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Need help?Convert MP4 to M4R: Make an iPhone Ringtone from a Video
The sound you want as a ringtone is often stuck inside a video: a clip from your camera roll, a music video you made, a recording from an old Android phone, a funny moment someone sent you. An iPhone cannot use an MP4 as a ringtone. Custom tones have to be M4R files, which hold AAC audio in an MPEG-4 container with the .m4r extension. This page takes the MP4, extracts its audio track, drops the video entirely, lets you trim the clip to ringtone length, and writes the M4R. It is free, needs no sign-up, adds no watermark, supports batch upload and works in mobile browsers.
How to Convert MP4 to M4R
- Upload Your MP4 File: Drag the
.mp4onto the page or click "+ Add Files". On an iPhone, the picker lets you choose a video from Photos or Files. Several videos can be queued and converted with the same settings. - Choose the Audio Quality: AAC is the only codec for M4R. Under File Compression, pick Constant Bitrate (8-384 kbps) for a predictable result, one of the five Variable Bitrate bands (20k-32k up to 96k-112k), or a Custom Bitrate; Quality Preset leaves the exact rate to the encoder. 192-256 kbps suits music, 96-128 kbps suits speech.
- Trim to 30 Seconds or Less: Switch Trim from Unchanged, then enter a Start time and a Duration, in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss. Apple says iPhone ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long, and the note under Duration says the same. Audio Channel and Audio Sample Rate can stay on Original.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the
.m4r. The video is uploaded over TLS, processed on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours.
What Happens to the Video and the Sound
An MP4 can hold several streams: video, one or more audio tracks, sometimes subtitles. An M4R holds exactly one audio track. During conversion the video stream is discarded, and the audio is decoded and encoded as a fresh AAC-LC stream at the bitrate you chose. That is true even when the MP4's audio is already AAC, which it usually is, so treat it as a second encode rather than a copy and choose a bitrate at or above the source's. If you do not know the source's rate, 256 kbps is a safe ceiling for a 30-second clip and still comes in under a megabyte.
The output is a standard MPEG-4 audio file: ffprobe reports AAC LC with the major brand M4A . M4R and M4A are the same kind of file, and the .m4r extension is what tells Finder, iTunes and the iPhone to treat it as a tone. If you want the audio as an ordinary song instead, use MP4 to M4A.
Three things the conversion cannot do:
- Add sound to a silent video. Screen recordings made with the microphone off, and many clips with music stripped out, have no audio track at all. Play the MP4 first.
- Read protected purchases. Movies and TV episodes bought or rented from a store are usually DRM-protected and cannot be converted.
- Pick between audio tracks. If the file has more than one audio track, for instance a second language, one track is converted. Listen to the result before you sync it.
Choosing the 30 Seconds
Apple's support article on custom ringtones says ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long, and GarageBand shortens longer ringtones automatically when exporting them. A 40-second limit is widely quoted from the iTunes era, but it is not in Apple's current documentation, so plan for 30.
To find the clip, play the video in any player, note the time where your moment starts, and enter it as the Trim Start time. Give the Duration a second or two of headroom, convert, and listen. Adjusting and converting again is quick.
One practical tip for large videos: Trim decides what is encoded, not what is uploaded, so a ten-minute 4K video is uploaded in full even if you keep only half a minute of its audio. On an iPhone you can trim the clip first in the Photos app (Edit, then drag the ends of the frame viewer) and save it as a new clip, which makes the upload far smaller. If you already have an M4R that needs tightening, Trim M4R works on a waveform without going back to the video.
MP4 vs M4R at a Glance
| Property | MP4 | M4R |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Video file (MPEG-4 Part 14) | iPhone ringtone file |
| Streams | Video, one or more audio tracks, sometimes subtitles | A single audio track |
| Audio codec | Usually AAC; sometimes others | AAC (AAC-LC) |
| Container family | MPEG-4 | MPEG-4, the same container as M4A |
| Typical length | Seconds to hours | Up to 30 seconds, per Apple |
| Typical size | Megabytes to gigabytes | Under 1 MB at 256 kbps for 30 seconds |
| Listed as an iPhone ringtone | No | Yes, once it is on the phone |
| Protected store purchases | Often DRM-locked | Must come from a DRM-free source |
Bitrate and Size for a 30-Second Tone
AAC bitrate in kbps multiplied by seconds and divided by 8 gives kilobytes.
| Constant Bitrate | 30-second M4R | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 64 kbps | ~240 KB | Speech, voice messages |
| 96 kbps | ~360 KB | Speech with background sound |
| 128 kbps | ~480 KB | Casual music, mixed audio |
| 192 kbps | ~720 KB | Music |
| 256 kbps | ~960 KB | Music with plenty of headroom |
| 320 kbps | ~1,200 KB | No audible gain over 256 kbps through a phone speaker |
Getting the Ringtone onto Your iPhone
There are three usual routes:
- From a Mac: connect the iPhone, select it in the Finder sidebar (macOS Catalina or later) and drag the
.m4ronto it. The tone then appears in the Ringtone list. - From Windows: add the tone to the iPhone with iTunes.
- On the iPhone alone: save the
.m4rto Files, import it into GarageBand and choose Share > Ringtone. This is the route Apple documents; GarageBand needs a source that is not DRM-protected.
Then open Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone and choose your tone. To use it for one person, open Contacts, pick the person, tap Edit and set Ringtone or Text Tone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the video end up in the ringtone?
No. M4R is audio only. The video stream is dropped during conversion and only the sound is kept. Your original MP4 is untouched on your device.
Is the audio copied straight out of the MP4?
No, it is re-encoded. Even when the MP4's soundtrack is AAC, the converter decodes it and encodes a new AAC stream at the bitrate you pick, which is also what makes trimming possible. At or above the source's bitrate the difference is inaudible on a phone.
Why is my ringtone silent?
The MP4 almost certainly has no audio track, or the sound was muted when it was recorded. Play the original first; if it is silent there, there is nothing to extract.
Can I convert a movie or episode I bought from a store?
Usually not. Store purchases and rentals are typically DRM-protected, which encrypts the streams so no converter can read them. Your own recordings, exports and DRM-free downloads convert normally.
Why does my ringtone not show up on the iPhone?
Check three things: the file ends in .m4r, it is 30 seconds or shorter, and it was actually transferred to the phone through the Finder, iTunes or GarageBand. Saving it to Files on its own does not add it to the Ringtone list.
Can I do the whole job on my iPhone?
Yes. Open this page in Safari, upload the video from Photos or Files, trim and convert, and save the .m4r to Files. Then import it into GarageBand and use Share > Ringtone.
I recorded the clip on my iPhone. Is it MP4 or MOV?
The iPhone Camera app records .mov files. Videos from Android phones, many apps and most downloads are .mp4. If yours is a MOV, use MOV to M4R; the process is the same.
What should Android users do instead?
Android does not need M4R; ringtones there are usually MP3 or OGG. Use MP4 to MP3 and set the file in the phone's sound settings. Every other source format is listed on the M4R converter.
What happens to my video after conversion?
It is uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, converted on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours. Nothing is shared or made public, and no account is needed.