want the ringtone to start and stop. You will have to listen to the track first and note down the time you want it to start. The stop time must be within 30 seconds, as this is Apple's maximum length for a ringtone.

Top tip: If you want to be really precise about when you ringtone starts, use a decimal point. For example, if the section of music starts between 44 and 45 seconds, try entering 0:44.5 in the Start Time box. You can even specify the start and stop time in thousandths of a second, so you could type 0:44.652

Click OK to dismiss the window.

In versions of iTunes before 12.4 (and 12.5.1), right-click on the track again, and then select Create AAC version. iTunes will convert the song. It will appear as a duplicate track - you can identify it by the fact it lasts 30 seconds or less. If you see 'Create MP3 version' or something else, the fix is in the next step.

Note: Apple has moved the 'Create AAC version' option in iTunes 12.4 (and later). You now have to select the track by clicking once on it. Then go to the File menu, choose Convert, then Create AAC version.

In older versions, the newly created song will appear in the same album, but will show the duration you've set so should be easy to tell apart from the original. With later versions of iTunes, it may appear as a new album or song.

If you don't see an option to Create AAC version, it's because your CD rip settings aren't set correctly. To change this, click the menu at the very top-left corner of iTunes and choose Preferences... Then click Import Settings... next to 'When you insert a CD' and choose Import Using: AAC Encoder.

In iTunes 12.4 (and above), click the Edit menu, and choose Preferences to see the same options.

Right-click on the song that you chose originally and then using the Options tab from the Get info menu, untick the start and stop times to return them to their original times then click OK.

Otherwise, when you play that track in future, it will only play the section between your start and stop times. And you don't want that.

Now right-click on the short ringtone track and click Show in Windows Explorer. (This also works in iTunes 12.4 and later.)  On a Mac, the option is called Show in Finder.

You need to do complete this step in order to change the file's extension (and therefore its type), which we'll do in the next step.

The file will be highlighted in the window which opens up. Right-click on it and choose Rename. Now change the extension from .m4a to .m4r. Click Yes when asked if you want to change the extension.

If you can't see the .m4a extension (i.e. you just see '01 Dancing Queen' and not '01 Dancing Queen.m4a'), it's because Windows is set to hide the extensions. Here's how to show the extension for editing. You'll also see how this is done in the video above.

If file extensions are hidden you cannot simply add .m4r when renaming the file. All you would achieve is changing '01 Dancing Queen.m4a' to '01 Dancing Queen.m4r.m4a'. This will not work!

You need to import the ringtone to iTunes. There are several ways to do this, but I prefer to open the Tones section in iTunes and drag the .m4r file from a File Explorer / Finder window into iTunes. But you can also double-click the file in File Explorer, or use the File > Add file to library option in iTunes.

The exact method depend on your version of iTunes. To find the Tones section do the following:

In iTunes 12, click on the three dots and choosing Tones from the menu.

In iTunes 12.4 (until 12.7), you have to click on the button that says "Music", then Edit Menu... and tick the box next to Tones. Click Done, then click the Music button again and you will see the Tones section. Your brand new tone should be listed, along with any others you bought or created previously.

In iTunes 12.7, which is a cut-down version, there is no Tones section, so you won't be able to see them. (See the next step for how to transfer to your iPhone.)

Ignore this step if you have a version of iTunes earlier than 12.7.

Apple cut the bloat out of iTunes in version 12.7, removing the App Store and various other things including Tones.

However, you can still sync your custom tones with your iPhone if you have this version or a newer one.

To do it, connect your phone to your PC or laptop with its USB cable. Tap 'Trust this computer' if necessary and wait until your phone icon appears in iTunes. 

When it does, click on it and it will appear in the left-hand column. Click on it and the list should expand so you can see a Tones section. Click on that and you'll see any custom tones appear on the right (if you don't have any, that list will be blank).

Switch to your File Explorer Window where your ringtone should be highlighted (refer to the Find the File step earlier). Right-click on it and copy it (or hit Ctrl+C on your keyboard). 

Go back to iTunes, click on Tones if this section isn't already selected and hit Ctrl+V to paste the tone - it should now appear in the list of tones and will be synced with your phone automatically. Note that you can no longer drag and drop tones from an Explorer window to iTunes.

Windows users: You don't need to delete the short AAC version of the song from your iTunes music library, but you should do so as a housekeeping task since the file won't play and it gets messy if you make lots of ringtones.

Mac users: Sometimes ringtones simply won't show up in the Tones section. There are two things to try here:

1- Delete the ringtone 'song' entry in your iTunes Music library (don't delete the actual file on your hard drive - choose to keep it when prompted). Then double-click on the .m4r file in Finder and it should show up in Tones.

2- If that doesn't work, try moving the .m4r file outside of your iTunes folder on your hard drive (such as to the desktop). Then double-click on it. 

In iTunes 12.4 (until 12.7) your phone will appear as an icon to the right of the Tones button. You can click and drag your ringtone and, as you do so, a panel will open on the left-hand side. Simply drop the tone(s) onto your iPhone to sync them.If you have problems, select all the tones you want to put on your phone and click the Sync button at the bottom right.

In previous versions of iTunes 12, your phone - when you connect it via USB - will appear as an icon to the right of the three horizontal dots near the top-left corner. Don't click on it.

Simply select the tones you want (hold down Ctrl and then click on each in turn). They'll be highlighted in blue. Click and hold on any one and drag them over the phone icon. A list will appear on the left: just drop the tones on the device and a sync should begin.

If you have problems, force a sync by clicking on the phone icon, then on the Tones section in the left-hand menu. Make sure a sync isn't already running, then tick the tones you want to transfer and click the Sync button at the bottom right of the iTunes window. This should also solve the problem where existing custom tones are removed from your phone when you add a new one.

Now that the new tone is on your phone you need to set it as your ringtone.

To do this, open the Settings app on your iPhone, then tap Sounds (also called Sounds & Haptics), then Ringtone. Your custom tones will appear at the top of the list, above the default Ringtones. Just tap on one to make it your ringtone.

The fun doesn't stop there, as you can use your custom tones for other things such as text message alerts.

If you want have a custom tone for text messages, tweets, Facebook posts, new voicemails, reminder alerts or anything else, it's exactly the same process as for a ringtone.

The only difference is that you'll need to select the appropriate section under 'Sounds & Haptics' on your iPhone.

Just tap on the type you want, Text Tone for example, and you'll see the Alert Tones list.

Scroll down past these, and you will see your Ringtones list. Your custom tones will again be at the top of this section.

It's not a great idea to use a 30-second song as a text message alert, though. And, in case you're wondering, there's no difference between a 'song' and a sound effect in iTunes, so you don't have to use part of a song from your music library as your custom alert tone.

All you need is a sound effect in a format iTunes can import (usually MP3), and it will be treated it just like any other song. Then, repeat the same process as for a ringtone to create and sync the sound effect to your iPhone, then select it as we've shown.

Finally, did you know: you can also create custom vibrations? Here's how to set personalised vibration patterns directly on your iPhone.