iTunes 12.7 will not import my .m4r ringtones!

I can not copy the .m4r file to an iPhone 5s - but I was able to copy the same to an iPhone 6 - using iTunes 12.7.2.60.

Both iPhones have iOS 11.2.1 installed. There is 4 GB of free memory and the files has 438 KB.

When I drop over the iPhone 6 device in iTunes - works - when I connect my iPhone 5s - nothing happens.

Any idea?

Thanks a lot tt2.

Only copy and paste works. Drag and Drop doesn't with iPhone 5s - iTunes is a pain.

It also is useless to explain that a small icon means "manual managed" - has cost another time to find this out.

Finally - I've copied 2 ringtones files - but now I can not delete them anymore. Right click on a ring tone and "Delete From Library" doesn't do anything (iPhone connected).

It's really a horrible usage but thanks to anyone who can help again.

Dear iPhone user,

for a mac user, just make sure your iphone is connected with iTunes on computer,

open iPhones Library on the left of the iTunes (press that arrow down) and you will see Tones. Press on it and empty window will open. Then take your m4r files and drag them to that blank list. It will directly copy it on your device.

Best wishes

Yes! I’ve been told the GarageBand app will work to create ringtones without having to use iTunes. When I went to install GarageBand (since I had removed it when first getting the phone) it took almost 3 hours to install. No joke. So I ended up installing the Ringtones app and trying the other way instead. I know it works, just the steps in how to get them... I can’t remember.

It does look as if there is a problem adding two ringtones made from the same song, but this may be because they have the same metadata even if the filenames are different. Change the metadata of one of the ringtones and it should be OK.

tt2

I can't believe it! Finally.....this worked! Thank you!

I've tried dropping them in both places. Out of 9, 3 worked, 6 failed. So that's not it.

Windows or Mac? Is there any possibility that the files aren't really .m4r, e.g. could they be called something like <name>.m4r.m4a where the .m4a at the end is hidden? Were they in AAC format before having the extension changed? Can you drag them into the regular iTunes library?

tt2

I'm having a similar problem. The file will not add to my library— when I double click, nothing happens. when I drag into the sidebar, nothing happens.

Finder identifies it as a ringtone, and QuickLook will play it.

Additionally, one (but not both) of the 2 new ringtone files IS playable in iTunes by double-clicking on it. While it doesn't show up in my Music Library in iTunes - neither as a Song nor as a Tone - it does show up in iTunes as "Added in last week. In fact, both show up in the "Added in last week" section, although one was not synced. Again, see pic attached.

And one final note - I can play as a song one of the ringtones in my phone's Music Library, but when I try to play the other ringtone that appears in my phone's Music Library, I can't. Instead, I get the following screen:

Just for additional clarification in this thread, none of my current ringtones has been purchased from Apple. They're all self-created, over the past 5 or more years, using third-party apps (or really, just one app, I think - Ringtone Maker). And even with the latest iOS updates, they're all still functioning.

Also, thanks for the link to creating ringtones from within iTunes. I'll give that a try!

I have same issue and many of suggestions in this thread and of other thread don't work for me.

I'm using iTunes 12.7.1.14 on macOS 10.13 High Sierra.

I always rip my CDs in AAC format with iTunes, and I copied a track of 0:23 to my Downloads folder.

I changed file extension to m4r and Finder's info window says it is a ringtone file.

My iPhone is set to manage music and video manually, so I can drag and drop the ringtone file to device in Library screen and device screen.

Just after I drop the file, I can see iTunes' message that it is updating file in my device, and progress bar for very short time, and the message disappears.

But I cannot find the ringtone I dragged in my device.

What else could be wrong??

AAC describes how the data is structured within the file. AAC songs are normally given the file extension .m4a. .m4b is used for audiobooks, .m4p is used for protected files and .m4r is used for ringtones. As long as the media is in AAC format you can change the file extension in Windows Explorer or Finder, although you cannot remove DRM protection if present.

tt2