MP3 to M4R (iPhone ringtone)

Make an iPhone ringtone from an MP3 in three steps

1. Choose one or more MP3 files, or try the included sample.
2. Choose where the ringtone starts and how long it is, then press Make ringtone. Keep this tab open while it works.
3. Listen to the preview and save individual files or download the batch as a ZIP.

Choosing the part of the song

Most songs open with an intro that is too quiet for a ringtone. Play the MP3, note the second where the chorus or hook starts, and type it into the Start at box. Then choose the length: 30 seconds suits most ringtones, 40 seconds is the longest the iPhone accepts as a ringtone, and the whole file is there for short sounds that are already the right length. A longer file may be refused as a ringtone. A ringtone loops while the phone rings, so a section that starts strong works best. If the cut sounds abrupt, smooth the ends with the fade in and fade out tool first.

Installing the ringtone with a computer

A website cannot install a ringtone on an iPhone, so the last step is yours. On a Mac, connect the iPhone with a cable, select it in the Finder sidebar, and drag the .m4r file onto the General tab of the iPhone window; Finder copies it to the phone’s tones. On Windows, open iTunes, connect the iPhone, drag the file into the Tones section under On My Device, and sync. Afterwards, open Settings, then Sounds and Haptics, then Ringtone on the iPhone, and the new tone appears at the top of the list.

Installing with GarageBand on the iPhone

Without a computer, use Apple’s free GarageBand app. Save the file to the Files app, open GarageBand, start a project, and import the audio from the loop browser. Then go back to My Songs, press and hold the project, choose Share, and pick Ringtone. GarageBand can import an MP3 directly, so on this route the converter mainly helps by cutting the song to the right section and length first. Android phones do not need M4R at all: they accept MP3 ringtones directly, so the audio trimmer is the better tool for an Android ringtone.

Quality and browser support

The ringtone is AAC at 192 kbps, more than a phone speaker can reveal, so it sounds as good as the MP3 it came from. Like any lossy-to-lossy conversion, it adds a little loss, so keep the original song. AAC encoding needs a browser with a built-in AAC encoder: Chrome, Edge, and Safari on desktop, and browsers on recent iPhones and Android phones. Firefox does not have one, so use another browser there. The song is cut and encoded on your device and is never uploaded.