How to Set a YouTube Song as Your Alarm on iPhone and Android

An alarm clock cannot open YouTube, but it can play a sound file — and a sound file is exactly what a few seconds of a YouTube song or Short can become. Here is how on each phone.

On Android: Google Clock with YouTube Music

Google Clock, the alarm app on Pixel phones and many others, can wake you with a song from a streaming app. Open Clock, tap the sound of an alarm, and look for a YouTube Music tab next to the built-in sounds. If YouTube Music is installed and signed in, you can search for the song and pick it.

What you get this way depends on your YouTube Music account and your country, it always starts at the beginning of the song, and a Short’s sound — a remix, a meme audio, a line from a video — is usually not in YouTube Music at all. For any of those, use your own file instead.

On Android: Any MP3 as the Alarm Sound

1. Paste the link into the ringtone maker, pick the part you want and choose Android · MP3. Tap Make ringtone; the MP3 downloads to your phone.
2. In Google Clock, tap the alarm’s sound, then Your sounds → Add new, and choose the MP3.
3. On a Samsung, open Clock, edit the alarm, tap Alarm sound, then the + at the top, and pick the MP3.

The file stays in the list, so you can give each alarm a different song.

On iPhone: Turn the Song into a Tone, Then Pick It in Clock

The iPhone’s Clock app plays Apple’s tones, your ringtones, or a song from your Apple Music library — nothing from YouTube. The way in is to make the sound a ringtone first:

1. Cut the part you want in the ringtone maker, choose iPhone · M4A, and download it.
2. In the Files app, share the file and tap Use as Ringtone (iOS 26 and later). The full steps, and the way for an older iOS, are in how to make a YouTube video your ringtone on iPhone.
3. Open Clock → Alarms, tap Edit and the alarm, then Sound. Your new tone is at the top of the Ringtones list.

Setting it as an alarm sound does not change your ringtone — the two are chosen separately.

Start the Alarm at the Best Part

A song chosen from a streaming app starts at 0:00, which for many songs means ten seconds of quiet intro. A clip from the ringtone maker starts wherever you put the Start slider — at the chorus, the drop or the line you want to wake up to — and Fade in and out brings it in gently instead of at full volume. For an alarm, a soft start is the kindest way to be woken.

Alarm Not Playing Your Song?

• iPhone — the alarm plays at the Ringtone and Alerts volume, not the media volume: raise it in Settings → Sounds & Haptics. If the tone was removed, the alarm falls back to a built-in sound.
• Android — check the alarm volume, which is separate from the media volume, in Settings → Sound. If you moved or deleted the MP3, the alarm plays the default sound instead; pick the file again.
• Streaming songs — an alarm that streams needs the app signed in, and some need a connection when the alarm goes off. A file on the phone always plays.

FAQ

Can I set a YouTube song as an alarm on iPhone? Yes, by making it a ringtone first; it then appears among the alarm sounds.

Do I need YouTube Premium? No. A file made with the ringtone maker needs no subscription on either phone.

Can the alarm start in the middle of the song? Yes — that is what cutting the clip is for. Put the Start slider where you want the alarm to begin.

How long can an alarm sound be? Up to 40 seconds from the ringtone maker. The alarm loops it until you stop or snooze it.