November 3, 2011
Several people reported that their purchased ringtones became unavailable after updating to iOS 5. They further elaborated that the ringtones appeared to have synced as usual but did not appear on their iPhones.
Fix: What can be done to counter this is to uncheck ‘Sync ringtones’ in iTunes. Then, sync your iPhone, recheck ‘Sync ringtones’ and sync your phone again.
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[...] iPhone Problem: Missing Ringtones After iOS 5 Update – Apple …I can see my ringtones, they are appearings in the ‘tones’ list of my iphone in iTunes, but not on my actual phone. I do not have the ’sync tones’ … [...]
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November 4, 2011 at 1:19 PM
It worked!!
November 10, 2011 at 2:57 PM
It worked for me too! Thank you!
November 10, 2011 at 6:15 PM
I recently downloaded the ios 5 and now my service and wifi keep turning on and then it shuts off. It say searching then goes to No Service then it goes to the bars and AT&T and 3G. How can i stop this from doing this. I can’t even make a phone call it just drops the call. If i am texting it will not send until my service reconnects. it just flashes this over and over
November 14, 2011 at 3:21 AM
I was going mad when i couldn’t find my purchased ringtones on my iphone just after updating to ios 5.01, done the above and worked first time THANK YOU Sooooooo much.
November 15, 2011 at 6:19 PM
Did not work and I tried multiple times and shut off phone and tried again.
June 1, 2012 at 8:00 PM
It didn’t work for me the first time either, so the second time I just synced the ringtones and left the music off. I then went to my phone and selected my ringtones and then went back to the comp and synced my music.
I must say, rather complicated for a device that prides itself on simplicity…
July 7, 2012 at 3:13 PM
Seriously! So friggin’ complicated just to get my ringtones back. I’ve never been this irritated with and Apple product!! I paid for them so they should be so much more accessible!
November 17, 2011 at 5:44 PM
Thank you!
November 20, 2011 at 7:32 PM
After installing 5.01 I can see my purchased ringtones but they do not play when a call comes in. It only plays the default ringtone but not the one in their individual contacts.
January 23, 2012 at 11:36 AM
Hi WIll
Did you ever get a work around to your ringtone issue? I am having the same issue and I have tried every thing I can find on the web to no avail.
Let me know if you have something please.
Johnson32@slb.com
November 21, 2011 at 4:40 PM
Only 33% of my ringtones came back. Pretty upset. That’s a bunch of money wasted. Stupid Apple.
November 25, 2011 at 4:31 AM
I could see the ring tones on i-tune as being on my phone but they werent available to me when editing contacts. Having followed the advice I now dont even have them on my phone as far as I can see.
December 15, 2011 at 9:18 AM
I can see my ringtones, they are appearings in the ‘tones’ list of my iphone in iTunes, but not on my actual phone. I do not have the ‘sync tones’ selected, and if I do it now, iTunes will delete all my songs, and I’ll have to start from scratch. What else can I do???? Please help
December 24, 2011 at 10:14 AM
I’m with Vicki, I have the same issue. After selecting “Sync Tones” I get a warning that all music, movies, tv shows will be removed. WTF I luv i@#%^$tunes!
July 29, 2012 at 12:43 AM
1. Go to iTunes Store then click Edit.
2. Click GENERAL > Preference and click Tones (if not checked)
3. Go to Store Menu (0n top). Click Autorize this computer (if not authorized)
4. Sign in with your FIRST Apple ID
5. Sync your phone.
December 24, 2011 at 10:25 AM
I tried the “Sync Tones” as suggested on other websites. Now ALL MY MUSIC IS GONE!
December 25, 2011 at 9:45 PM
cannot find ringtones tab in itunes to uncheck the sync button. has it changed in newer versions of itunes?
