How to set a ringtone in Android for Samsung Galaxy

2022-10-12

The Android OS allows you to change all settings, including the ringtone. The user can set any audio file (song, ringtone) present on the device or individual contacts from the address book and call log to ring.

This guide explains how to set a ringtone on various Android phones, download the sound /files you like, transfer them to your phone. Let us also consider the typical bugs when trying to change the ringtone.

We tested primarily on the Samsung Galaxy S21 and S10. Instructions are applicable for Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. devices and are relevant for Android 9, 10, 11, and 12 versions. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. Thank you!

Content :

How to copy nice ringtones to your phone from your PC

Let's say you have melodies in your collection that you would like to put on your phone. It's okay if they are only on your PC. You can easily transfer them to your phone. You can choose between mp3, flac, wav or ogg.

1. Connect your phone to your PC using the USB cable used for charging. Choose in which capacity you would like to use the phone. Select the "File transfer" option.

   

2. On the PC you open File Explorer with the contents of the telephone drive or the list of the PC drives.
3. Go to the telephone drive (Device Memory or SD Card) and next to the "Ringtones" folder.

   

4. Copy to the folder Ringtones the file you would like to add as ringtone.

   

5. Next you will have to go to the Settings and modify the melody you have copied. Please read below how to do this.

   

Where to find the ringtone settings on most phones

It is not really so important the model of your phone as it is quite easy to access the settings.

Most phones (Huawei, HTC, Xiaomi):

Settings > Sound > Phone ringtone.

1. Select an Audio file
2. Press OK or Save to confirm.

Hint . If the Phone sound or Ringtone section is not in Settings, search for the Advanced or Advanced settings. In obsolete or "custom" OS firmware versions there might be some differences in naming.

Samsung (Galaxy etc.) OS versions Android 11 and 12 have some differences in the layout of the options:

1. Go to Settings > Sounds & Vibration

   

2. Click the Ringtone section.

   

3. Select a ringtone file from the next menu.
4. Hit the back arrow.

Change ringtone on Samsung Galaxy 9 and 10

Let us first understand how to set a ringtone for all Android devices version 6 or higher:

1. Open the "Settings"

   

2. Find the "Sounds and Notifications" tab.
3. Sound and Vibration, Sound are alternative names for this tab.
4. In this section you can also change the volume of the different applications. This is kind of analogous to the Windows sound maker and allows a flexible way to control the behavior of applications so that one sound does not overlap another.

   

5. In this section (Sounds and Vibration) you will find the item "Ringtone". Click on it.

   

6. The system will ask you if you want to perform this action with the default application (Multimedia Storage) or if you want to choose another source. We are interested in the first option, don't forget to check the "Only now" box. However, there may be no such request.

   

7. The list of standard audio /files available in the file system will appear. You may preview the ringtone before you install it.

   

8. Tap the "OK" or "Save" button to install the ringtone.

It is important ! If you have a gadget with an older version of Android (below 8 e.g. Android 5 or 6) you should first go to the sound profile with the gear icon. It is also located in the Sounds or Sounds and Vibration menu.

Changing Ringtone in Redmi and Xiaomi

1. Go to the section with Settings,
2. Find the "Sound and Vibration" section,
3. Go to "Ringtone".
4. At the top of the screen you will find the button "choose ringtone on the device", click on it
5. Select the desired song from the file manager or the music applications.
6. Check the "Ok" button.

Honor and Huawei phone models

1. Open the standard "Settings"
2. Go to the "Sounds"
3. Search the "Ringtone"
4. System allows you to define the sound for each SIM card
5. The "Sound Selection" section allows you to select the default tones or to choose the track you want.
6. We are interested in the second option, therefore click on "Music on Device".
7. Check the box of the desired audio file and exit the menu.

Technique for Samsung with Android 8 and 9

If you have on your phone not the latest Android version (by the end of the year 2021 it is Android 12) the order of the steps to install the ring tone is the following:

1. In the "Settings" section of Android, select "Sounds and Vibration"
2. Tap the Ringtones menu item
3. When you select the "Media Store" option, you will be prompted to "Add ringtone"
4. Tap this
5. The system will open the file manager to select the audio file.

   

6. Find the desired ringtone and select the checkbox.
7. This song now appears in the list of default ringtones and is selected as current.

Set a melody for an individual contact

The instruction applies to most Android 12 phone models.

In the modern Android versions the procedure is carried out as follows:

1. Open the "Contacts" tab (not confused with Google Contacts!)

   

2. Find the "card" of the person concerned.
3. Click the "Edit" button.

   

4. Scroll down the list and click "Expand".
5. In the Ringtone field indicate the audio file. Normally the default option is selected here.

   

6. The system will offer you to choose a new ringtone from the default ringtone collection or go to the audio collection on the phone.
7. With the default ringtones it is simple, tap on the one you like and confirm your choice.
8. If you wish to insert your music, tap on the "Select ringtone on the device" tab.
9. Android will show you the sources where you can obtain music.
10. Select the file you like and confirm with the "Save" button.

In this way you could assign a melody to a contact, this also applies to the address book of third party messengers.

The instruction is based on the Samsung Galaxy. On other Android builds only the names will be different, the sequence remains the same.

Changing ringtones through the music player

Besides the settings section a melody change is possible in any audio player installed on your device. This also applies to the standard "Music" application. As an example we can use one of the most popular players: AIMP.

1. Open AIMP.

   

2. Go to the playlist and find the desired composition, hold your finger on the title until the context menu appears.
3. In this list the button "Set as Ringtone" interests us.

   

4. If this action is performed for the first time, you will be prompted to modify the Android settings, press "Allow".
5. It remains to select and set the ringtone to all incoming or to a specific contact.

The procedure takes place in a few steps in any Android build, this concerns also the older versions of the mobile operating system.

Possible errors during the installation of the melody

In the Android Forums one encounters the disorders where the users question why the ringtone is not installed.

1. The first step is to check if the given melody is playing back in the normal player of the smartphone.
2. It is possible that the file itself is corrupted, hence the selection error of the ringtone.
3. The main format is mp3, all devices support it. Others, e.g. Lossless, do not work.

In rare cases the system applications responsible for the ring tone selection might malfunction. In this case a full system reset would help.