iTunes 12.7 will not import my .m4r ringtones!

So I have been trying for 2 days now to try to create ringtones (both in iTunes and through a seperate app/downloader) with no avail. To be honest I still don't know how exactly I was able to do it. But what I do know is the **** thing finally worked. So here's some of the hundreds of attempts I tried that ACTUALLY works. Create a ringtone (either through iTunes or download one..make sure it is not too long and is in the proper format of .m4r) Make sure that in Windows their isn't any restrictions. Right click the file, select properties and unclick any restrictions...one for me was "read only." At this point you should be able to copy and paste the file directly from the Windows folder into the Tones folder in iTunes. To paste into the Tones folder, right click and at the very bottom there should be "paste." If you don't see "paste" at the bottom after right clicking on Tones you can try dragging the file over in split mode. I have found that if the file is not compatible (too long, wrong format, Apple just wants to be difficult idk?!) then "paste" will not appear when right clicking.

*Things I have done:

- Select manually manage music & videos, deselect -> apply, then select manually manage music & videos again. - - - -Create my own ringtone with songs from my iTunes library. (Select song of use, convert to AAC through iTunes, go into song info of new AAC song to change duration as well as remove all info except song title, save new version, right click on song and select show in Windows, change .m4a to .m4r, make sure it is set to open in iTunes, enter on keyboard, a message will pop up just click ok, enter again to open in iTunes/play, it will ask to locate the song, click locate, find the file and click enter again. This should *hopefully* create your new ringtone. sheesh)

- Create a ringtone with "Ringtones Music Ringtone Maker" (following the steps given in the app, except I had to go to File Sharing on my device in iTunes, highlight the desired ringtone, click save to, then copy and right click to paste. This method only worked for one but I was able to save the created ringtones from the app to my computer then add then to iTunes the other way.

If I end up figuring out how the **** I was able to do everything in the correct steps I'll let ya'll know.

I found myself with the same issue, pacrimguru.

When I checked the ringtone file went into the "Music" tab instead. I ended up deleting that selection and dragging the ringtone file back in and it found its spot in the "Tones" tab this time. Took some trial and error, but it went along following those steps.

If it helps, I also enable "Manually Manage Music" (or something like that) in my iPhone sync settings. 😀

I hope the following will do fine... Helped with me though...

After creating the aac file and renaming it to .m4r file , try importing it into the iTunes library. In the front end, nothing will show up but actually I think its been copied up in the back end. Now go the tones section in the device menu, and upon clicking the selection menu ( 3 dots button ... ) a paste option will pop up. And done! The .m4r file will start appearing in your tones section.

Yes, i had the same problem! You have to desynchronize your itunes Music library (look for a tutorías, but there are only a couple of clicks and it’s pretty easy). Once you’ve done that, you can drag you .m4r Files and it’ll appear on tones. Hope you find this helpful!

I had the same issue as everyone else, got all but one ringtone onto my iPhone and couldn't get the last one to sync. Tried 4 times doing everything the same, but nothing. I then deleted all the album names and artist info and shortened the file name and it's now worked. Not sure why, but may be worth a try if anyone is still having this issue.

I thought this was nonsense but, what the heck nothing else had worked. IT WORKED! I have looked at every possible thing - like everyone else in this post and could not get them over. Ctrl-C from my Windows 10 pc to my iphone Tones library on iTunes and bam - there it was. Thank you - for the hint and for the months looking! Don't think I would have been that persistent.

Like "SMRS", I am having the same sort of problem.

I created my ringtones in Premiere Pro. Exporting the ringtones to "Stereo AAC, 44.1 kHz 128 kbps" then renamed the file to m4r. Once my IPhone 7 was connected I made sure "Manually Manage Music and Videos" was selected and applied. I then tried dragging and dropping the file to the tones section (sidebar), the tones page, my device in the side tabb and also tried Command+C the m4r files and then right clicking and pasting (making sure it was actually pasting instead of Command+V) it into the tones section. Nothing, no response. I then went back and exported my ringtone as "Stereo AAC, 48 kHz 256 kbps", renamed to m4r, repeated all the steps trying to move/paste the files into my Tones. Still nothing. I tried exporting one of the files through a converter online to m4r (I know you don't need to convert to m4r from an aac file I was just trying) still didn't work. I have restarted both my phone and laptop as well as made sure that the m4r filed I was trying to transfer had read and write access granted on all users.

Iknow these files aren't DRM protected as I created them.

To further "SMRS's" point of it maybe having something to do with my iPhone file structure being write protected. I used a third-party software (WALTR 2) to move the m4r files to my phone, these transferred over. However, once in the phone's settings>sound>ringtone I clicked on the files and it would just play the default sound. Now this could be a transfer issue but I also transferred over ringtone I made before the 12.7 iTunes update using the app and the ringtone worked. Now knowing the app works I made sure my exports I had made had sound when playing the original AAC files, they worked fine. As soon as I changed the extension to m4r my laptop can't play the file. I assume this is because of my laptop not recognising the file as its now a ringtone.

