ringtones and iPhone X

Move ringtones from iTunes to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

If you have a ringtone or tone in iTunes on your Mac or PC that you want to move to your iOS device, you can manually add it to your device using iTunes.

1. Connect your device to your computer.
2. Open iTunes. Make sure that you have the latest version.
3. On your computer, find the ringtone or tone that you want to add to your device. If the ringtone or tone previously appeared in your iTunes library, you can find it in the Tones folder of your iTunes media folder.
4. Select the tone that you want to add to your device and copy it. (You can use a keyboard shortcut.)
5. Return to iTunes and go to the Library tab of Music.
6. Click on your device in the left sidebar, then click Tones.
7. Paste your tone. (You can use a keyboard shortcut.)
   

I found a quirky solution. I was getting an error message that my iTunes/iPhone was not authorized to play my old ringtones, so it would not transfer them to my iPhone X via the recommended method (drag/drop or copy/paste into Device > Ringtones). These were ringtones made back when iTunes let you make your own. I could figure out no way to authorize them.

SOLUTION I FOUND:

1. In Finder, control-click on a compliant .m4r file (<30 seconds, etc.). Select Open with > QuickTime Player.
2. QT Player will give you an error message that you must authorize your computer to play the file and give you an option to go to iTunes to authorize it. Do that.
3. Once in iTunes, it will ask for your AppleID password to authorize. Enter it.
4. You'll now be told you've already authorized this computer for iTunes (duh).
5. Now - double-check in QuickTime Player and that m4r should play.
6. NOTE: I only had to do steps 1-4 ONCE, and it solved the issue for ALL other .m4r files. I didn't have to do this process for each ringtone file - just the first one.
7. You can now drag/drop or copy/paste all the .m4r files that didn't work into your device through iTunes > Device > Ringtones.

Hope this works for others.

Hi, I've seen all of these ways to put ringtones back on the iPhone. I have the tones in my "tones" on my phone section of iTunes. So they say that they are on my phone. However, looking on the actual phone on the sounds section for ringtones, more than half of the ringtones do not show up. They are all mr4, under 30 second long, and had worked on my iPhone 6s. Any ideas on how to get the remainder back on? I don't know if I need to somehow edit or covert the ones that aren't going on the phone. I have an iPhone X, iOS 11.1.2, iTunes version 12.7.1.14. Thanks!

Hi Bob Morton,

Yes my files are in .m4r format, that was a typo. I couldn't open those files in Audacity but I am assuming the file is correct but for some reason my iPhone just doesn't want to recognize them? I'm not sure why. They do play in iTunes, so I would think that means they are functional.

They were all downloaded and not purchased so it's not a total loss just frustrating to suddenly lose a bunch of them even though it says they are there.

Hi There,

All you need to do is to delete all the ringtones you have on your iPhone (in iTunes >Ringtone folder) first and just add them all (all your m4r files) to the same folder at once. Every time you want to add a new ringtone to your device, you will need to delete the old ones as explained above and add them all again at once. Make sure to put them all in one folder, then copy all and paste them to Ringtone folder (you could also drag them to it). I hope this is gonna help.

Hello,

the problem is - I can try to do the above but for my iPhoneX I get the message "the ringtone was not transferred to your phone as it cannot be played there".

Any new file format that I need to use?

Susanne

Just make sure you don’t copy or drag the wrong kind of file to your iPhone X. Just “m4r” extension and it must follow the rules set for ringtones by Apple (maximum 40 seconds long). I’ve used the steps I explained for my iPhone X more than once without a hitch. You need to put them in the ”Tones” folder in “On My Device” section, don’t put them in the “Setting” section.

I am experiencing the same issue. Some of the custom ringtones I've created work and appear on my new iphone X. Others appear in itunes with a duplicate that is greyed out and has a dotted circle to the left. These are the ones that do not appear on my iphone. I tried deleting them in itunes but the command (by right clicking on the ringtone) will not be accepted.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to solve this issue?!

I am experiencing the same issue. Some of the custom ringtones I've created work and appear on my new iphone X. Others appear in itunes with a duplicate that is greyed out and has a dotted circle to the left. These are the ones that do not appear on my iphone. I tried deleting them in itunes but the command (by right clicking on the ringtone) will not be accepted.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to solve this issue?!

How do I delete these ringtones from itunes?

Hi,

Just make sure your phone is connected at all times. You will need to delete all of them even those that appear on your phone (without the dotted circle too)! It’s a cumbersome task, specially if you have a lot of them. As I explained before, add them all together by either drag & dropping into Tones folder on your phone or copy them all then right click on the Tones folder and paste them. Try to keep the phone unlocked while you’re deleting them one by one, you need to be a little patient since they’re going to be removed from your phone and hence it’s going to take a little time every time you right click to delete!. Remember, you’ll need to follow these steps every time you want to add a new custom ringtone to your iPhone X. Hopefully Apple will reconsider adding Ringtone management to iTunes.

Hi Bob,

I have tried your method, which seems to be super simple - doesnt work at all. I tried AnyTrans doesnt work as well. I can download my other Ringtones, but a new one that i created, from a song in my Library, this message appears all the time - " (song name.m4r ) was not copied to the iphone because it cannot be played on this phone.

So what do i do next please?

I am experiencing the same issue. Some of the custom ringtones I've created work and appear on my new iphone X. Others appear in itunes with a duplicate that is greyed out and has a dotted circle to the left. These are the ones that do not appear on my iphone. I tried deleting them in itunes but the command (by right clicking on the ringtone) will not be accepted.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to solve this issue?!

How do I delete these ringtones from itunes?

I was just on the line with apple support. First, make sure you check manage videos and music manually. Right click and delete. Also, if the ringtone was created by a different app that is not supported by your iphone or needs an update or is not on your phone, it will not play.