How to change the ringtone on your Android phone

A recent discussion among friends wondered if anyone really used ringtones anymore. The idea was that most people (those who still use their phones to hold verbal conversations) either go with whatever ringtone their phone comes with or just use vibrations.

Once upon a time, ringtones were a thing. You could use them for amusement. (My favorite was a bored voice that said, “Ring. Ring. Ring.”) You could use them to know who was calling without having to look at the phone (so you knew when to pick up and when to let it go to voicemail). Now, maybe, not so much.

Still, Google recently added a bunch of new ringtones to its Pixel phones, so presumably, some of us are still playing around with these sounds. In case you count yourself in that group, here’s how to change your ringtone, create your own, and assign a unique ringtone to a contact.

Because the methods for Samsung Galaxy phones and Google Pixel phones can vary, we’ve included directions for both. If you have a different Android phone, you should be able to use one of these as a guide.

These directions were tested using a Pixel 6 and a Galaxy S23 running Android 14.

To select a specific ringtone for one of your contacts:

There are a number of apps available in the Play Store that will create and install ringtones for you. However, if you have an audio file of your own that you want to use, here’s how to make it available:

To select a specific ringtone for one of your contacts:

Update December 28th, 2023, 2:15PM ET: This article was originally published on October 12th, 2023, and has been updated to account for changes in the OS.