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How to customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones?

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You may not know you can fully customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones in many ways, including:

  • Choosing your own default ringtones, instead of the over the horizon that everyone else is using.
  • Using your own audio files on the phone or on the PC as Galaxy Note 4 ringtones
  • Assigning different (customized)  ringtones for individual contacts so that you know who is calling before picking up the phone.

This guide will show you how to customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones.

If you want to customize Galaxy Note 4 notification tones, e.g., change Galaxy Note 4 notification tones, customize  message notification tones for individual contacts, please check this guide.

Table of Contents hide
1) How to change default Galaxy Note 4 ringtone?
2) How to use audio files on your PC as Galaxy Note 4 ringtones?
3) How to use audio file in the phone as Galaxy Note 4 ringtones?
4) How to assign different ringtone for individuals?
4.1) Can you customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones for the default and for individual contacts?

How to change default Galaxy Note 4 ringtone?

By default, Galaxy Note 4 uses the “over the horizon” as the default ringtone as many other Galaxy phones. So, when you hear the ringtone in public area, sometimes, you may notice several people are checking their phones.

Changing the Galaxy Note 4  default ringtone is very simple.

Go to Settings, tap Sound. Current default ringtone is shown under Ringtones.

Tap Ringtones.  The next window depends on apps you installed.  For example, if you installed ES File Explorer (here is a mini guide), you will have the option to choose ES File Explorer or Media Storage. If you choose ES File explorer, you will be directed to select individual audio files, not the pre-installed ringtones. Media storage will  bring you to pre-installed ringtones and all audio files you put in the Ringtones folder (see below).

Tap Media Storage and tap Just once. If you didn’t install ES File explorer, you will get the next screen directly.

In the list page of available ringtones, you can select any of them. Then tap Done to apply the setting.

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How to use audio files on your PC as Galaxy Note 4 ringtones?

If you don’t like the pre-installed ringtones or you want to customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones, you can use your own audio files as ringtones.

The simplest way to add your own ringtone files for Galaxy Note 4 is to copy these audio files directly into the Ringtones folder from a PC.

Connect your Galaxy Note 4 to an USB port in the PC. You may need install Kies 3 if your PC fails to recognize your Galaxy Note 4.

Once your Galaxy Note 4 is recognized, you can copy any audio files into the Ringtones folder on the phone storage.

Sometimes, you may get a warning message on audio file format. Usually you can ignore it.

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Once the audio files are copied to the Ringtones folder, they are treated as pre-installed Galaxy Note 4 ringtones.

When selecting ringtones, they are  listed together with the pre-installed ringtones.

Select it as other pre-installed Galaxy Note 4 ringtones. Tap Done.

Now you should notice the default ringtone is changed to your audio file copied from the PC.

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How to use audio file in the phone as Galaxy Note 4 ringtones?

If the audio files you want to use to customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones are already in the phone (either internal storage or SD card), you can use them directly as ringtones without copying them to the Ringtones folder.

When in ringtone selection page, tap the “add” button in the bottom  as shown below.

Tap Sound picker.

Tap Just once.

Select the audio file. By default, Galaxy Note 4 will extract the highlight part of the audio file.  You can turn it off if you want to play from the beginning.

Then Tap Done to apply the new ringtone.

Now you can check the new default ringtone on your Galaxy Note 4.

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How to assign different ringtone for individuals?

Many Samsung Galaxy phone users are not aware that they can assign each contact different ringtones.

This is very useful when you want to identify who is calling without looking at the phone or picking up the phone.

Open Contacts app. Open the contact with whom you want to set a customized ringtone.

Tap edit icon in the top as shown below. Current ringtone  is shown.

Tap Ringtone.  (Again, if there is a pop up window asking you to select app, choose media storage- just once)

Select the ringtone from the list (which includes the pre-installed Galaxy Note 4 ringtones and all audio files in Ringtones folder) or choose “add” in the bottom (as shown above).

Tap “Done” to apply the new customized ringtone for this individual.

Now you should notice this contact is using non-default ringtone.

Tap Save in the top to save the modification.  Don’t forget this step

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Can you customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones for the default and for individual contacts?

If you have any  questions to customize Galaxy Note 4 ringtones for the default or for individual contacts, please let us know them in the comment box below. We will try to help you find a solution.

More how-to guides , tips and tricks for using Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are available at Galaxy Note 4 how-to guides page.

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Comments

  1. Anne Maffett says

    A few days ago, I went from a Note 3 to a Note 4.
    When making selections everywhere from which Sounds to which Browser choices, I have noticed the “Just Once” and “Always” buttons are missing everywhere I’m used to seeing them in the Note 3. And instead, by making a choice, I am creating a “Default” which is not always easy to remedy.
    I imagine, I can go into App Manager and change which Browser Gmail defaults to.
    But I cannot figure out how to change Sounds Folders. I fully understand how to switch from melody to melody and how to clear defaults within most Apps.
    What I cannot find is how to clear the Default that occurred while I was in System Settings > Sounds and Notifications > Ringtones.
    Can you please help me?

    Reply

  2. Lana says

    Hello, Today, when I went to change my ringtone, I was taken to one of my apps (Zedge), which in not normally the case. I am unable to access my other audio files where I normally select my ringtones from. I don’t see an option to revert back, search or choose from other than Zedge. Pls can you advise? Thank you!

