How to customize Galaxy S5 ringtones and notification tones?

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• how do i shut off notification sounds of facebook & twitter?

  • You need change such settings inside Twitter and facebook app. For Twitter, it is under Settings-- General--Sound effects.

    • How do you turn off Email notifications, its driving my bonkers

      • Hi. Settings - Accounts - E-mail accounts - Notifications. Just found it myself. Drove me bonkers too! :)

        • Was driving me crazy also. thanks for the help

      • How to turn off gmail notification, want to keep messages notification

        • If you turn off Gmail notifications for all Gmail accounts on the phone , you can go to settings - application manager - Gmail, uncheck show notifications.

          If you want to turn off notification for a specific Gmail account, you can open Gmail app, tap the menu button (3 vertical dots on the top left), tap settings (second from the bottom), tap the Gmail account, tap notification. You can then turn the notification off for this Gmail account .

    • I disabled notification in the Twitter App itself as suggested in the comment above. My Galaxy S5 still vibrates when I get a tweet :-(

      • If don't want to get notifications from the app, you can turn it off completely at settings- application manager. Tap the app, uncheck show notifications.

        • Great tip, Simon. Thanks so much! With the way e-mails roll in these days, my phone wouldn't stop vibrating. Thanks again for your help.

        • In each email account settings, you can turn off the vibration in the email app (menu-settings-account settings - account, under notifications).

    • How do I set a custom tone for my text messages? I hate all the pre programmed ones and I haven't been able to find any way around them.

      • Similar to ringtone. You just put your audio file under Notifications folder.

        • OMG THANK YOU!!! I tried for 3 days, moving the file, copy and pasting it into different locations, but never realized there was a NOTIFICATIONS folder!! I'm going to put ALL my ringtones into here from now on lol!

    • In the another field it doesn't give the option for message tone.

      • What do you want to do, and what did you get?

• How do I choose on a certain part of song that I want to be on my ring tone?

  • No, you can only choose from the beginning or let S5 decide (it will tel you the starting location, but you cannot change it as I know).

    Some apps allow you to choose the location. You can also use any audio editor to chop the mp3 file.

  • You can also customize the song so it starts where you want it to.

    • how do you do this? I downloaded a ringtone from Verizon ringtones and I cannot customize when or where it starts. I wish I could also make it ring longer, it rings for such a short time I don't know if that is just the Samsung s5 or all phones. I am usually not able to get to the phone before it stops ringing and goes to voicemail. Any ideas. Thanks

• When I try to set notification tones for individual contacts, it still plays the default notification tone when the individuals text me. How do I stop that?

  • The notification tone only works for the messaging app, not Hangouts. Are you using Hangout or Samsung's messaging app?

    For Hangouts, you can only set one notification tone f all (setting is inside Hangout app).

    • I'm using the Verizon messaging app, Message+. Should I be using the Samsung messaging app to make it work?

      • Yes, but probably it isn't wise to switch to an app that you are not familiar with.

• That happens for me too. How come I can't do individual sounds for texts, even after following the directions

  • The customized notification tones are for the messaging app only, not for Hangouts or any other third-party messaging apps.

    For Hangouts, you can only set one notification tone for all (the setting is inside Hangout app).

    • So I have to use the Samsung Messages versus the Verizon Messages, in order to return to this feature?

      • Such features only works on Samsung apps. Each app should have their own settings. Most apps don't provide customized notification tones for individual contact because it depends on contacts app, which could be quite different for different devices.

        Verizon messages has better group sms support than Samsung one.

        • So I've been trying to set a customized notification for text messages per individual on my Galaxy S5. It appears it can be done through editing the individual contact. I make all the selections and save the changes, but it just uses the sound that is set as the default. Anybody have success in this area?

        • Not sure about this. For mine, it works well for the Samsung messaging app.

• Dr-B asks how do I change the default alarm clock ringtone?

  • Never mind, I've got it.

    • How did you do it? I was able to set up a custom sound for one alarm, but the next I created had galaxy default tone.

• I did assign individual sounds (that I downloaded from Zedge) as the 'Message Tone' for some of my contacts. When they text me, though, the default sound still plays. The new one that shows as saved under their contact info does not.

  • The notification tone is only for Samsung messaging app, not hangouts. Did you try to set messages as default sms app?

• How do I set my Samsung 5 to ring and not announce who is calling

  • You can check whether you turned on hands-free.

    You may also check the Settings — Accessibility. Make sure talk back is turned off.

• How turn off the voice during incoming call and let just the ringtone?

  • Not sure what you want to achieve.

    Do you mean the voice announcing who is calling you? If yes, you need turn off handsfree mode. You may also need check the Settings — Accessibility. Make sure talk back is turned off.

    • Hi. I already did these steps early, but I don't use handsfree and talback is off.

