How do I enter times?

Seconds, mm:ss or hh:mm:ss. Leave the end blank to run to the end of the file.

Should I use the fade?

Yes for most clips — it removes the click an arbitrary cut causes. No for anything meant to loop seamlessly.

How do I make an iPhone ringtone?

Export as M4A and rename the extension to .m4r. Keep it under about 30 seconds.

Yes. Unlike video, audio has no keyframes to snap to.

Can I change the format at the same time?

Yes, the clip can be saved in any supported format.

Ringtone maker — Free, no signup

Ringtone maker

Cut a section out of a song and save it as a ringtone.

Drop your file here

Processed securely and deleted within the hour.

Choose a file

Up to 120 MB · free · no signup

Start at Seconds, or mm:ss, or hh:mm:ss.

End at Leave blank to run to the end of the file.

Save as

Fade in and out

This tool needs JavaScript, because the work happens on your own device rather than on a server. Everything below — the guide and the answers — works without it.

Choosing the section

This matters far more than any setting. A ringtone is heard for a few seconds at a time, usually from a pocket, so it should open on the part of the song people actually recognise — the hook, the chorus, the riff — not on the intro that builds towards it.

Find the timestamp in any player first, then set the start a beat before it. Most phones want something under about 30 seconds.

Use the fade

Cutting audio at an arbitrary point lands mid-waveform, and that discontinuity is audible as a click. On a ringtone, which starts abruptly and at volume, that click is the first thing you hear. A half-second fade removes it, and it is on by default here for exactly that reason.

Getting it onto a phone

Android takes MP3 directly. Copy the file into the Ringtones folder on internal storage and it appears in the sound picker.

iPhone wants M4R, which is simply an M4A with a different extension. Export as M4A here, rename the file to .m4r, and add it through Finder or iTunes. Apple has never made this straightforward, and no web tool can change that — the constraint is on the phone, not the file.

Length

Thirty seconds is the practical maximum on iPhone, and a sensible one everywhere. A ringtone that runs longer than the call it announces is not doing anything useful.

Copyright, briefly

Making a ringtone from music you own for your own phone is ordinary personal use. Distributing it is not. That distinction is worth keeping in mind and is entirely yours to manage.