    Reply

  3. Hugh Hemington says

    When I have to do a HARD RESET on my Note 4 (which I do pretty often) all the ringtone assignments are lost. Is there any way for them to be saved anywhere? They’re obviously IN THE PHONE while the contacts are in Google. If they WOULD still be there if the ringtones were in place that doesn’t really help because the phone finds the contacts before I have a chance to copy the ringtones back into the wiped phone.

    Is there a service like Samsung or other that would backup the ringtone assignments? Because Google doesn’t do it.

    Reply

  4. Paul Chavez says

    When my Samsung Galaxy 4 is shut down/turned off/restarted most of my custom ringtones for individuals are reset to the default ringtone. Is there anyway to prevent this?

    Reply

  7. Chasse says

    Do you happen to know of you can set a ring tone to an entire specified designated group? I’d prefer to not have to set the ring tone for each individually.

    Reply

  8. Pam F. C. says

    I loved my Gallaxy s4. Everything was simple, great features. I now have the Note 4, which I expected the same set up, just like my Galaxy tablet. Nope. Its a mess. Not intuitive, need an instruction booklet just to find out IF I can do something simple. Its terrible. Very unhappy Samsung customer!

    Reply

  9. Sherie says

    I’m trying to change my ring tone for just my text messages. How do I do that? Thought I had it but only changed it for my notifications

    Reply

  10. eve says

    Trying to assign personal ringtones to my contacts but when I select my contact the only 2 options is name and phone number. Phone only new so am I doing something wrong ? Please help ☺

    Reply

  11. catherine says

    I have individual ringtones set for multiple people but it only ever plays my preset generic ringtone. Any idea how to get around this?

    Reply

  12. Сэлвин Тан says

    Hello there! Any way to prevent the notification from getting cut off halfway! I’ve nice ringtones that is longer than 10 seconds and it has been frustrating me since Note 1 to note 3 and now note 4. any known fix yet? 🙁

    Reply

  13. Ashley says

    My phone was never recognized after installing Kies 3. Never could get it recognized so I could transfer songs to the phone from the pc. I installed Kies 3 on phone & on pc. I need help. Just want songs transferred to my Samsung Note 4.

    Reply

  14. Fritz says

    How can i change the media tone?……what came as the go to tone for media notifications is horrible….i have searched everywhere but there doesnt appear to be a way

    Reply

  15. scotty says

    Having problems with editing saved numbers at all, I think it’s because contacts are only saved to Sim, how do I save all contacts to phone?

    Reply

  17. Donna says

    Hi, I was wondering if it is possible to set a call tone on the note 4 (a specific song that others will hear while waiting for an answer)?

    Reply

  18. Valeri Johnson says

    I have been trying to get tones onto my phone for over a week…. very annoying. However I couldn’t get either of the ES File downloads to work, they just churned and churned. I finally found a lovely way to move the files over to ringtones using the Add button under settings/sounds/ringtones/chose media/add/soundpicker or cloud or onedrive or zredge and it took me to my local files. No extra apps!!

    Reply

  20. Chris says

    I tried to pick my mp3 as my ringtone but when i touched on ‘Add’, the Sound Picker did not appear…any idea why?

    Reply

  22. Trina says

    I just got the galaxy note 4 and i was wondering if there was a site to download ringtones on? I had the galaxy 3 and i would use myxer but for some reason im not showing it the playstore. Any help would be appreciated.

    Reply

  23. Ballgiants says

    I am trying to make individual ringtones and followed your directions above but for some reason, I am not getting the “ringtone” option to choose a ringtone. In other words there is no default ringtone showing in the edit contact menu. Can you direct me to the solution?
    Thanks

    Reply

  24. kurt says

    Is it just my phone or do all the ringtones for the Note 4 start off soft then increase in volume? When I play them in settings the ringtones are loud, however when someone actually calls they start soft then increasingly get louder. I miss text message alerts because of this.

    I also noticed that when Im using the Google Maps navigation the volume of the navigation sometimes gets soft then loud again. Have you experienced this? Is there a way around this?

    Reply

  25. Barb says

    Thank you! You understood enough to send me where I needed to go. I needed to be looking in the settings of the Messages app, not the base phone settings.

    Reply

  26. Barb says

    Is there a way to customize the Message notification tone? On my Note II I was able to pick a tone and make it replay at a select interval. I Loved that feature. Is it MIA from the Note 4?

    Reply

  28. Dolly says

    Does anyone know how to use a custom notification audio file instead of what is on the list? It will not let me select anything but what is pre loaded. Thanks!

    Reply

  29. helen says

    I want only a certain part of a song as ring tone and not from beginning. But I can’t find the option to crop the song.

    Reply

  30. Drum says

    I just got the galaxy note 4 and uploaded my contacts from the iCloud. Would this have any impact on why I am unable to set individual contact ringtones? I don’t see a ringtone option on any of my contacts… Any help would be appreciated…

    Reply

  31. haze says

    Can I customizer the ringtone for an individual without changing the WhatsApp sound notification? The phone now changes all messages and WhatsApp and calls to the assigned ringtone!!

    Reply

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