December 30, 2011 at 10:55 PM
When in iTunes, plug in your phone and click on your phone in the devices tab on the left sidebar. Then you should see a small menu above the main screen showing your phone and the iOS updates and such. There will be a Tunes tab there,
April 6, 2012 at 1:34 AM
Brilliant – once ‘ringtones’ is selected in menu bar, select all ringtones and re-sync .. job done!
April 17, 2012 at 9:26 AM
YOu are the man. Nobody explained the small sub menu that is there when the phone is connected. Once I clicked on the sub menu Tones and click Sync it worked! Thanks a million!
July 8, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Thank you! Took me days to get my ringtones back and 3 seconds after reading ur post!
December 30, 2011 at 10:56 PM
Thank you…thank you…Thank You!!!! This has been driving me nuts!
January 13, 2012 at 7:37 PM
Upgraded iPhone3 to 5.0.1 Ringtones appear on iPhone list. Checked the ringtone I want. Still plays default tone when call received. Tried fix described above – still plays default rather than selected tone even though selected tone is still checked on sounds in settings. HELP
January 16, 2012 at 7:48 AM
Help!! I had NOT yet updated to ios 5.0, however several purchased ringtones (but only some of them….) vanished from my iPhone last Fri….they don’t even show up as having been purchased, on iTunes…was alerted to this because these vanished ringtones had been assigned to various contacts, and one was being used as my default ringtone. Any ideas???
January 19, 2012 at 7:08 AM
Windows, ios5.0.1 iphone 3gs. Tried several times, including re-spring or reboot the iphone.
NOTHING.
Any other suggestion?
Thanks.
January 20, 2012 at 4:33 PM
I’ve tried everything suggested. It still is not working!!!! Help!
January 30, 2012 at 5:57 PM
I to did the update for my iPhone, i got most of my ringtones back but there are a few that do not show up in my iTunes! I tried to download them again and it says –you already purchased this item would you like to purchase again! I don’t wanna purchase again! How can I recover them when they don’t show up on my iTunes account?
January 30, 2012 at 7:57 PM
Same thing here…”tones” will play in iTunes library, but will not play on my phone. They’ll sync up (and I have unchecked and checked…UN-synced and synced), but when I go to play them or choose one in my “Sound” settings…it’s just silence.
Also, when I went in to the iTunes store from my phone and tried to play ringtones (thinking I’d have to re-purchase)…the “preview” of a ringtone won’t even play…it’s just silence. It’s like ringtones and my phone are oil and vinegar…nothing plays, and it’s so frustrating!!! Arg! Gonna contact iTunes in the next day or so.
January 31, 2012 at 4:23 AM
Hi, after updating to iOS5 all but 1 purchased or custom ringtone was not working – my fave of course
It registered in iTunes and in Tones of my iPhone under Devices, but not in the actual phone itself. Finally I tried deleting it from Tones under Devices and then dragging it from my iTunes library back onto my phone. That worked. So simple I could’ve screamed. :/
March 14, 2012 at 5:43 PM
it will not give me the option of deleting from device? Also the tones I have lost all show on Itunes under my device but with an exclamation beside them
December 10, 2012 at 8:09 PM
Thank you! I had tried EVERYTHING! But this worked!
February 1, 2012 at 5:11 PM
It worked perfectly. Uncheck the “Sync Tones” then sync your phone. The go back and check “Sync Tones” and resync. Voila!!!!!
June 17, 2012 at 11:48 PM
I have no option to sync tones, all i can do is sync Apps
I have lost all my ringtones that i got through an app, not on DL from itunes…
HELP!
February 17, 2012 at 10:45 PM
Mine still not work…
please help me…
feeling very crazy and super mad!!! furthermore i cant edit my contact names.
please help me.
thanks
March 11, 2012 at 4:08 PM
This is absolutely obnoxious. It worked, but its obnoxious.
I want a refund.
March 14, 2012 at 4:37 PM
I have tried the check and uncheck sync tones. I am getting ringtones that were purchased for another device, not the ones I purchased. I am not getting any of the alert tones. Also under my device it is showing an exclamation beside these ringtones and alert tones. It does not show an exclamation beside them in the library?!
somebody please help me!!
