How to select ringtones on iPhone

You can give contacts their own ringtones on iPhone, and turn the ringer on or off with the Ring/Silent switch or Control Center.

Last updated: October 19, 2026 4:49 pm

By Stacey Butler - Senior Staff Writer

1 Min Read

On iPhone, you can assign distinctive ringtones to certain people, and turn the ringer on or off. A contact’s ringtone is set in Contacts, when you edit the contact. And on models with an Action button, you can turn the ringer on or off from Control Center.

Assign a different ringtone to a contact

Open the Contacts app on your iPhone.
Select a contact, tap Edit, tap Ringtone, and then choose a ringtone.

Turn the ringer on or off

On models with an Action Button: Open Control Center, then tap the Mute Switch button. You can also configure the Action Button to turn the ringer on or off.
On other models: Flip the Ring/Silent switch to turn Silent mode on or off.

Even with Silent mode turned on, Clock alarms still play. To silence incoming calls temporarily, turn on or schedule a Focus. And you can change the default sound for a call, text, voicemail, email, reminder, or other notification.

TAGGED:notifications

ByStacey Butler

Senior Staff Writer

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Stacey is a senior staff writer at GeeksChalk and has been writing about Apple for nearly a decade. She covers all things Apple for GeeksChalk, including iPhones, iPads and Mac. Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Stacey is often found hiking precarious landscapes or tinkering with a camera.