How to Transfer Ringtones to iPhone in All Possible Ways

Because of the iOS system's limitations, transferring ringtones to iPhone is not as easy as that on Android devices. You can do this in five ways, which can satisfy different needs for ringtone transfer. To help you choose the right way, we have divided our guide into two parts. Which part to choose depends on whether you want to make a custom ringtone yourself.

If you have downloaded ringtones on your computer, then you can use some methods introduced in Part 1 to transfer them to your iPhone. If you want to make a custom ringtone by yourself, then you can navigate to Part 2.

Now, you can explore these ways by reading the following instructions.

Part 1. How to Transfer Ringtones to iPhone in Different Ways

If you have already prepared or downloaded ringtones on your computer, then you can directly transfer them to your iPhone in these ways.

Option 1. The Easiest Way to Transfer Ringtones to iPhone from a PC/Mac

If you have already prepared or downloaded ringtones on your computer, then you can directly transfer them to your iPhone with this iOS data transfer tool - Qiling MobiMover. It can directly transfer ringtones to your ringtone library. But before transferring, you'll need to ensure the ringtone is in M4R format, which is Apple's preferred audio format.

In addition to ringtones, this program also supports other data like contacts, messages, videos, and more. If you switch devices, you can also use Qiling MobiMover to transfer ringtones or other data to your new iPhone.

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To transfer ringtones to iPhone from computer:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and run Qiling MobiMover > Tap "Trust" on your phone and click "Allow" to enable this program to access your iPhone > Click "Audio" from the interface > Select "Ringtones" to continue.

Step 2. Click "Ringtones" > Select "Add Contents" to locate your ringtones stored on your computer.

Step 3. Select the ringtone you wish to transfer from your computer > Click "Open" to start the transferring. After it completes, you can go to Settings on your iPhone > Tap "Sounds & Haptics" > "Ringtone" to check ringtones on your iPhone.

Tips: Sending ringtones to your iPhone from another iPhone, iPad, or iPod is also advisable if there are ringtones you like on your other devices. To send ringtones from iPhone to iPhone, you can apply the similar steps shown in the last option to get things done.

Option 2. How to Add Ringtone to iPhone with iTunes

If you don't want to use a third-party tool, use iTunes to make custom ringtones instead.

Step 1. Connect the iPhone to a computer and launch iTunes.

Step 2. Click the device icon > Tap "Summary" > Check "Manually manage music and videos ."

Step 3. Click the "Back" button and go to "Songs" > "Library."

Step 4. Right-click on the song and select "Get Info". In the Get Info window, select the "Options" tab and change the start and stop time to read the segment of the song you want to save as a ringtone (less than 30 seconds).

Step 5. When you have entered the Start and Stop time, click "OK."

Step 6. Go back to the iTunes library, select the original song, then tap "File" > "Convert" > Select "Create AAC Version." Afterward, iTunes will take the segment you have selected from the song in Step 4 and use it to create the new file.

Step 7. Right-click the shortened version and choose "Show in Windows Explorer" (or Show in Finder on Mac).

Step 8. Copy and paste the song to your desktop and change the extension from .m4a to .m4r. Confirm your changes.

Step 9. Now go back to the iTunes Library and delete the newly created short song: right-click the song, choose "Delete from Library" > "Delete Song" > "Move to Recycle Bin."

Step 10. Select the "Tones" tab, and drag and drop the ringtone from desktop to iTunes. Now the custom ringtone is added to your iPhone.

Add Ringtones to iPhone via iTunes

More Questions:

Can I send ringtones to the iPhone via Email? The answer is NO. You can't send ringtones from the settings to another iPhone. To do this, you will need some third-party apps to help you make a customized ringtone first, and then send it to your iPhone via Email.
Can I airdrop ringtone from iPhone to iPhone? The answer is also NO. You can only add ringtones to your iPhone via some third-party tools or iTunes, but can't export ringtones from one iPhone to another.
Can I bluetooth ringtones from iPhone to iPhone? Frustratingly, you can't transfer ringtones from iPhone to iPhone via Bluetooth.

Part 2. How to Make Custom Ringtones for iPhone

Have you ever wanted to make ringtones for iPhone by yourself? When you want to set a song for your ringtone, it's a good choice to make a custom ringtone and then push it to the iPhone. To make iPhone ringtones, there are mainly two choices for you.

Option 1. Make Ringtones for iPhone with an iPhone Ringtone Maker

One of the quickest and easiest ways to make ringtones for iPhone should be using this iPhone ringtone maker - Qiling Ringtone Editor. Unlike iTunes or other competitors, this program allows you to make a ringtone and push it to your iPhone directly.

In addition to using a song on your computer, you can also convert YouTube to ringtone with Qiling Ringtone Editor. Besides, compared with using iTunes, it is much easier to create iPhone ringtones with such a tool.

To make iPhone ringtones:

Step 1. Launch Qiling Ringtone Editor and connect your iPhone to your computer. Next, drag and drop the song you wish to turn into a ringtone to the interface of this program. Or you can browse your computer to choose a song.

Step 2. Then, you'll come to the Clip Fragment page. From where you can customize your ringtone by clipping it to your desired length (30s is an ideal lenght for a ringtone).

Step 3. After clipping, you can swipe up to make the sound fade in and swipe down to fade out. If you want to adjust the volume, you can swipe up and down. Once everything gets done, click "Export" to proceed.

Step 4. You can choose "Push to iPhone" to export the edited ringtone to your iPhone or choose "Save to Disk" to save it to your computer.

Option 2. How to Make a Custom Ringtone via GarageBand

If you don't want to install any third-party tool on your computer, you can also use GarageBand, an iPhone ringtone maker app for iOS, to do the same thing. The process is long and complex, which makes it a challenge for most users to finish. If you want to use this tool, you can check the steps in our previous guide on how to make a song your ringtone on iPhone.

Option 3. How to Purchase Ringtones from iTunes Store

Some of you may prefer to download ringtones on your iPhone directly. That's when iTunes Store could help. iTunes Store allows you to put ringtones on your iPhone by purchasing ringtones you like from the app. Although being quite convenient, it's not cost-effective to get ringtones from iTunes Store. That's because you need to pay for every ringtone you want to download.

To put ringtones on iPhone via iTunes Store:

Step 1. Open the iTunes Store app.

Step 2. Tap the "Search" button on the bottom of your screen.

Step 3. Type the name of the ringtone you'd like to buy into the search bar. You can search for ringtones by title, artist, or genre.

Step 4. Tap the ringtone you want to download.

Step 5. Tap the "Buy" button on the right of your screen.

Step 6. Enter your Touch ID, Face ID, or Apple ID password when prompted and then tap "OK."

Step 7. Set the ringtone from Settings.

Put Ringtone on iPhone via iTunes Store

Part 3. How to Set a Custom Ringtone on iPhone

After you put ringtones on your iPhone, now you can go to the Settings app to set a custom ringtone.

Step 1. Go to the Settings app.

Step 2. Tap "Sounds & Haptics" > "Ringtone."

Step 3. In the ringtone list, tap the song you like to set it as your iPhone ringtone.

How to set a custom ringtone on iPhone

The Bottom Line

Transferring ringtones to iPhone is just one of the many choices to put ringtones on the iPhone. To make the song you like as your iPhone ringtone, creating custom ringtones by yourself or purchasing ringtones from iTunes Store is also workable.