ParrotNotes

MP3 to M4R: Make an iPhone Ringtone

A free MP3 to M4R converter and iPhone ringtone maker: drop a song or a recording, drag the handles around the part you want, hear it, and download it as an .m4r. The audio is cut and encoded in your browser and is not uploaded.

Checking whether this browser can write AAC audio…

Drop your MP3 (or M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG) here or click to browse

Songs and recordings up to 100 MB and 30 minutes. You pick up to 30 seconds of it.

The audio is cut and encoded in your browser and is not uploaded.

How to convert MP3 to M4R

Three steps, then one more on the iPhone.

  1. 1

    Drop the song or recording

    MP3 is the usual start, and M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG and other audio files work too. The page draws the waveform and selects the first 30 seconds.

  2. 2

    Pick the part and play it

    Drag the handles or type the start and end time. The clip can be up to 30 seconds, Apple's limit for a ringtone; drag one handle past that and the other follows. Add a short fade in or out, then press Play to hear exactly what will ring.

  3. 3

    Make the M4R

    The page encodes the clip as AAC at 256 kbps with your browser's own encoder and saves it as an .m4r under the song's name. Then put it on the iPhone as described below.

What to make a ringtone from

Anything you can play can ring, as long as it fits in 30 seconds and you have the right to use it.

  • The hook of a song

    Start the clip just before the chorus or the riff everyone knows, so the best part plays while you reach for the phone.

  • A voice you know

    A colleague's catchphrase, your kid saying "Phone!", a voice memo of the team cheering: record it, drop the file here, cut the moment.

  • A tone for one contact

    Give your manager, your biggest customer or your family a sound of their own, so you know who is calling before you look.

  • A text or alert tone

    Keep it to a second or two with no fade for a short, clear alert. Apple's steps let you set a tone as the standard text tone too.

Put the ringtone on your iPhone

Apple's support page describes making a ringtone from an audio file with the free GarageBand app on the iPhone. With your clip already cut, these are the steps:

  1. Save the downloaded file somewhere the iPhone's Files app can see it, such as iCloud Drive.
  2. On the Home screen, touch and hold the GarageBand icon, then tap Create New Audio Recording. If you don't have GarageBand, Apple's page says to download it from the App Store.
  3. Tap the Tracks button, tap the instrument icon on the left, then tap the Loops Browser button. Tap Files, then "Browse items from the Files app", and choose your file.
  4. Touch and hold the file and drag it all the way to the left in the Tracks view, so there is no gap before it.
  5. Tap the Navigation button, then My Songs. Tap the More button, tap Select and choose the song you just made. Tap the Share button, then Ringtone, give it a name and tap Export.
  6. When the export finishes, tap "Use sound as" and choose Standard Ringtone, Standard Text Tone, or Assign to contact.

Apple's support pages we checked describe this GarageBand route. We found no Apple page with steps for copying a ringtone from a Mac or a Windows PC, so this page does not list any.

On Android

You don't need an M4R on Android: phones such as the Pixel take an MP3 as a ringtone, under Settings, Sound & vibration, Phone ringtone, My Sounds. To cut the MP3 to the right part first, use the Audio Trimmer.

M4R and M4A: the same file with another name

An M4R is an MPEG-4 audio file with AAC sound, exactly like an M4A; the file format reference at fileformat.com puts it plainly: the only difference is the file extension. The .m4r ending is what marks the file as a ringtone for Apple's software.

That is why this page is an M4R converter and an M4A maker at once. It writes a standard MPEG-4 audio file with one AAC track and names it .m4r. If a program wants the same clip as .m4a, rename the file; nothing inside changes.

Sources

Apple, iPhone and GarageBand are trademarks of Apple Inc. ParrotNotes is not affiliated with Apple.

Recording the voices you want to keep? voice notes on the iPhone, how to record a meeting on an iPhone, audio notes on the iPhone.

Your iPhone also records the calls and meetings that matter

A ringtone is a fun use of a few seconds of audio. The hour-long sales call or team meeting is worth keeping too: ParrotNotes records it on your phone and gives you the transcript and a summary, free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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MP3 to M4R FAQ