Fed up of the stock ringtones? Feel the need to have incoming calls announced with a few bars of Barbie Girl instead? I was asked how to add custom sounds for ringtones on the HTC Hero, but this should work for any Android device. It’s pretty straightforward in truth. Here’s how:-
- Connect the phone to your computer via the USB cable
- Open the Notifications screen on your phone (pull down a finger from the top of the screen to the bottom) and select the USB Storage notification
- Choose “Mount”
- Browse to the SD Card on your PC
- Look for a folder called media, if it’s not there, create it by right clicking and choosing New Folder, then rename the folder to be media
- Inside the media folder, you need a folder called audio, again, if it’s not there create it as above
- Inside the audio folder, you can create a subfolder for the sound category you want to change-
- ringtones – for sound files you want to use as ringtones
- alarms – for sound files you want to use for any alarms
- notifications – for incoming notifications such as SMS alerts, emails, etc
- Copy the sound or music file which you’d like to use as your ringtone in to the relevant folder
- You should now see your sound or music file listed in the menu for selection in the relevant sound settings menu (to access the ringtone/notification settings, press the hard Menu key from one of your home screens, then press Settings then Sounds and Display)
So I followed your instructions but my ringtones aren’t showing up in the my phone. Any ideas?
What sort of phone are you using?
htc hero
That’s strange, those notes have worked for thousands of other folks. Ok, let’s see if we can work out what’s happening. First off, what sort of audio files are you trying to add in? Have you created all of the folders as per the steps above (on your SD card, you should have a media folder, in there, an audio folder, etc)? Are you running a custom ROM? Do you have any ringtone apps installed (such as Ringdroid)?
i’m trying add MP3s. i have created all the folders. i am not running a custom ROM. i have Aru ringtones, junk my ringtones, and RingTone.
nevermind i got to work. thanks
in root of sd card create folder media
inside that folder create folders called
ringtones
alarms
notifcations
now the easy part add mp3 into notification folder if you want to use for sms incoming
add into ringtones for ringtones
and alarms for alarms
if you made these folders while connected and transfered music at same time all should work
if downloaded songs via phone and put into these folders you must unmount your sd card switch of phone and then restart and then you should see the mp3 listed in the settings for changing ringtone/alarms/notifications
this helped could not figure out how to personalize notification sound for the life of me
I found I had to set the stored phone number to EXACTLY what appears when the contact calls me for my selected custom ringtones to work. Even though my Hero knew who was calling – the correct photo showed up – the chosen ringtone did not play until I changed the stored phone number from (sample) (123)-555-1212 to 11235551212.
Just a tip for anyone who’s mp3s are not showing up in the list – try rebooting the handset.
worked for me.
SUCCESS! I followed the excellent instructions about creating the audio folders etc., and had the same problems of the files not showing up. I then switched the phone off and did a soft reset
(took the battery out and then replaced it). When i switched back on all the files are in the ringtone section as required for selection.
How can you customize a ring tone for text MSG & notification?? the only ring tones i can use are the ones that come with the phone& I want to put a song I like.
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Will this work on a Samsung Captivate (AT&T). I can’t seem to make it work.
OK got the custom ring tone and custom SMS tone and even custom ring tone for an each contact. What I would like to do is have a custom ring tone for each contact that is different for voice call and SMS message. I could do this in my Blackberry 9700 Bold but don’t seem to find a way to do it with my new Samsung Vibrant aka Galaxy S.
OK got the custom ring tone and custom SMS tone and even custom ring tone for an each contact. What I would like to do is have a custom ring tone for each contact that is different for voice call and SMS message. I could do this in my Blackberry 9700 Bold but don’t seem to find a way to do it with my new Samsung Vibrant aka Galaxy S. Anyone able to do this?
Problem solved. Got free app called ringgo and wala can now separate ring tones for each contact and separate the voice and SMS, wooohooo!
I have the samsung captivate and i set a custom ringtone for my text messaging but how do i set a diffrent one for each contact.
I just got the motorola milestone and I have put my own personal ringtones and notifications on it. I have set the notification alert in both the sounds and display settings and in the menu of the messaging screen. But when I receive a text I get the “beat box” default notification and the notification I set. Why is this happening and how can I turn off the default once and for good?
Thank for the guide.
I immediately put “Arcana” by Immediate Music as ringtone.
Followed the author’s instructions, made my own ringtones and notifications using Sony Soundforge to edit MP3s into 30 sec WAVS and worked first time.
Many, many thanks to the author.
Also, the WAVs don’t have to be 30 seconds. They can be any length and will loop when played for longer.
This is the only website that has worked for us after hours of frustration. 10 out of 10 for these instructions.
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Works fine on Desire, you do have to disconnect the usb cable before the files will show up on the lists
Amazing guide mate nice n easy saved me hours of trouble
I can’t figure out how to personalize my own ringtone for incoming text messages and all my notifications. If anyone has easy step by step instrutions please email them to me…. amb2615@gmail.com I would really appreciate it! I’ve had my phone for four months now and still cant figure it out. Thank you!
You are awesome!!!! This so totally worked!! Thank you, Thank you!!
Worked perfectly on well on Galaxy S. Thanks a ton. Did it through file manager on the phone. No need to connect it to a PC.
I just got the HTC Aria. Looked for a long time to fix my ringtone blues. As soon as I did what Nick said it worked perfect after hrs. of other tries.This is only thing that worked. FWI: Thanks cshzzzzzz i had to reboot mine to get it to show up. Yall are great LOL.
So, I don’t have caller ID or Call Display and I’ve been told that to customize a ringtone to a particular contact won’t work unless I do have Call Display. Why would I need to have a custom ringtone for each contact if I had Call Display? Is this true?
I did it thank
This worked great, thanks for posting…!
Worked for me! Thanks! (HTC Hero)
ok tried every thing on this page, i still can not get them to come up on the list. made all the folders, tried the unmount and restart, even taking the battery out, but they still will not show up!
i have a HTC Droid Incredible with android 2.2 Froyo. it is rooted, and i do not have any type of ringtone apps installed.
anyone think of anything that might work for me?
thanks a ton worked liked a charm..for those who cant find the ringtone in their folder … search alphabetically in the ringtones !!!!!!!! d:
Worked perfectly on my continuum, I just did it within the phone itself and didn’t need to even connection to the pc. Thanks!
A better way is to download the “Astro” file manager app and then you can browse your file system and press and hold any file and it lets you set it as a ringtone.
After hooking up my captivate and going into usb connect mode, I made the folders and copied the files. For some reason, the files didn’t show, even the ones that were already in there (because it had a default notifications folder already created). Then I realized, duh, you are connected via usb cable and removing that will unmount the drives. AT&T is a bit different in that they aren’t a default android firmware for those that don’t know. So, if you copy over the files to your new folders, remove the usb cable so it shows what you’ve sent to the phone.
This is brilliant. I’ve got HTC Aria and have been using music as ringtone option for a few weeks but it comes and goes for whatever reason. Took me a couple of times following the instructions but as soon as I restart the phone they are all there! Thank you, thank you.
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Thanx Nick Hoddinott…the info you gave me really helped me with the new phone i just bought..the Samsung Gem…appreciate it much…i was about to take it back til i found this hahaha.
How do you set ringtones for someone? I have the samsung gem! Any info will help thanks!
Great post!! It worked for my Galaxy Ace!