Creating Ringtones for the iPhone 3g for PC
posted by pylorns
In my previous tutorial I covered how to create ringtones using a Mac. Today I’ll cover creating ringtones using a PC and only free applications such as audacity. Download and install audacity and iTunes on your PC prior to doing this. I’m also using Vista but the same or similar screens exist for XP.
1. Open the piece of music or sound that you want to be your ring tone in Audacity and edit it down to under 40 seconds.
2. Go to File>Export and export the song as MP3. Audacity does not have the ability to export to AAC.
3. Give the file a unique name and save as .MP3
4. Once you have saved it you’ll next need to open the file in iTunes. Right click on the file and choose Open With>iTunes
5. Now that it is in iTunes you can convert it to iTunes native mp4 or AAC. Right click the file and choose Convert Selection to AAC
6. Now we need to rename this file to a ringtone format so browse to your iTunes music folder – in most cases its your default windows music folder.
7. By default windows Vista does not show file extensions. You’ll need to turn this off. Go to Tools>Folder Options. Un-check Hide extensions for known file types.
8. Once you have done this you should be able to change the file name to .m4r
9. Choose Yes that you are aware your computer will explode if you change the file extension.
10. Right click on the file and choose to open with> and choose iTunes.
11. Once you open it up in iTunes you should see it is now in its ringtone category. And you’re good.
Update: some of you have commented that you can’t move the song over to the iPod after it is created. You get a message like “unable to find file” others have had no problems.
First off when you get a message like that it is telling you something important. Try finding the location of where the file is supposed to be. Reimport it. Also you might verify that you renamed the file correctly by opening a command prompt and look at it in dos.
Update: 2/25/09
See screenshot – you need to see your ringtones in this list if you don’t they won’t go over to your iPhone.
Tags: 3g, iphone, itunes, pc, ringtone, tutorial
Posted in iphone, music, tutorials | 80 Comments »
July 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I tried this, and it seems to work. However, when I sync to my iPhone I get the message:
was not copied to the iPhone because it could not be found.
Despite the message, the ringtone still shows up both in iTunes as a custom ringtone on the iPhone.
July 20th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Its possible that iTunes is not auto-copying the file to its own location so it can move it to the iphone. I think you may have missed step 10 – try repeating that one more time – when you do that it will open directly from your ring tones and verify that you can play that piece.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Works, but damn I don’t know if this is worth the $2. Great idea for things that aren’t on itunes though.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:11 pm
True, but once you get into the rhythm, its not bad to do a couple ring tones.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 am
I used to be able to do this on my old iphone (even after I went to 2.0). It doesn’t seem to work on my new iphone 3G. I am able to get through all the steps above. The ringtone shows up in my Ringtones folder and players when I open it up. However, it won’t sync onto my iphone 3G. I just want my ringtone to be my own dogs barking (have had that one for years now).
Any ideas
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:32 am
I have the same problem as two people here…
Do all the steps, including step 10 and when the sync is complete it says ” was not copied to the iPhone because it could not be found.”
Frustrating!
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
most likely those of you who have the proble. Need to find the physical file and copy it and reimport it. Take a look at the other tutorial
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
What other tutorial?
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
yes, I did find the physical file, copy it, and reimport it. No luck with that either
July 24th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Same problem for me. As soon as I do step 10, itunes moves the .m4r file to another folder. The file shows up in ringtones but will not sync to the iphone b/c it says it cannot find the file. Even after reimporting and moving the file, it does not work.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Latest version of iTunes?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Works with me, use audacity 1.3 and use .wav file instead of .mp3. Thanks a bunch dude
July 24th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I have done all the steps and it shows up in itunes under the ringtones folder, but it won’t sync to my iphone. It’s 12 seconds long, so not too long. Someone please help.
Thanks
July 29th, 2008 at 4:41 am
This whole website is the awesome! I am wondering about one of the comments on this post that i just read. I don’t see where it would be possible, but do you get charged for making a ring tone?
July 29th, 2008 at 5:24 am
im not gonna lie, i feel like that guy for asking that.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
No, you are creating your own ring tone based on your own music, there is no charge. The only way you are charged is if you purchase a ringtone from a company.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Best site ever!
July 31st, 2008 at 12:41 am
Thanks A LOT!!!!! BEST THING I’ve come across!!!!
August 4th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
This all works except for the point where i drag my new ringtone into the Ringtones folder in iTunes. The new rings tones will not be added to the folder…what am i doing wrong?!
