MP3 to M4R Converter
Turns an MP3 into an .m4r file with AAC audio, the container iTunes and Finder accept in the Tones list. One thing to know first: the converter does not shorten anything, and iOS refuses tones longer than roughly 40 seconds, so cut your clip before you upload it.
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Why Convert MP3 to M4R
An iPhone will not take an MP3 as a ringtone. Custom tones have to arrive as an .m4r file, which is an MPEG-4 audio container with AAC inside and a different extension so that Apple's software files it under Tones instead of Music. That is why a song you already own cannot simply be dragged into the Tones section: the wrapper is wrong, even though the audio itself would play fine.
This page decodes your MP3 on our servers with ffmpeg and encodes it again as AAC-LC, then writes it with ffmpeg's MP4 (ipod) muxer and the .m4r extension. It is a real re-encode rather than a rename, which is what makes the file valid for Apple's software. Because the MP3 was already lossy, the M4R is a second lossy generation; at ringtone volume through a phone speaker the difference is hard to notice, but if you plan to re-cut the tone later, keep the original MP3 rather than re-converting the M4R.
Title, artist and album tags carry across, so the tone is not nameless, and chapter markers survive if your MP3 had any. Embedded cover art is dropped on every conversion we run, so do not expect the artwork from the song to come with the tone. The sample rate of the MP3 is kept, a mono file stays mono, and the AAC encoder runs at its own default setting: there is no bitrate, sample rate or quality selector on this page.
The important limit is length, not format. We convert the file from beginning to end, with no trim and no start or end point, and the output of an M4R conversion is byte-for-byte what an M4A conversion would be apart from the extension. A four-minute song therefore produces a four-minute .m4r, which Finder or iTunes will usually refuse to sync as a tone. Cut the section you want first with our Cut Audio tool or any audio editor, keep it to about 40 seconds, and then convert the short clip here.
How to Convert MP3 to M4R
- Trim the MP3 to the part you want to hear when the phone rings, about 40 seconds or shorter. Use our Cut Audio tool or an editor on your computer, because this converter processes the whole file and cannot shorten it.
- Drop the trimmed MP3 onto this page, or pick it with the file browser. You can add several MP3s at once and each one comes back as its own .m4r file.
- Start the conversion. Short ringtone clips are small, and most finish within a few seconds of the upload completing.
- Download the .m4r. It keeps the original base name, so my-tone.mp3 becomes my-tone.m4r, and the link stays valid for about four hours.
- Install it on the phone with a cable: on macOS drag the .m4r onto your device in Finder, on Windows drag it into the Tones section of iTunes, then sync.
- On the iPhone, open Settings, then Sounds & Haptics, then Ringtone, and pick your new tone from the top of the list.
What This Converter Actually Does
- Writes a proper MPEG-4 ringtone container with AAC-LC audio and the .m4r extension that Apple's software looks for, not a renamed MP3
- Carries over title, artist and album tags so the tone shows a name, and keeps chapter markers if the source MP3 had them
- Leaves the sample rate and channel layout of the MP3 alone: mono stays mono, stereo stays stereo
- Accepts a batch of MP3s in one go, ten files per request without an account, and returns one .m4r per input
- Runs on our servers, so there is nothing to install and no desktop ringtone software to download
- Downloads keep the original file name, which makes a set of tones easy to tell apart in Finder or iTunes
MP3 to M4R Questions
Can I convert a whole song and use it as a ringtone?
The conversion will succeed, but the result is a full-length .m4r and iOS only accepts tones of roughly 40 seconds, so Finder or iTunes will usually refuse to sync it. Cut the clip first, then convert the short file.
Does this page have an MP3 to M4R cutter built in?
No. There is no trim, fade or start/end option here; we convert the file from beginning to end. Use our Cut Audio tool to make the 30 to 40 second clip, then bring that clip to this page.
How do I get the M4R onto my iPhone?
The usual route is a computer: on macOS, open the device in Finder and drag the .m4r onto it; on Windows, drag the file into the Tones section of iTunes and sync.
Do I need iTunes or GarageBand for this?
You need Finder, iTunes or GarageBand to install the finished file. GarageBand does the cutting and the format change on the phone itself; this page handles the format change, which is the part that fails when people rename an MP3 by hand.
Will the ringtone sound worse than the MP3?
It is a second lossy step: we decode the MP3 and encode AAC-LC at the encoder's default setting, with no bitrate or quality control. Through a phone speaker that is rarely audible, but keep the original MP3 for future versions.
Does the album artwork come with the tone?
No. Cover art and any other embedded image is removed on every conversion we run, so the .m4r contains audio and text tags only.
Is there anything to download or pay for?
No installer and no account: the converter is free for files up to 50 MB as a guest, and signing in raises that to 100 MB. Ringtone clips are far below either limit.
What happens to my file after the conversion?
The MP3 you uploaded is deleted as soon as the job finishes, and the .m4r can be downloaded for about four hours before it is deleted automatically. Conversion happens on our servers rather than on your device, and we do log file names, sizes and outcomes for operations.