So
you bought an iPhone. You love the phone and all its features, but wish
you didn't have to pay for your songs twice to get a ringtone. There
are plenty of songs in your music library, but no way to make ringtones
from any of them. Or is there? Actually, with a little bit of trickery
(nothing illegal), you can create ringtones from any one of your non-DRM
songs in your iTunes library easily and for free. This works on both
Mac and Windows PCs.
*Please note: There may be differences among all the possible combinations of iTunes versions and operating system versions (see Tips for a way to work around the syncing issues).
*Please note: There may be differences among all the possible combinations of iTunes versions and operating system versions (see Tips for a way to work around the syncing issues).
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
- iTunes
- Mac or Windows computer
- Non-DRM song (i.e., one not bought from the iTunes Store)
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1Open iTunes.
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2Find the song that you want to make into a ringtone.
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3Listen to the song and find the part of it you want to use. The chorus may be a good place to start.
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4Write down the start and stop times of the clip.
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5Right-click the song and select "Get Info."
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6Click the "Options" tab.
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7Type in the start time of your ringtone in the text box next to "Start Time" in the minutes:seconds (i.e., 2:01) format.
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8Type in the end time of your ringtone in the text box next to "Stop Time." Make sure the ringtone is no more than 40 seconds long.
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9Click "OK."
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10Right-click your song again and select "Convert Selection to AAC." Wait for iTunes to convert your song. It will create a duplicate version.
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11Right-click the ringtone and select "Delete."
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12Click on the "Keep Files" button.
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13Find the file. It's usually in your User folder under "Music > iTunes > iTunes Music" and under the band's name. It will have an extension of m4a.
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14Replace the m4a extension of your ringtone with m4r. You can either double-click slowly to rename your file, or right-click and select "Get Info" on a Mac or "Rename" on a Windows PC.
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15Click "Use .m4r" or the PC equivalent when the system warns you that the change may affect the use of your file.
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16Double-click the ringtone file. ITunes will automatically add it to your ringtones folder in your iTunes Music Library.
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17Connect your iPhone and sync your ringtones.