How to assign a custom ringtone to a contact on my Apple iPhone?

I love my iPhone and have been having all sorts of fun playing with it. What I want to do, however, is assign custom ringtones for some of my friends. Ultimately, of course, I'd like to have specific songs for specific people, but even just having the ringtones that are included with the phone assigned would be cool.

Dave's Answer:

Glad to know that you want to learn how to take step #1, assigning per-address book contact ringtones to your friends, before you go further. Why? Because that's quite easy to accomplish, easier than it is with any other cellphone I have ever owned or used.

On your iPhone, go to "Phone", then "Contacts" and find the contact whom you want to assign a custom ringtone. Got it?

Here's one I'll use for this demo: the phone number of the local Apple Store:

What you want is to click on the "Edit" button on the top right:

Notice halfway down "Ringtone" and the value "Default". That's what we want to change. Touch that spot, and:

apple iphone cellphone mobile telephone custom ringtone 3

As you can see, it shows you the default ring, any Custom ringtone you might have bought or created, and all the Standard ring tones too. I'll assign "Alarm" to the Apple Store - just in case they call me - and click on "Info" on the top left. Now I see this:

One more step: click "Done" on the top right. Now you can see things are a bit different:

That's all there is to it. If you have custom ringtones (from music, etc) then they show up on the same screen as the Standard ringtones. Select your favorite, or, perhaps, the one most suited to a particular friend or colleague, click "Info" and "Done" and you're done.

Isn't that delightfully easy?

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Categorized: iPhone and Cell Phone Help (Article 8477, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple iphone, custom iphone ringtone, custom ring, custom ringtone, itunes store
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Reader Comments To Date: 24

Carlos said, on September 30, 2008 12:09 PM:

What if I have the old iphone..What i mean it´s the I live in mexico so i bought the first iphone in the us and unlocked to work in mexico.. I notice the screens you show in these articule are different of the my iphone shows... Can I assing a custom ringtone or a song to my contacts??

Saludos Desde Monterrey!

april said, on February 10, 2009 6:01 PM:

I just got my iphone and I am really excited about it. I want to download a ringtone, which I did from itunes on my phone, and the song is in my ipod, but the ringtone doesn't show up in my ringers menu. Any idea how to assign my general ring to the downloaded ringtone?

karatecop said, on July 8, 2009 9:32 AM:

I have put custom ringtones in itunes and synced my phone. when I go to a contact to assign a custom ringtone only one ringtone is showing - and that is the default ring tone. What should I do?

Lauram said, on September 4, 2009 8:43 PM:

I'm still baffled that you can only assign ringtones to contacts *one at a time.* One of the most obvious uses for custom ringtones -- i.e., use a different ringtone when the caller is NOT in my contact list (and therefore likely to be a telemarketer) -- doesn't seem to be supported.

Dave Taylor said, on September 4, 2009 9:00 PM:

Boy, that's a great idea Lauram. I'd have a silent ringtone for anyone not already in my (huge) contact list. Hey, Apple, what's up with this? Can't we set "not in directory" ringtones globally??

David Nitzsche-Bell said, on September 27, 2009 9:39 AM:

I'd also like the ability to assign one ringtone to multiple contacts quickly. Does the new iTunes 9 or Snow Leopard have this?

For instance, I'd love to assign "Help!" to all my clients, "We Are Family" for family (!), "Rasputin" for all my friends in Moscow, etc.

Any ideas? There must be a place that this info is stored. Which means it must be possible to applescript, automator, or something. No?

