Free iPhone ringtone maker

iPhone ringtone maker, M4R or M4A in seconds

Pick the best 30 seconds of a song, a sound or a video, let it fade out softly, and save it as an M4R ringtone file or as an M4A to finish in GarageBand on your iPhone. The song never leaves your device.

Up to 30 seconds, the length Apple gives
M4R ringtone, or M4A for GarageBand
From MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC or video

Drop a song to make a ringtone MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC, or a video. The first 30 seconds are selected; move the handles to pick others. Choose an audio file

How to make an iPhone ringtone

Open the song
Tap Choose an audio file. The first 30 seconds are selected, ready to play.
Pick your 30 seconds
Drag the handles or play the song and press Use current position. The tool will not let the part pass 30 seconds.
Choose M4R or M4A
M4R ringtone is the ringtone file itself; M4A for GarageBand is the one to bring into GarageBand on the iPhone.
Download and add it
Press Make the ringtone, then Download, and follow Apple's GarageBand steps further down this page.

Want a clip of any length, or the song in another format? Audio cutter or Audio converter.

How long an iPhone ringtone can be

Apple says ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long (Apple), and its GarageBand guide gives 30 seconds as the maximum for exported ringtones, offering to shorten a longer one for you (GarageBand for iPhone). So this maker selects the first 30 seconds of your song and stops you if the part grows longer, rather than leaving the choice of what to drop to another app.

A ringtone repeats while the phone rings. Start the part on a beat or on the first word of a chorus, and keep the 1-second fade out that is set for you, so the jump back to the start is soft instead of sudden.

M4R or M4A: which one to make

Both files hold the same AAC sound in an MP4 file, and the header inside says M4A in both; only the name at the end differs. Which one you want depends on how you will add it to your iPhone:

Choice	What you get	Pick it when
M4R ringtone	AAC sound in a file ending in .m4r	An app or computer you use takes ringtone files as .m4r
M4A for GarageBand	AAC sound in a file ending in .m4a	You will finish it in GarageBand on the iPhone, which imports AIFF, WAV, AAC and MP3 files (Apple)

When the song is already AAC (most M4A files) and you turn the fades off, the sound is copied as it is. Otherwise it is encoded as AAC at about the bitrate of the song, from 96 to 192 kbps. A 30-second ringtone at 128 kbps is about 480 KB.

Put the ringtone on your iPhone with GarageBand

This is the route Apple describes for a custom ringtone, and it needs only the iPhone and GarageBand, which Apple points you to in the App Store if it is not installed (Apple). Make the M4A for GarageBand on this page first.

Step	What to do on the iPhone
1. Find the file	A file downloaded in Safari goes to the Downloads folder in the Files app (Apple).
2. Start a recording in GarageBand	On the Home Screen, touch and hold the GarageBand icon, tap Create New Audio Recording, then tap the Tracks button at the top.
3. Bring in your file	Tap the instrument icon on the left, then the Loops Browser button, then Files, then Browse items from the Files app, and pick your file. Touch and hold it and drag it all the way to the left in Tracks view.
4. Export it as a ringtone	Tap the Navigation button, then My Songs. Tap More, then Select, and select the song. Tap Share, then Ringtone, enter a name and tap Export.
5. Use it	Tap Use sound as, then Standard Ringtone, Standard Text Tone or Assign to contact.

The part is already 30 seconds or less and starts with the sound, so there is nothing to trim in GarageBand. These steps follow Apple's article Create a custom ringtone on your iPhone.

Change your ringtone later, or give one to a contact

Apple puts the ringtone setting in Settings, under Sounds & Haptics: tap the sound you want to change and pick a tone. For one person only, open Contacts, tap their name, tap Edit, then Ringtone or Text Tone (Apple).

A ringtone from a video

The maker opens MP4 and MOV videos as well as sound files, including videos recorded on an iPhone, and uses only their sound: the picture is skipped. Choose the video, pick the 30 seconds by listening, and save the M4A as usual. A clip of a laugh, a pet or a favorite line makes a ringtone nobody else has.

A ringtone that is too quiet

If a song or a recording you made sounds too quiet to hear in a pocket, raise it first with increase video volume, which takes sound files too: open it there, choose +6 dB or a loudness target, and download the louder copy, which keeps its format and has a limiter to stop the peaks clipping. Then open that copy here and make the ringtone.

Ringtones from a computer

Apple's guides to syncing an iPhone with a Mac in the Finder (Apple) and with a Windows PC in the Apple Devices app (Apple) list music, movies, TV shows and other content, but they do not mention ringtones or tones. We only give the steps Apple documents, so this page follows the GarageBand route, which works on the iPhone alone.

Songs you can use

Apple's article says GarageBand can also take a song from your Apple Music library once it is downloaded to the iPhone, but a protected song cannot be used for a ringtone (Apple). This maker opens files, not songs inside the Music app or other streaming apps, so use a file you have the right to use: your own recordings, or music you bought as a plain file.

The song is read on your device and never uploaded, and the ringtone is written without the song's title, artist or cover art.

Questions

How long can an iPhone ringtone be?

Apple says ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long. This maker keeps the part at 30 seconds or less.

How do I turn an MP3 into an iPhone ringtone?

Open the MP3 here, choose your 30 seconds and press Make the ringtone. Choose M4A for GarageBand if you will finish it in GarageBand on your iPhone.

Do I need iTunes or a computer?

No. Make the M4A on your iPhone in Safari, then bring it into GarageBand and share it as a ringtone, as Apple describes.

Can I make an iPhone ringtone without GarageBand?

GarageBand is the way Apple documents for adding a custom ringtone on the iPhone itself. Apple's Finder and Apple Devices sync guides do not list ringtones, so we do not give steps for them.

Can I make a ringtone from a video?

Yes. Open an MP4 or MOV video here and pick up to 30 seconds; only its sound is saved.

Can I use a song from Apple Music or Spotify?

Not on this page: it opens files on your device, and songs inside streaming apps are not files it can open. Apple's own steps let GarageBand use a song from your Apple Music library when it is downloaded and not protected.

Can I use it as a text tone too?

Yes. When GarageBand exports the ringtone, Use sound as offers Standard Text Tone as well as Standard Ringtone.

Why does the ringtone fade out?

A ringtone plays over and over. A 1-second fade out stops it ending with a click. Set Fade out to Off if you prefer a hard stop.

Is it free?

Yes. There is no account, no watermark and no limit on how many ringtones you make.

Sources: Apple, Create a custom ringtone on your iPhone, Apple, Share songs with GarageBand for iPhone, Apple, Import audio and MIDI files in GarageBand for iPhone, Apple, Use tones and ringtones with your iPhone or iPad, Apple, Where to find downloads on your iPhone or iPad, Apple, Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with your Mac, Apple, Intro to syncing your Windows device and Apple devices, Mediabunny, AAC encoder extension

Open-source code this tool runs on your device: Mediabunny (MPL-2.0), unmodified, reads and writes the video and audio files; FFmpeg AAC encoder (LGPL-2.1 or later, source at ffmpeg.org), built without any GPL part for the browser by @mediabunny/aac-encoder (MPL-2.0), loaded only where the browser has no AAC encoder of its own.