The default ringtone for incoming phone calls is controlled in Sounds & Haptics. Changing it does not change your text tone, voicemail alert, calendar alerts, or other notification sounds.
Quick steps
- Open Settings.
- Tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Tap Ringtone.
- Tap different tones to preview them.
- Leave the tone you want selected.
Use a different ringtone for one person
Open the contact in Contacts, tap Edit, and choose Ringtone. A contact-specific tone overrides the default for that person and can make an important caller recognizable without looking at the screen.
Purchased and custom tones
Tones purchased through Apple or exported correctly as custom ringtones can appear in the ringtone list. An ordinary MP3 sitting in Files does not automatically become a ringtone; custom audio normally has to be converted or exported as a tone first.
Ringtone volume is controlled elsewhere
The ringtone choice determines which sound plays. The Ringtone and Alerts slider on the Sounds & Haptics screen controls how loud it is. If a ringtone is correct but too quiet, change the alert volume rather than choosing a different tone.
If an old ringtone is missing
Check whether purchased tones can be redownloaded and whether the custom tone was transferred to the current iPhone. A ringtone that existed only on an older device may need to be added again.
One more detail worth knowing
You can change the sound your iPhone uses for incoming calls without installing another app. The default ringtone is controlled in Sounds & Haptics, and you can also assign a different ringtone to an individual contact. Change the default ringtone The selected ringtone applies to ordinary incoming calls unless you have assigned a custom tone to a specific contact.
How to confirm the change
After you finish set/change a ringtone, repeat the action that originally brought you to this guide. Check the visible setting or real-world result rather than assuming the change took effect. If the result differs from the steps above, return to the relevant menu and look for a carrier, account, device, or app-specific control before changing unrelated iPhone settings.
Change the default ringtone
Open Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone and choose a sound. Tap a ringtone to preview it. The selected ringtone becomes the default for ordinary incoming calls unless a contact has been assigned a custom ringtone.
If the ringtone is still not audible
Check the Ring/Silent control or Action button configuration, ringtone and alerts volume, Focus settings, and whether the caller has a contact-specific ringtone. Bluetooth audio routing does not normally replace the phone’s ringtone behavior, but connected accessories and accessibility settings can affect what you hear.
Matthew Roberts created this site to help his friends and family with questions that they might have about how to change the settings on their iPhones. It now serves as an archive of iPhone how-to guides to help anyone that stumbles upon this website.