How To Set Any Iphone Song As A Ringtone

Most of the iPhone users prefer keeping the default ringtone. The same might create confusion in a public space. To avoid the situation, having your favorite song played when you get a call can be a great help. Using iTunes or Music app, you can easily create a custom ringtone of your preferred song and transfer it to the iPhone. Here's the step-by-step guide to set a song as a ringtone on your iPhone.

Make Custom Ringtone for iPhone Using iTunes or Music App
How to Set a Song as a Ringtone on iPhone

Make Custom Ringtone for iPhone Using iTunes or Music App

If you are using a desktop with Windows or macOS Mojave and earlier, use iTunes, or consider using Music App for macOS Catalina and later. In either scenario, steps are identical.

Inside the Music app or iTunes, locate the song of which you wish to create a ringtone. It can be a purchased track from the iTunes store or downloaded from elsewhere. Please note that Apple Music songs are DRM-protected and can not be used to create a ringtone.
Right-click on the song and select Get Info. In iTunes for Windows, it is called Song Info.
Choose the Options tab. Check the box for 'start' and 'stop' and enter the song's desired segment. This will be the starting point and endpoint of your ringtone. Make sure it does not exceed 40 seconds. Finally, click on 'OK.'
Important: The time duration between 'start' and 'stop' must strictly be up to 40 seconds. If it is more than this, the ringtone won't be reflected. Further, if you plan to use this as an alert tone for messages, emails, etc. then the duration must be 30 seconds or less.
Click to select the song. Now, from the menu bar, click on File → Convert → Create AAC Version. This new version will have the same name as the original song. However, its duration will be less than 40 or 30 seconds (as chosen by you).
Right-click on this new version of the song and select Show in Finder. On Windows PC, click on Show in Windows Explorer.
iPhone recognizes only .m4r as a ringtone. So, we will have to rename this audio file's extension. To do this, right-click on the file and choose Rename. Change .m4a to .m4r → From the popup, click on Use .m4r. You have successfully created the ringtone. Now, we need to transfer it to the iPhone.
But before that, do not forget to follow step 3 again and uncheck the 'start' and 'stop' checkboxes for the original song. This will ensure that the song normally plays from the beginning to the end.
Use a Lightning cable to connect your iPhone with the computer. On macOS Catalina and later, open Finder and from the left sidebar, click on your device's name. Click on Trust. Now unlock your iPhone and enter its passcode. To 'Trust' on Windows PC and older Macs, open iTunes. Click Continue. After that, unlock your iPhone and enter its passcode.
From the General tab inside Finder or iTunes, check the box toManually manage music, movies, and TV shows. Click on Apply.
Drag the .m4r ringtone file on the iPhone's sync window inside Finder or Music app. In iTunes, click on Tones under 'On My Device' and drag the file here.

Now, let us see how to set this song as your ringtone on the iPhone.

How to Set a Song as a Ringtone on iPhone

Open the Settings app and tap on Sounds & Haptics.
Tap on Ringtone. You will see your custom tone at the top of the list. Tap on it to set it as your ringtone.

If the duration is less than 30 seconds, you can use this custom tone as text tone, new mail tone, reminder alerts, etc.

To delete this ringtone, swipe right to left on it and tap on 'Delete.'

Wrapping Up!

Using the above steps, you can effortlessly create as many awesome ringtones you like.

Use Third-Party Apps: You can also use ringtone apps for this job. Besides letting you create custom tones from songs saved in the iPhone Music library, these apps even have a rich library of premade sounds from various categories. Once you create your ringtone, you will have to use a computer to copy these tones from the app and transfer it to the iPhone.

Create Custom Ringtone Without Computer: If you do not wish to use a desktop, you can easily create ringtone straight on your iPhone or iPad. It requires GarageBand, which is a free app from Apple.

Buy Tones: You can also purchase ringtones of several popular songs from the 'Tones' section of the iTunes Store app.

iTunes

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I have been an Apple user for over seven years now. At iGeeksBlog, I love creating how-tos and troubleshooting guides that help people do more with their iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and Apple Watch. In my free time, I like to watch stand up comedy videos, tech documentaries, news debates, and political speeches.