      • Some third-party apps may also cause this.

        • I'm having this problem as well. It keeps telling me who is calling instead of playing the ringtone. Talkback and car mode both off. If you mean something else by hands-free tell me. I am using the standard application for my contacts and calls.

        • Check Settings--Language and input--Notification readout. Make sure you uncheck the 5 items. This is the last place you should check.

  • For Samsung S5 go to settings => Call => Answering and ending calls
    Turn off or untick " Using voice commands "

• The default vibrate is exceptionally weak even though I raised the intensity all the way. Am I missing something or is there an app that can help? Would also like to make 2 vibrates for incoming email and 3 for Texts; anyway to do that?

  • The weak vibration can be a hardware calibration issue. You can check with local Samsung service centre and they can adjust the intensity for you.

    There after some vibration patterns, but probably you cannot get what you wanted.

• After I get a call I have the play bar (play/pause button, skip forward, and time bar) stuck on my lock screen and the only way to get it to go away is by restarting my phone is there a different way? Am I doing something wrong? Is it just a glitch?

  • Very likely, you are using a customized ringtone. If this is the case, you can try to use a shorter music file.

    • Well yeah it's customized is there no way to fix it? I used a shorter one and it still does it. It's very annoying

      • Yes, it's disturbing. Probably, Samsung will fix it in future updates.

• Hi can u tell me how to revert bk, I accidently pressed always on android system n now can't select tones from zedge

  • (Msg tones)

  • Settings - application manager, tap menu button, tap reset app preferences.

• Is there a way to get it to vibrate and make a sound for text messages?

  • Yes, if you are using the stock messages app (not hangouts or other third party messaging apps).

    In settings - sound, you can find settings for Samsung apps. In messages, you can set both vibration and notification tones.

    • I have done that and I still don't hear any notifications.

      • The notification tone usually is short. You can use your own music file if you want.

        The notification, by default, is triggered only once. If you need repeated notifications, you can set it in the messaging app.

• How can I use Ring tones from other apps? I like to use animal sounds

  • You need get the sound file. You can use My files or es file explorer to find the file.

• How do I turn off vibration for incoming emails? I have my Gmail synced to my phone and even though I have deselected the vibration option, everytime I get an incoming email, my phone vibrates. Since I get many emails a day this gets really annoying after a while so I had to disable all notifications of incoming emails, but then I don't get the icon either.

  • You can find the settings (to enable or disable) inside Gmail app.

    • Yes, that is where I am disabling vibration, and its not working.

      • Each account needs to be disabled individually if you have more than one account. Check the label notifications for each account and turn them all off.

• How can i turn off text message alert sounds for a specific number?

  • No, you cannot turn off that alert for individual contacts. But you can prepare an mp3 file with no sound, then apply this one for such contacts.

• My S5 keeps occasionally playing notification sound even when there is no new message or e-mail, how do i solve this?

  • It could be due to some other apps. Did you notice whether there are any new icons in the status bar when the sound is played?

    • My phone is doing the same thing and nothing appears before, during, or after in the notification bar. I just makes the notification sound for no apparent reason.

      • I still believe it is very likely due to some other apps. But again, most apps should leave a notification message.

        • I've disabled nearly every app on my phone to try and track down what causes the sounds and I can't pin point it. I suspect it is system or battery related, but can't get it to stop without setting the phone to silent.

        • Normally, system apps gives text notification as well. It's strange that you get notification tone without text notification.

        • I do have same problem, I am getting notification sound frequently without notified on status bar. I tried every thing to get rid of it. But not successful, please help me out.

        • This is very likely from some apps you installed.

          Did you check the notification messages? (swipe down from the status bar with one finger).

        • Same here. My new S5 just beeps for no reason that I can discern. I checked the notification messages, nothing there.

        • Does a reboot/redstart help?

      • Mine does the same thing, but I think I pinned it down to the WiFi. When I have it on and it finds a nearby WiFi (even if I'm connected to mine at home) it will notify me. :( How do I make this quit?? It's driving me crazy!

• I cannot change my default notification sound from the annoying "Dew Drops" sound. None of the others will work, even "Silent" and one that I downloaded, "Sms Shaula". Whatever I selected shows up listed as the default notification sound, but "Dew Drops" is what sounds.

  • Some apps have their own notification tones. Did you check the notification setting for that app?

    You may try to reboot your s5 top see whether the settings are still there.

  • I'm having the same problem. I assigned a customiced ringtone for text messages and now cannot change it. It says it is something other than what actually plays. I even un installed both the ring tones cutter and the mp3 site where I downloaded the song. I thought all those songs and ring tones I saved would no longer be on the phone. However, they are all still there and the message notification is still a song that is not denoted as being the default. I do not want this to be played anymore but it wi) not go away!!! And is there a way to delete tones you created in a ringtone cutter app??? I under stand not being able to delete the preset ones that came on the phone bUT I cannot get rid of the ones I created....anyone help please!!!