Bobbi said, on October 24, 2010 10:37 AM:

I downloaded an app called the free ringmaker where you pick a song from you ipod and it customizes it for 20 secs then when you get what you want for the 20secs you hit save..i watched the youtube video on how to do that.....hook phone to itunes go to app tab, scroll down, selectthe file sharing program, to the right highlight the ringtones and hit save as...to desktop...then drag from desktop to itunes and the ringtones are supposed to go into my ringtone folder on itunes...then when you go to your phone through itunes at the top where "summarry" "app" and so on are there...ringtones should appear and then you can sync..however my issue is that i cant get the ringtones to appear in the ringtone folder on itunes...i put a voice memo in ringtone folder on itunes and the ringtone folder for my phone wont show up in menu bar to sync...what is going wrong...i tried the voice memo to see if maybe it was a copyright thing but that didnt even work..please help

Peggy said, on September 22, 2011 1:52 AM:

I cannot get my individual assigned ringtones to "hold". I've followed all the directions above, but when a call comes in, the default ringtone sounds. What's the deal?

frank yrigollen said, on May 14, 2012 1:46 AM:

i have ringtone apps on my iphone4 how do i assign those ringtones to my contacts.

frank yrigollen said, on May 14, 2012 1:50 AM:

I am not at all happy or impressed with the fact that we cant assign custom or regular ringtones to any contacts. getting an iphone was a big mistake!!!!!

Dave Taylor said, on May 14, 2012 7:39 AM:

Frank. you can do that. That's what the article at the top of this page explains. What are you not finding clear?

elma said, on June 21, 2012 12:08 PM:

I have assigned a ringtone to a particular contact. Now how to I set that contact to come through at volume even when the phone is set to muted/vibrate? I am on call and even when the phone is in silent mode, I need that contact to vibrate or, when I am in vibrate mode, I need that contact to sound. Thank you.

Courtney said, on August 15, 2012 11:07 AM:

I to cannot get my individual assigned ringtones to stay with that contact. I've followed all the directions above, but when a call comes in, the default ringtone sounds not the assigned one. Why isn't it working?

Mike said, on March 1, 2013 6:16 PM:

to cannot get my individual assigned ringtones to stay with that contact. I've followed all the directions above, but when a call comes in, the default ringtone sounds not the assigned one. Why isn't it working?

Dave Taylor said, on March 1, 2013 10:47 PM:

Two thoughts: first, are you sure that the ringtone you've selected sounds different? And second, have you tried restarting your phone to see if the change "sticks"?

Mike said, on March 2, 2013 10:44 AM:

yes i restarted the phone but all i can do is change the default tone for all incoming calls not a different tone for each contact..thats what i wanna do a different ringtone for each individual contact..thanx

Mike said, on March 4, 2013 5:22 PM:

yes i restarted the phone but all i can do is change the default tone for all incoming calls not a different tone for each contact..thats what i wanna do a different ringtone for each individual contact..thanx

Dave Taylor said, on March 4, 2013 11:16 PM:

What happens when you try to set a specific ringtone for a contact?

Mike said, on March 5, 2013 8:56 AM:

Hi Dave I can change the default tone but it is for all the contacts..I want to assign specific tones to each contact and I can't seem to get that to work..I have one tone for all contacts..not what I want..is there away to give each contact their own tone?...thanx Mike

Mike said, on March 5, 2013 4:56 PM:

What happens when you try to set a specific ringtone for a contact?
I can change the tone for 1 of my contacts buts its saves it as a default tone so it is the tone for all my contacts.all I want is to assign different ringtones to different contacts..thats all I want..is that possible on a iphone 4..i had a lg xeon and it could be done cause i did it on my xeon..Thank You Mike

Mike said, on March 9, 2013 8:45 AM:

Hello? Dave???

Dave Taylor said, on March 9, 2013 3:07 PM:

Hi Mike. Not sure what else to suggest because when I step through the process on my iPhone running the latest iOS it works fine... try going into an Apple Store and having them walk you through the process?

Mike said, on March 9, 2013 7:05 PM:

ok thank you Dave and have that coffee on me..thanx again

umakant dixit said, on March 10, 2013 1:53 AM:

i want to change my default ringtone on Iphone 4S to a ringtone which i transfer from my laptop but i cannot find any option to do????
Very annoying its so common on other phones.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How to assign a custom ringtone to a contact on my Apple iPhone?

Reader Comments To Date: 24

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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