custom ringtones in iTunes 12.7

Apple has removed ringtones from iTunes 12.7. I have a collection of custom ringtones I made myself. Thankfully they still work. But is there a way to add new custom ringtones?

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.6), null

Posted on Sep 13, 2017 6:27 AM

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Posted on Sep 13, 2017 11:25 AM

Well, I figured out how to add tones but not remove them. Drag the new tone from the iMac Tones directory under iTunes Media into the Tones section of "On My Device" in iTunes. It's completely ridiculous Apple is making us do this now. But dragging a tone out or pressing delete does nothing. I cannot see a way to remove custom tones, only add them.

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Sep 13, 2017 11:25 AM in response to Jan Buckman

Well, I figured out how to add tones but not remove them. Drag the new tone from the iMac Tones directory under iTunes Media into the Tones section of "On My Device" in iTunes. It's completely ridiculous Apple is making us do this now. But dragging a tone out or pressing delete does nothing. I cannot see a way to remove custom tones, only add them.

Sep 15, 2017 10:59 AM in response to Reg1004

Yes I was able to add the ring tone to my phone. When you created your ringtone. Did you change the extension to m4r?


1. I created a ringtone in Garageband and exported it and had to change the extension. (I moved it to my desktop)

2. Launched iTunes

3. Clicked on my iPhone

4. Draged the ringtone onto iTunes under my device, where it says Tones.


User uploaded file

3. Re Sync my phone


Worked for me...

Oct 1, 2017 4:30 AM in response to Jan Buckman

I had the same thing happen. I have a bunch of custom-made ringtones, but after I did an upgrade to my iPhone software and iTunes software on 9/28/2017, they disappeared from my phone. Infuriating. I tried a number of things, but even when you use a non-apple program to move the ringtones straight to your iPhone without using iTunes, they get zapped off again as soon as iTunes syncs.

What I found is that I have to NOT use iTunes at all. (basically, this isn't a big deal for me because I mostly work with my iPhone and it syncs to iCloud for key data). The program Anytrans AnyTrans - Manage All Your Apple iProducts - Official Version, will work like a charm -- just open it, go to audio-->ringtones and then click the + to add ringtones to your phone. The dialog window will allow you to navigate to where your m4r files are on your desktop and drop them into your iPhone, where you will see them appear in settings-->sounds-->ringtones.


ONLY -- if you allow iTunes to sync again, it will zap them away and you have to repeat again. The only ringtones that stay, no surprise here, are the ones you PAID FOR from the iTunes store. Welcome to another reason why I may yet move away from the Apple universe someday, but not yet.

Oct 24, 2017 9:02 AM in response to noosalucy

Hi. I'm assuming from your question that you are doing this in iTunes on a mac connected to your iPhone. First, the m4r file is the correct format for use in iOS 11 - for either an alert, tone or ringtone - and custom ringtones are permitted. So let me speculate for a moment. I know that in the past ringtones were limited to a certain length of I think 31 seconds, and alert tones were much smaller at around 2 or 3 seconds. So it's possible that the iOS automatically makes custom ringtones available to various purposes according to their size.


Second, I also had a problem with the process until I realised that a key piece of information was missing from the most excellent instructions provided previously by others. And that is to NOT select your device in iTunes but instead to remain in your library. Then you will see the sections on the left hand side of the iTunes browser with the categories of Library, Devices and Music Playlists. If your iPhone is plugged in to your computer then it will appear in the Device category. Then you drag and drop your custom ringtones directly from your music library to the Tones folder on your device.

Sep 16, 2017 2:59 AM in response to Gordon Jue

Thanks Gordon,


all clear, but my iTunes 12.7 doesn't allow me to flag the "sync only checked songs and videos" option. The result is that i am not allowed at all to flag any ringtone to be eventually removed from the ringtones library on my iPhone (most of them custom made by myself 🙂).


What do you think could it depend on? Thx!


p.s. - Please note that my iTunes Library has been moved two years ago from default position to another HDD (just for space need) and it has always been working fine... (up to now... 😟)

Oct 1, 2017 8:22 AM in response to robin20

Interesting, I don't seem to have any issues with Ringtones getting removed when I sync with iTunes on my computer. Are you use a Mac or a PC? My Ring tones are all located in a folder in iTunes on my Mac. I drag and drop the Ringtone from there. Perhaps that's your issue. They get dragged from a folder onto your iPhone and than you move the file. Is that possible?

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custom ringtones in iTunes 12.7

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