August 4th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Read above notes as to what others tried and responses.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hello this works but, For some reason the music as a ringtone sound really bad. I did one with 128 bitrate then 192 bitrate still sounds really bad. I go to my music in Itunes music sounds great even on iphone through the ipod. Can u help with this?
Thanks
August 7th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Hmm, I have not run into that – here is the question does it sound ok with your earphones?
August 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
AWESOME! Thank you much for this. Works like a charm. I just wish I could figure out how to assign different ringtones to different contact groups and to assign a custom ringtone to text messages.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I am having the same problems as others…..shows up under ringtones but does not sync…..NO error message though…..just does not show up in the ringtones list on the phone…..suppose Apple slammed the door on this method?
August 14th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Figured it out…..ringtone was a bit too long. Trimmed it down usinf audacity and it worked fine. FYI…..Thanks for the article!
August 14th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Good deal. Welcome.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
According to Apple customer service, the iPhone will not sync ring tones created in this manner even though they show up in iTunes. They say that you can only create ring tones by using their software Garage Band (although according to the Apple Store, this software is only compatible with a Mac).
August 19th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Lol, thats because they want you to buy the ringtones directly through them.
September 19th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
It is crucial for the ringtone after its converted to be no longer than 35 seconds or else it will not sync it to the iphone. it will show up in the library but it will not transfer to the iphone when its Synced due to the lenght of it.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:31 am
I did all the above steps, the clips are under 30 seconds and show up as ringtones in windows explorer, but do not show up as ringtones in iTunes. What’s going on?
September 30th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Try to re-import the file.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
i tried everything, did all the steps and tried re importing the file,, but still the file can’t be found. do i downgrade my itunes instead?
October 4th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Same problem for me here – tried saving it as mp3 and wav – then followed specific instructions above – once it saves as a ringtone it even plays it back once, and it shows up in the ringtone folder – but it won’t sync (or at least doesn’t show up on the phone when it finishes syncing)
October 5th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
see above comments, several people have come across same problem and got it to work.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I know I am doing something stupid, but….how do i get the music in audacity from either itunes, or a cd????
November 1st, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Worked fine for me, thanks a million!!!
November 16th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Thanks, worked great for me. One reminder to everyone out there in Audacity export at a higher bit rate to get better sound.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
When I right click on the song (after I exported it into itunes), there is no option to convert to AAC. What up??
January 8th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I’ve had the same problem – create m4r file no problem it goes under ringtones, plays beautifully in I-Tunes and then refuses to sync! I don’t get an error message – just no custom ringtone appears in my Iphone. Really frustrating!
January 9th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I too have followed all the steps and have the tone appearing in the ringtones folder in iTunes but it wont sync and I get no error message about it. The tone is only 2 seconds long! I refuse to re-buy songs I already own, then pay another 99c to make a ringtone.
Thanks for trying to make it free. I’m glad it’s working for some people. I hope something is figured out for the rest of us soon!
January 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I use Iringer, it is freee and automatically saves it in the correct format and transfers to itunes without your having to do anything. I found the best way to move it over is to just open itunes, locate the ringtone (under the ringtone folder) and just drag it onto your iphone ringtone folder. I am using a 3g and it works everytime. I have created about 10 different ringtones. I am trying to figure out how to associate one of the ringtones to the sound played when I receive a text…so far i am stuck with the defaults…
January 14th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
http://www.iringer.net/
Sorry, forgot the link…
January 14th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Thank’s for the input, I’ll have to check it out myself.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Found the reason why I was getting the same “could not be found” error that so many others experienced. My sample was exactly 30 sec long, but once I trimmed the same file down to 29 sec, it worked just fine. Also, I’ve heard that the file name must be 7 characters long.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
hello i need some help plz all of the steps work sync the iphone 3G with itunes the ringtone shows up in the library and on the iphone when its connected to the pc however when i go to find the ringtone its not listed can someone plz explain….ty
January 29th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I was struggling like everyone above and I found that it was because I was leaving the start time on 0:00. This effectively unchecked the start box… making it not work. Also, it should be under 40 seconds.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
hi i had same problem like other cant move ringtone to phone after i try to make shorter than its working thanx a lots now i have so many ringtone on my phone so keep trying…….lol
February 24th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I second the iRinger – it was so easy to use! Thanks for the help!
February 25th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I followed the directions. All worked exactly as it said it would. However, the ringtone doesn’t show up in the list on my iPhone. I see it in my iTunes ringtones folder AND my iPhone ringtones folder viewed in iTunes. No error message upon sync. Just doesn’t show on iPhone, can’t select it if I can’t see it!
