How to set a ringtone from the iTunes Store

If you bought a ringtone in the iTunes Store, select it in Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone. A purchased song is different: use a downloaded, unprotected copy to create and export a ringtone first.

Published by Ringy · Reviewed 2026-10-18

In this guide

Which kind of iTunes item do you have?
Choose or buy a Tone Store ringtone
Restore a tone you already bought
Turn a purchased song into a ringtone
If you meant iTunes on a computer
The new sound is installed but calls still use the old one

Which kind of iTunes item do you have?

There are three different starting points: a tone bought in the iPhone’s iTunes Store, a full song bought from the music store, or a file you previously transferred with desktop iTunes. Identify which one you have before buying again or following a transfer tutorial.

Choose or buy a Tone Store ringtone

Open the ringtone list in iPhone sound settings and look for the purchased name near the top. Select it for incoming calls. To browse new tones, open the iTunes Store app, choose More → Tones, then search or browse. Preview the item and check its price before purchasing. Store features and availability vary by country.

Buying a tone is optional. You can choose a built-in sound or use your own recording instead; see the free ringtone options. A purchase from Apple’s Tone Store does not unlock Ringy’s catalogue, and a Ringy purchase does not buy an Apple tone.

Restore a tone you already bought

In Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone, look for Download All Purchased Tones. The option may be absent when everything is already downloaded or there are no tone purchases. Some older purchased tones cannot be redownloaded. Use the Apple Account associated with the purchase; a receipt for a full song is not a receipt for a ringtone.

Turn a purchased song into a ringtone

To recover a music purchase, open iTunes Store → More → Purchased → Music, find the artist or song under the items not on this iPhone, and download it. A song downloaded in the Music app still needs a ringtone export.

In GarageBand, use the Music browser for a downloaded song or Files for an ordinary audio file. A dimmed song may be protected or not downloaded; a protected item cannot be used for this export. Follow the GarageBand ringtone guide to trim, name and export the result, then select it in Settings. An Apple Music subscription’s offline song is not equivalent to an unprotected music purchase.

If you meant iTunes on a computer

Older tutorials show desktop sync screens that may not match your current Windows, macOS or iOS setup. This guide covers the documented on-phone purchase and export routes. For a file still on a computer, keep its original copy; once a compatible audio file is available on the phone, use the linked import guide. We have not reproduced a current desktop-to-iPhone ringtone transfer, so we do not provide unverified drag-and-drop or sync steps.

The new sound is installed but calls still use the old one

Check the selected name, ring volume and any ringtone assigned to the caller. Text tones and alarms have their own settings. A short incoming-call test is more useful than repeatedly buying or exporting the same sound.

Related guides

Sources & compatibility

Apple purchase, recovery and GarageBand documentation reviewed October 18, 2026. No purchase was made and no desktop transfer or physical-device procedure was reproduced in this review.

Ringy publishes this guide about its own app and phone setup. Menus can vary by device, OS version and region. For a correction, email help@rin.gy.