Also with the m4r files, I transferred over using the 3rd party app, finding out they didn't work I wanted to delete them. I connected my phone back up to iTunes and could see the m4r files (transferred through the 3rd party app) in my tones. selecting the ones that didn't work, I deleted them from the library and then synced my phone. The files no longer showed up in my tones library on my laptop but the names were still present under my settings in my phone, still not working.

This is why I think it is either the iPhone file structure being write protected or iTunes having a problem with m4r management, between iTunes and my phone or just iTunes itself.

I have no idea where to go from here or how I can go about trying to acquire my personal m4r/ringtones on my IPhone 7. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, but nope, that's not it. The ringtone files appear in my phone's music library as "Songs" and they're perfectly playable, all 28 seconds of each of them. So they got into my phone just fine by the drag-and-drop function in iTunes, and they're playable. But they're not showing up in the visible "Tones" section of my phone in iTunes, and they're not available to add to a Contact as a ringtone or a text tone.

They're .m4r files, they're in my phone as Songs, but they're not recognized by iOS as ringtones. Friggin' Apple.

Perhaps not. I just replicated what I had done last week: I made 2 ringtones from an AAC purchased track that presumably has DRM protection. I then connected my phone to iTunes and synced it. I then copied the tracks from the ringtone app to my hard drive. It's a .m4r file. I changed the file association from the default "Groove Music" to "iTunes" for just ONE of the new ringtones, and doing so changed the file association for ALL of my .m4r files. So that tells me that the ringtone app creations ARE genuine .m4r files.

Then I went to iTunes, and I dragged the 2 new ringtone files into iTunes. They didn't go in successfully. However, they now are BOTH in my iPhone's music app, as 28-second-long playable music files (that is, I have 3 versions in my "Songs" library where I used to have just 1 version, the full purchased version). See attached picture file.

Reboot the device. Try switching the device into manual managed mode. Try copy and paste instead of drag and drop. If running iTunes for Windows as admin try in regular mode. See Create and manage ringtones in iTunes for more.

tt2

When I went through the steps of going to iTunes, connecting my iPhone, finding the ringtone I created under 'File Sharing' in iTunes, then saving it to my computer desktop, I was able to add the ringtone to my iPhone by using the copy and paste method. I copied the ringtone [command-C] and then pasted it [command-v] into 'Tones' in iTunes. Worked like a charm and it showed up on my iPhone no problem.

Windows does file associations based on the file extension. If you change the associated application for an extension all files with that extension may show an update icon and will open with the chosen application from Explorer.

Windows does not validate the contents of a file with its declared file extension.

Any file is a collection of bytes. A file of a particular format will have certain internal structures defined by the format. If you rename a .mp3 file as .m4a it is still a .mp3 file and it is an invalid .m4a file.

Ringtone files are valid .m4a files given a .m4r file extension. Ringtones must be less than 40 seconds. Text tones less than 30. I would recommend using 128k AAC as the base format before changing the extension.

Tracks with DRM or located in the cloud cannot be used to make ringtones.

The grey dotted circle indicates a failed transfer. If the device is manually managed it may be possible to select and delete that entry. In some cases the only way to clear such entries is to wipe the song storage area, which either involves restoring to factory conditions and then restoring a backup or poking around in the raw file system.

tt2

I didn't change any file extensions, and I never make ringtones longer than 29 seconds. I understand that the grey dotted circle is a failed transfer. My point in attaching that picture was to illustrate that of two ringtones created back-to-back and with different names but from the exact same track, one transferred and one did not. That cannot be the proper functioning of iTunes. Why one and not the other - when both were created from the exact same track at the same time? (Not to mention the fact that both ringtones - the one that allegedly transferred (though it appears nowhere in my iTunes library) and the one that failed - both ringtones plus the original track all show up in my phone in its Music Library.)

The tracks in question were physically on my phone, not in the cloud. Whether they have DRM from the purchases, I don't know. But I do know that several months ago I was able to make a ringtone from a purchased track that I now cannot make a ringtone from. And I do know that I purchased several tracks at the same time in the past few weeks, and can make working ringtones from some of them but not others. And I do know I had this same trouble with ringtones I created from a track that I ripped years ago from a CD I owned. I doubt that track has any DRM issues.

And again, one of the two ringtone files in question is playable from both iTunes (accessible from the "Added In Last Week" screen) and from my phone's Music Library, but that file is not available either in iTunes or on my phone as a working ringtone.

Squirrely stuff, IMO.

I've no experience with ringtones purchased from Apple or created with any other application other than iTunes in the way I've described in Create and manage ringtones in iTunes. I did find that at some point after updating to iOS 11, and possibly after syncing my device, that my custom tones stopped working. To fix that I removed them from the device, then added them back again. As for iTunes not reliably syncing content, or organizing it properly, yes, iTunes can be squirrely indeed.

tt2

This actually worked. I tried everything that TuringTest2 suggested, and it didn’t work. After you mentioned it, I checked the file extension on iTunes library for the ringtone and it said it was .aac (mind you, I followed TuringTest2 instructions on how to make the ringtone changing the extension from .aac to .m4r)

People convert the .aac file to .m4r using an online site.