How to Set a YouTube Song as Your Ringtone on Android (Samsung, Pixel and More)

Published November 9, 2026

Android takes any MP3 as a ringtone — the trick is getting the right few seconds of a YouTube song into one. Here is how, and where the setting hides on a Samsung, a Pixel and other phones.

Quick Steps

Copy the link of the YouTube Short or video with the song — Share → Copy link.
Paste it into the ringtone maker, pick the part you want and choose Android · MP3.
Tap Make ringtone. The MP3 downloads to your phone.
Open Settings → Sound → Ringtone, tap + or My sounds, and pick the MP3.

Android takes any MP3 as a ringtone, with no app and no conversion beyond the one the ringtone maker does.

Step 1: Cut the Song to an MP3 Ringtone

Open the ringtone maker in Chrome or Samsung Internet and paste the link. Any YouTube video up to 3 minutes long works — every Short and most music clips.

Drag Start and End to the part you want to hear when the phone rings — the chorus, the drop, the line everyone knows — or play the preview and tap Start here and End here as it plays. Twenty to thirty seconds is plenty: a ringtone loops for as long as the phone rings.

Choose Android · MP3, leave Fade in and out on so it does not start at full volume mid-word, and tap Make ringtone. The MP3 is saved to the Download folder.

Step 2: Set It on a Samsung Galaxy

Open Settings → Sounds and vibration → Ringtone. With two SIM cards, pick the one first.
Tap the + at the top right.
Choose the MP3 from the list or from Download, and tap Done.

On One UI the + opens a sound picker that lists every audio file on the phone; the newest ones are at the top.

Step 3: Set It on a Pixel or Another Android Phone

On a Pixel: Settings → Sound & vibration → Phone ringtone → My sounds, then the + button, and pick the MP3.

On Xiaomi, OnePlus, Motorola and most others the path is the same idea under slightly different names: Settings → Sound (or Sound & vibration) → Ringtone, then an option such as Choose local ringtone, From files or + that opens your storage.

Give One Contact Its Own Ringtone

In Google Contacts, open the person, tap the ⋮ menu and choose Set ringtone. In Samsung Contacts, open the person, tap Edit, then View more and Ringtone. Pick the MP3, and only that person’s calls ring with it.

Use It as a Notification Sound

Short sounds make good notifications too. Cut two or three seconds in the ringtone maker, then go to Settings → Sound → Default notification sound (Notification sound on a Samsung) and add it the same way. Messaging apps such as WhatsApp have their own notification sound settings that take the same file.

Ringtone Not in the List? (Ringtones Folder)

Move the file to the Ringtones folder. Some phones list only sounds kept there. Open the Files app, find the MP3 in Download, choose Move and put it in Ringtones (create the folder on internal storage if there is none).
Restart the phone. Android scans for new sounds now and then; a restart makes it look at once.
Check it is an MP3 on the phone itself, not on a memory card some phones do not scan for ringtones.

FAQ

Can I set a YouTube song as my ringtone without an app? Yes. The ringtone maker runs in the browser, and Android’s own settings take the MP3.

How long should an Android ringtone be? There is no fixed limit, but the phone only rings for 20 to 30 seconds before voicemail picks up, so that is all you will hear.

Does it work on Samsung? Yes — Settings → Sounds and vibration → Ringtone → +.

Can I use the same MP3 as an alarm? Yes. See how to set a YouTube song as your alarm.