How to get a ringtone on your phone

Use music to customize your smartphone

Updated on October 23, 2021

What to Know

  • Make a song a ringtone: Go to Apps > Settings > Sounds and Notifications > Ringtones > Add. Tap the song, then tap Done.
  • Use part of a song as a ringtone: Download the RingDroid app, tap the song file you want to edit, tap Trim, then use your finger to select a clip.
  • Set a ringtone for different contacts: Go to Contacts, tap a name, tap Edit > Ringtone, choose a ringtone, and tap OK.

This article shows you how to make a song a ringtone, set ringtones for various contacts, and trim a song to tweak a ringtone. To follow most of these steps, your Android smartphone needs to be running Android 9.0 Pie or later. 

How to Make a Song Your Ringtone

In a few simple steps, you can turn your ringtone into something more personal than the standard ringtones included with your smartphone. Here's what to do.

  1. On your smartphone's home screen, tap Apps.

  2. Tap Settings.

  3. Tap Sounds and Notifications.

    If it's not listed under Quick Settings, scroll down to find it.

  4. Tap Ringtones > Add.

  5. Choose a track from the songs already stored on your phone.

    You can also tap albums, artists, or folders, as well as search by name, if you have a lot of audio files on your smartphone.

  6. Tap the song you want to use.

  7. Tap Done.

  8. The song or audio file is now your ringtone. Just retrace the steps to change it again. 

How to Tweak a Song to Make it the Perfect Ringtone

With some songs, you might not want the opening riff as your ringtone. If you want to pick out a clip from a song, you need a dedicated app to do the job. 

The RingDroid app is one of the best, and it takes seconds to use and trim down a song with. Here's how to trim a song. 

  1. Download and open the RingDroid app.

  2. Tap the song file you want to edit.

  3. Tap Trim, then drag your finger around the clip, cutting it down to just what you want to hear.

  4. Tap download.

    Tap play to hear a preview.

  5. Tap Save.

  6. Tap Use As.

  7. Tap Ringtone, then tap Done to set the ringtone.

How to Set a Ringtone for a Specific Contact

Want to set a different ringtone for different people, so you know exactly who's calling? It's simple enough, once you know how. 

  1. Tap Contacts.

  2. Scroll down to the person you want to add a custom ringtone to, then tap the contact's name.

  3. Tap Edit.

  4. Tap Ringtone.

  5. Choose the ringtone, then tap OK.

  6. Tap Save.

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Want to stand out from the rest of the crowd? Custom ringtones are the way to go, and here we will show how to make a ringtone for Android way to personalize your Android smartphone. You can use your favorite songs as ringtones and assign each one to specific friends, family members or even your boss. Read on below to know how you can turn a song into a ringtone for Android via a step-by-step tutorial.


Jump to:

  • How to custom ringtone on Android
  • Create custom ringtones using a third-party app

How to custom ringtone on Android

Android has a way to create custom ringtones baked right into its operating system. Since Android 9.0 Pie is possible to download anything special to get this to work. All you need is a song or audio file on your device. For this tutorial, we use the Google Pixel 5 running on Android 12.

Once you have your file stored on your phone, head over to Settings and then Sound & vibration. Tap Phone ringtone > My Sounds and then at the bottom right of the screen click on the + icon to add a new ringtone to your list of default options.

How to get a ringtone on your phone
You can use any song as your ringtone directly on Android / © NextPit

You can choose from songs, artists, albums, genres or select a track from a folder. By searching through the files tab, you can even browse on Cloud storage for audio files. Once you have added a ringtone, it will appear in your list of tones. Simply select it and your new ringtone will be already set. The example pictured above is an MP3 track called Prince Johnny, by St. Vincent.

Create custom ringtones using a third-party app

There are several apps on the Play Store which can do this, but for this tutorial, we'll be using an open-source app known as MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker. One thing good about this app is it does not blast you with ads right from the beginning, but only when you want to access select features. Removing the ads and unlocking all of its premium features (all songs, etc.) will cost a one-time fee of US$3.99.

In-app purchases are required to access additional features, but the bare basics are good enough for the average Android user who wants nothing more than cut a select segment from their favorite MP3 track. This app allows you to use any sound or song you have on your phone as a ringtone. Once you have created your ringtone, you can then set it as your default sound or assign it to a specific contact. In addition to ringtones, the app can also create custom alarms and notification sounds.

  • Download MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker from the Google Play Store

Getting started

First things first, you will need to install the free MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker app from the Google Play Store. To turn a song into a ringtone, you'll also have to have the audio files or music you wish to use on your smartphone's internal storage or its microSD card. MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker is compatible with MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG and FLAC audio files, among others.

  1. Launch the MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker app on your Android phone.
  2. Once the app launches, you'll see a list of options from trending TikTok tunes to Hindi Bollywood - whatever floats your boat! However, if you have an audio track on your smartphone that you would like to edit, you can select MP3 Cutter. 
  3. Select the song you would like to use as a ringtone from the list.
  4. Once you have selected a song, its waveform will open up in the editor. Use the two sliders above and below the graph to choose a start and end point for your ringtone.
  5. Finally, save the sound clip by selecting Save. You can rename it if you want to, and specify which type of alert you want to use it for (the default option is ringtone).
How to get a ringtone on your phone
You can choose any song on your device to turn into a ringtone / © NextPit

All the ringtones that you create will be stored in the Output Folder that can be accessed via the app’s main overview. 

What song will you use as your ringtone? Let us know in the comments.


This article has been completely revised and new steps included in the tutorial. Comments from before the republishing date have been kept.

Can I download a song as my ringtone?

It is comparatively easier to download music for a ringtone on Android than on iPhone. You can download a song from reputable ringtone sites in your web browser and then transfer it to your Android or directly download a ringtone app for Android.