Since we live in Canada, iTunes gives us some restrictions. We can’t change songs into ringtones. This is because all the songs that iTunes sells are protected. In the US, people can convert iTunes songs into ringtones because the right licenses are in place in the US. So how can I add my own ringtones to the iPhone? It isn’t that difficult to do but it is a ‘workaround’ type solution.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Download your MP3’s for whatever songs you want to turn into ringtones.
2. Add them to your iTunes library.
3. Click on file - get info.
4. Select the portion of the song (up to 30 seconds) that you want to make into a ringtone.
5. Select that file, click advanced - convert selection to AAC. This will create a new file in your iTunes library.
6. The next step is broken down into 3 parts - Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac
Windows XP
- find the new file on your hard drive, rename the file extention to m4r.
Windows Vista
- find the new file on your hard drive, right click it, select add file to WinRAR archive. You will need WinRAR to convert the file extension. When the file is in WinRAR, rename the file extension to m4r. Extract the file back onto your hard drive.
Mac
- find the new file on your hard drive, rename the file extention to m4r.
7. Import this new .m4r ringtone file into your iTunes library. It should appear in the ringtones section.
8. Sync your iPhone to add the ringtone.
9. Enjoy.
What ringtone do I have?
My favorite ringtone of all time it is Motorola signature ringtone - “Hello Moto….”. I found the MP3 on a website. I didn’t have to selection the portion of the song I wanted to hear because the file is only 16 seconds long. All I had to do was convert the file to AAC, rename the file extension to m4r, add it to my iTunes library, sync it to my iPhone. Now when my phone rings I hear ‘Hello Moto’. It’s pretty funny. That is the funniest ringtone to hear when you are in a room with a lot of people and it’s quiet then all of a sudden ‘Hello Moto’ breaks the silence. I’m sure many people have heard it before. If you don’t know the ringtone that I’m talking about, you can hear it and download it here.
Update:
Video of process and more detailed steps here.
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July 17th, 2008 at 10:02 am
How do i change it to m4r from m4p on windows xp?
July 17th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Just right click and manually write in the extension.
July 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Itunes won’t let me import the new .m4r song… it tells me it doesn’t appear to be a valid exported file.
How can i get around that??
July 20th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
so i follwed all 9 steps and the m4r now appears in my ringtones section, however when i sync my iphone i dont know where to select my ringtone. can anyone help!!!
July 20th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Sonia, I’m not sure what the problem is.
Ray, in iTunes, make sure the ringtones are in the ringtones section of your library, then go to setting, sounds, ringtones, and your custom ringtone should be at the top.
July 20th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
frustrating! so my ringtone is in my library and I’ve dragged it to my device. sync’d everything and the ringtone appears on my device but when i go to the settings section i dont see my custom ringtone in the list.
any ideas on why?
ps thanks for your help in advance!!!
July 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I’m not sure what the prob is. It works for me. The ringtone is in my iTunes ringtone library. I click on my iPhone under devices, I click on the ringtones tab, I click sync ringtones, I click sync selected ringtone, select the ringtone, then hit apply. It then appears at the top of my ringtones list on my iPhone under, setting, sounds, ringtones. I will try and make a video soon of the whole process.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
is there a difference with the original iPhone and the new 3G version? im using the 3G
July 20th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
so the issue i have is that it will not allow me to select a ringtone it only allows me to sync all ringtones but iTunes also informs me that if i sync ringtones then all of my music will be deleted!
July 21st, 2008 at 7:36 am
Ruffdeezy,
sorry for the triple post. just a quick question.
do you think the ringtone doesn’t work b/c of the 30 sec time limit? the one i’m trying to upload is 43 secs.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:30 am
Yeah it will automatically not work then, has to be 30 seconds or less.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Thank You! I’ve been trying to do this for so long…and it’s so simple. It was the winrar trick that worked for me. Glad I found this site!
July 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
wish there was a way to convert the purchased ACC files into m4r’s. afterall, i did purchase them.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
okay.. so ive followed all your steps but when i go to import the .m4r file back into itunes it just doesnt go into itunes… any advice?
July 27th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
@ ashley
If it’s an m4r file it should go into iTunes, the only thing that I can think of that if it is longer than 30 seconds, it won’t let you import it.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Okay so I have followed all the steps, converted my song into a ringtone, 24 seconds long, proper file extension, etc. I import it back into iTunes and when you look at the file info it says it is a ringtone but it goes into the library, not into the ringtones section. Any ideas???
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
can you drag it over? Try make a copy of the file, go into the ringtones library, and import again. You converted it to aac right before changing the extension?
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I did convert it to AAC then changed the extension. It won’t let me drag the file into the ringtones library. I tried again with another song, all 9 steps. Again it shows up in the library but not the ringtones section. Hmm…guess I’ll keep playing with it till i figure it out.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:10 am
I have the same problem as Eryn.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
no luck for me with 3g iphone
August 7th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Video will be uploaded in 10 mins
September 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I don’t have a ringer file under library and don’t know how to add one, anyone knows
October 7th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I dont have a section in my library called ringtones, am i missing something?
October 7th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
@ Chris
Yeah it should be there
what version of iTunes do u have?
October 7th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
8.0.1
I see question 23 by Dave is having the same problem as me.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
sorry daves question is #22
October 7th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
If you have a m4r file on your computer, when you double click it, it should add to iTunes, if it does, where does it go?
October 7th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Actually, go to iTunes preferences, and check off show ringtones.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Thank you so much for the help.
December 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I just found out how to get the ringtone to show up in the ringtone library :
Once you converted to AAC and changed the ext to m4r, drag the file from your music library to your desktop. Delete it from the itunes library into your trashcan and redrag it into the ringtone library. Works fine now. Make sure you synch the ringtones also.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 am
I have windows xp, and Ive gotten to the part where I change the file to a m4r, and I just tried renaming it but its not accepting it into my itunes. Any ideas for help?
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:04 am
Okay, so I found out how come I couldn’t change it (http://neyugn.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/m4a-to-m4r/#comment-146) and now I have it in my ringtones folder, but when I sync my phone it doesn’t show up.. Any suggestions? Thanks alot for the help!
July 20th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Thanks everyone for all your hints.After pulling my hair out for months about the fact that my”wonderful in every other way” iPhone would not let me download/buy ringtones, I finally have some new ones to choose from.
To Kaila: Make sure that when you are on the sync page in itunes and your phone is connected, that you click on the Ringtones tab and check off the “snyc ringtones” box. I had the same problem until I looked in the iphone help guide.
To js: Thanks for that info, dragging it to my desktop and deleting it from the library was the only way I could make it work.