How to Make a Ringtone from a Song on Android and iPhone

Updated November 3, 2026

Any song or recording you have can become your ringtone or notification sound: cut the part you want, save it in the format your phone expects and choose it in the settings. Android takes an MP3 directly; iPhone needs one extra step. Here is how on both.

1. Choose the part

Ringtone: 20 to 30 seconds is enough — the phone repeats it while it rings. The chorus usually works better than the start of the song, which often begins quietly. iPhone ringtones can be up to 40 seconds.
Notification or alarm: 1 to 5 seconds, something short and clear.
Start the cut on a beat or right before a word, not in the middle of one, so it does not sound clipped.

2. Cut it

Drop the song (MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG or FLAC — or a video, of which only the sound is kept). The waveform shows where the loud and quiet parts are; the first 30 seconds come selected. Drag the two handles to the part you want and press Play the cut to check the start and the end.

If the recording is quiet — a voice message, a live video — raise the volume or use normalize in Audio, which makes the loudest moment reach the top without distorting.

3. Android

Export as MP3 and save it on the phone.
Open Settings → Sound (and vibration) → Ringtone and choose the file. Some phones list only files in the Ringtones folder: move it there with the Files app. For notifications, use the Notifications folder and the notification sound setting.
Menu names change a little between brands, but the path is almost always under Sound.

4. iPhone

Export as M4A and keep it to 40 seconds or less.
On the iPhone itself, with GarageBand (free, from Apple): open GarageBand, import the file from the Files app into a new project, then go back to the project list, press and hold the project and choose Share → Ringtone. It appears in Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone.
With a computer: rename the file ending from .m4a to .m4r, connect the iPhone and drag the file onto it in Finder (Mac) or in iTunes (Windows).

5. A note on songs

Making a ringtone from a song you bought or a recording of your own for your own phone is common personal use. Sharing that cut, or publishing it, is a different matter: the song belongs to whoever holds its rights.

Make your ringtone

In the audio cutter, drop the song, drag the handles to the chorus, and export as MP3 for Android or M4A for iPhone. The file is processed by your browser and never leaves your device.

Settings menus change with each Android brand and iOS version; the steps above are the usual path.

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