Am I missing something?
Thanks.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I even rebooted the iPhone, btw.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I had a problem last week with one that was 40 seconds exactly. I cut it to 39 seconds and it worked. Try that.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:45 am
It is only 12 seconds long…
February 25th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Take a look at your device on the ringtones tab and see if its in there?
February 25th, 2009 at 10:31 am
It IS in the ringtones folder on the iPhone when viewed in iTunes. It is NOT listed on the actual iPhone: Settings–>Sounds–>Ringtone.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I updated the post with screenshot – if you don’t see it in the screenshot listed then the file itself is not correct.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:44 am
It is there.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Then it should transfer. DO any other ring tones transfer over? Next stop might be an apple store.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
The file not found message is a red herring. The reason this occurs is that you first import the original file into iTunes, then you create a new version that is AAC. You then go to the file system and rename the file with the m4r extension. When you double click it, it creates a version in the ringtones tab. The original iTunes music entry however still thinks the file is m4a, thus the message is for the sync of the original file, not the ringtone. Before you sync, go to the original iTunes music entry and delete it. Voila – no more “file not found” message. This does not solve the problem that the actual ringtone does not sync. I still have that problem
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I just checked “Manually manage music and videos” and I was able to drag my m4r directly to my iPhone ringtones.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
AWESOME! it works!!
April 14th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Awesome tutorial here, worked like a charm.
April 24th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I had the same problem with the file not be found error message but it was clearly there, reduce the length of the file/ringtone file fixes the problem
April 26th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
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June 12th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Got it! Thanks man, great stuff… would have been easier if I wasn’t such a noob to my 3G.
June 20th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I can’t do step 5 because convert to aac isn’t available. It’s not in my right-click context menu and it’s not in my advanced menu. Any ideas?
June 20th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Nevermind, I went and got iRinger and that worked just fine. Still don’t know why I couldn’t convert to aac, or import an aac (converted through a different program) into itunes, but iRinger worked exactly as advertised.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Yes, IT WORKS, just make sure you read ISTRUCTION “7″ Again.. Windows XP users, go to “Control Panel” => Appearance & Settings, choose “Folder Options”, click the “View” Tab, under “advanced settings, uncheck “hide extensions for known file types”. and it sure will work.
the secret is, the FULL name gets revealed and you can CORRECTLY rename the audio file.
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 am
BIG IMPORTANT STEP MISSING….
If you’ve created your ringtone and it shows up in the ringtone section of iTunes but not the Ringtones Tab for your phone it’s because the .m4r file is TOO LONG. The maximum length of the ringtone needs to be 30 seconds. You’ll need to open it in Audacity and trim it down to 30sec. Also rename the new file before putting it back in iTunes so that it doesn’t get mixed up with the .m4a version and not show up.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Nope you can get away with under 40 seconds, I’ve got many of them that work longer than 30 seconds.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Encountered the same problem. After much frustration, finally solved it.
1. open song in audacity, crop to < 30 seconds
2. export mp3
3. open in itunes, right click, create AAC version
4. find file in windows explorer, rename to m4r
5. re-import to itunes, delete aac and mp3.
blah blah blah.
6. MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE BOX THAT SAYS "Manually Manage Music and Videos." (Located in the Summary tab in the iPhone section of iTunes), or you will get the error message stating that the file cannot be found.
I blame apple.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I found the solution. You have to leave the original cut in your music library if you delete it the ringtone cannot be found. Leave it and it syncs just fine.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Thanks. i did exactly same what u told to do and i got my ringtone. Thanks again
October 7th, 2009 at 2:13 am
You are so Awesome !! It worked!!!
January 22nd, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Ok I run windows xp.. I get my file to the windows explorer screen then try to rename it .m4r and it tells me that I must type a file name.. any ideas?
January 24th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Does this work for the Iphone 3GS? Everything seems to work fine but it is not showing up in my ringtones list. There is not “custom” tab and it still only has the stock ringtones…
January 24th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
One more thing. Can you only have one custom ringtone at a time in the phone memory? Will it not let you keep a list of custom ringtones?
January 25th, 2010 at 8:35 am
You can have as many as you like.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:35 am
If it’s not showing up then its too long or too large of a file
January 25th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
As John said,can only have one custom ringtone,when I add more it just replaces oringinal ??
January 25th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
i have 40 or so ringtones – you can assign a ring tone to whomever in your list.