How to set a custom ringtone on Samsung Galaxy

Before you start: make the ringtone

You need the ringtone as an audio file on your phone. Open the Android ringtone maker, pick a song or recording, trim it and tap Download. The MP3 lands in your Downloads folder, ready for the steps below.

Tips for Samsung Galaxy

• Phones with two SIMs ask which SIM first. Repeat the steps for SIM 2 if you want the same sound on both, or give each SIM its own tone so you know which number is ringing.
• Samsung's + button opens the sound picker. If you see a list of apps, choose Sound picker or My Files.
• Samsung Internet and Chrome both save to My Files → Downloads, which is where the picker looks first.
• Under the ringtone list, Vibrate while ringing decides whether the phone also buzzes. Turn it off if you only want the sound.

Notification sounds and alarms on Samsung

Notifications: Settings → Sounds and vibration → Notification sound, then tap + and pick your file. Keep it short: 1 to 3 seconds from the notification sound maker.

One app only (for example WhatsApp or Messages): Settings → Notifications → App notifications → the app, then open a notification category and change its Sound. WhatsApp also has its own tone setting: see the WhatsApp notification sound page.

Alarm: open Clock, tap the alarm, tap Alarm sound → Ringtone, then + and pick your file. Turn on its fade so you aren't jolted awake: the alarm tone maker builds one in.

Samsung extras worth knowing

• Per-contact ringtones: Contacts → the person → Edit → View more → Ringtone. Samsung also lets you set a vibration pattern for one contact on the same screen.
• Call vibration pattern: Settings → Sounds and vibration → Call vibration pattern lets you pick a buzz that matches your new tone.
• Ring volume: Settings → Sounds and vibration → Volume. Ringtone and notifications can share one slider; turn that off if you want them separate.

Ringtone not showing in the list?

• Open the Files app → Downloads and check the file is there. Some browsers save to a folder called Download.
• If the browser played the file instead of saving it, long-press the download and choose Download.
• Close the ringtone list and open it again. Restarting the phone also makes it show up.
• Rename the ringtone without emoji or special characters and download it again.
• Still missing? Use your Files app's Move option to put the file in the Ringtones folder of your phone's internal storage. Android lists everything in that folder as a ringtone. For notification sounds, use the Notifications folder.

Questions