March 16, 2012 at 5:21 PM
Tried your fix remedy and still can not get 2 of my ring tones back that I had purchased. What now!!
April 7, 2012 at 5:56 AM
YAYYYY!!! It worked!!!! Oh thank you, thank you! I was going crazy with those standard ringtones, and I can’t hardly hear them!
June 11, 2012 at 1:07 PM
Ong! I’m gng insane. All my bought ringtones missing off iPhone. they ate all in my iTunes library but when I sync they don’t go onto my iPhone. I’ve done what has been said in earlier posts but nothing works!! I really want my ringtones back. Pks help
May 22, 2012 at 8:16 PM
OMG!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 4, 2012 at 8:59 PM
I tried all the suggestions. What finally worked for me:
1. While disconnected: restart phone and uncheck all Tones
2. Connect and sync
3. Recheck all tones and sync
This is what finally worked for me. Good luck!
August 6, 2012 at 6:19 PM
It didn’t work for me. I had about 20 ringtones. What a waste of money.
August 6, 2012 at 9:46 PM
I have 23 original ringtones downloaded from a free site that work great.
I recently downloaded more ringtones from this same free site and they are stuck in my Music Library, but will not move to my Tones Library. How do I get them to my Tones Library?
August 14, 2012 at 9:13 PM
I have 16 ringtones showing in Itunes under tones & when I synced to my PC about a month ago only 4 were on my IPhone. I have checked & unchecked when syncing & I still only get the same 4 on my Iphone even though all 16 are in Itunes I contacted Apple & they redownloaded my missing 12 saying its a one time help. Now I synced again & the 12 are missing again from my phone. I have contacted Apple again but I don’t know if they are going to help me. I think there is a flaw since this is happening to so many people. Any other suggestions besides syncing & unsyncing?
August 14, 2012 at 9:20 PM
I have 16 ringtones showing in Itunes under tones & when I synced to my PC about a month ago only 4 were on my IPhone. I have checked & unchecked when syncing & I still only get the same 4 on my Iphone even though all 16 are in Itunes I contacted Apple & they redownloaded my missing 12 saying its a one time help. Now I synced again & the 12 are missing again from my phone. I have contacted Apple again but I don’t know if they are going to help me. I think there is a flaw since this is happening to so many people. Any other suggestions besides syncing & unsyncing?
August 25, 2012 at 8:49 PM
fantastic – thank you
August 29, 2012 at 6:54 AM
I’ve been trying to figure this problem out for months. I finally just got it to work. What I finally did that worked was restarted my phone while it was disconnected. Connected it, seleced the device I wanted (my Iphone), on the top of the screen I picked tones. Sync tones was checked, then I clicked selected tones, the tones were all checked and I unchecked the tones under it. After unchecking the tones, in the bottom right hand corner I clicked Apply (which will sync your phone). When that was done I just rechecked the tones and pushed sync on the lower right hand side. My tones finally appeared on my Iphone.
August 29, 2012 at 5:14 PM
I had a similar issue. According to iTunes the ringtones were on my phone, but not according to my phone. I had to re-add the physical files back into iTunes and then use sync to ‘delete’ the missing ringtones from my phone and then sync again to re-add them. All in all – not a terribly favorable experience. When I contacted iTunes support I was also treated to poor service – initially I got a canned response telling me how to sync my iPhone and download files from the store, and then I got another response effectively telling me that it wasn’t their problem – they didn’t even offer to allow me to re-download the files (even though their initial canned response said that they would). Apparently the fact that iTunes is a piece of s**t is the customers’ problem and not Apple’s … I have a distinct feeling that my next phone is going to run Android.
November 12, 2012 at 3:22 PM
None of the above suggestions have worked for me. I’m finally up for a new phone and I’m thinking it will be an Android. All the money I spent on ringtones and they can’t be recovered.