How To Create Free Custom iPhone Ringtones Using Only iTunes 8 in Windows

Gone are those days when creating a ring tone for iPhone in Windows seems an impossible task. Mac users were considerablly lucky to create their very own ring-tones using GarageBand, but unfortunately users of Windows very deprived from the fun until now.

Thanks to the new iTunes version you can instantly convert DRM-free song into a ring-tone. Mac users can also follow this trick but for them using GarageBand is a better option over this one. For those who don’t know about DRM (Digital Rights Management) can read this article.

To create free iPhone ring-tones from your iTunes, follow these simple steps:

1. Open iTunes 8 and select any song that you are going to make into a ringer,

2. Right click on the song and select ‘Get info‘ from the menu,

3. Go to the ‘Options‘ tab and go down and check both of the boxes; namely ‘Start Time‘ and ‘Stop Time‘ check boxes. Make sure your ringtone is under 30-seconds. Press OK when finished.

4. Click on ‘Advanced‘ in your menu bar. Select ‘Create AAC Version‘ or ‘Create Apple Lossless Version‘. Make sure your iTunes ‘Import Settings‘ are set to ‘AAC‘ or ‘Apple Lossless‘ and not ‘MP3’ in the Import Using menu.

5. After the encoding is finished navigate to your iTunes Music folder, locate your song, and drag it to your desktop.

6. Go back to the original song i.e. on the iTunes and delete the clipped version from you iTunes library. Don’t worry, it won’t get deleted from the desktop.

7. Rename the extention of the file that you copied on the desktop from .m4a to .m4r. For instance, ‘filename.m4a‘ to ‘filename.m4r’. However, in Windows you’ll have to uncheck ‘Hide extensions for know file types‘ first by going to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and under Files and Folders uncheck the hide extensions box.

8. Drag and drop the newly renamed .m4r file back into iTunes or simply double click on the file to add it to your iTunes library under the ring-tones section.

9. Synchronize your iPhone to get your new iPhone ring-tones!

Note: Songs downloaded from Apple Music Store won’t work. This process works with MP3, non protected ACC, and AIFF files and don’t forget to uncheck start and stop time boxes, otherwise songs won’t run properly in future. Enjoy!