    • When you change ringtones at Settings--sound-ringtones, what did you get?

• My text and Facebook notification sound is the same. I get the same sound for both text messages and Facebook I want them different it's annoying when Facebook and my text are the same can't find how to make them different

  • You can set notification tone for messages individually as mentioned in this guide at: Settings–Sound –Samsung apps section

• Hi. How can i stop audible notifications for app updates,and download complete notifications. I dont want to disable other notifications like new txts/missed calls etc. Thank you Steve

  • To disable update notifications, you can go to Play store app, tap menu key, then tap Settings. under General, you can uncheck notifications..

    For download, you need go to Settings--Application Manager, flick to All tab, then you can find Downloads. Tap it, then uncheck notifications.

• How can I change the notification sound for individual apps such as CNN and ABC News. It is defaulting to my text notification tone. I would like to have two distinct alerts. Thanks

  • Not sure about these two apps. You check the settings inside the app. If there are no settings for notification tones, it means they use system one. Then you cannot do much.

• I can't turn off the phone's "vibrate when ringing" located in the phone's settings/call/Ringtones and Vibrations. The box is checked but grayed out. I can't UNcheck it. I have vibrations turned off everywhere I can possibly find a setting. Please help.

  • Very likely, because you are in silent mode now. Turn on sound and you should get the settings.

• I am having a couple issues with changing tones for contacts. I am using the Samsung messaging app not hangouts or the Verizon one.

  First I have tried to set up notification tones for contacts. I changed several contact tones and only one of them are working. That contact has a number and email but the custom tone only works on the phone number and not the email when sent to my messages.

  • As I know, this is normal. The notification tone is only for messages, not emails.

    In email app or gmail app, you can set notification tones for email notification. But you probably cannot assign different notification tones for individual email contacts.

• Is it possible to make a default setting in sound that allows me to have just the phone ring and everything else to remain silent without having to go through the individual settings, ie be able to switch between a night mode where only the phone rings then back to a normal mode during the day where all sounds are turned back on?

  • You can try the blocking mode (under settings). You can tweak it to what you want.

• Hey how do I turn off the Computer voice that comes on instead of my ringtone? It'snot in sounds or call settings? Lol I have no idea how I set it on there but plz plz help#!!

  • Did you turn on talk back? You need turn it off (settings--accessibility--vision--talkback).

    If it is turned off, check Settings–Language and input–Notification readout. Make sure you uncheck the 5 items.

• It keeps telling me who is calling instead of playing the ringtone. Talkback and car mode both off. If you mean something else by hands-free please tell me. I am using the standard application for my contacts and calls.

  • Check Settings–Language and input–Notification readout. Make sure you uncheck the 5 items.

    • I too would like to be able to actually set the voice to only announce once at the beginning then let the ringtone do the rest of the work llike my motorola razr use to before I got this s5. Talkback disabled/off, no carmode in settings search, and all "read notifications aloud" are unchecked. Also how can I fix the autocorrect on this thing? It cant tell a word from gibberush. I have to go slow as he** so I can read as i type and dont have to delete everything to make an accurate correction. My old motorola never had this issue and it had its smart setting thing that I wish this had.

      • For the voice announcing, you can enable voice command in call settings.

        For the keyboard, the software also has a learning process. If you want you can disable auto correction. Of course, you can try other third party keyboards. SwiftKey works well after one of two weeks training. Google keyboard is also quite accurate. You like the old keyboard very likely because you get used to it.

        • Farther down I noticed a post saying that the voice command setting is what controlled the name announcement, howevet after disabling it jow it doesnt announce at all, id rather it announce once then just ring the tone/music.

          As for the keyboard, I know about the whole learning curve thing; however, I noticed that the autocorrect would suggest the correct correction but the phone doesnt apply the change.

        • There is no perfect solution for what you want. Maybe some third party apps may help.

          For the keyboard, SwiftKey would apply the recommended correction automatically.

• Also, is there anyway to change the sound that goes off when you lock or unlock your phone? I would prefer not to have the water sound. Thanks.

  • Settings--Lock screen--Unlock effect

    Settings--Sound--screen lock sound.

• Okay, I hope I make sense here. I have my text notifications set with a song from my music and if I do not open the text the song continues to play. I would like to press the power button or volume button to stop the ring. However, the S5 does not allow me to. Why do I have to open the text to get the ringtone to stop? This happens even with the stock S5 ringtones. Please help. Thank you.

  • It seems this is a "feature" of S5. I haven't found a method to turn it off.

    Maybe some other S5 owners have some tricks..

    • How do I change my notification tone to my own personal tone?

      • Use your own music/audio files as illustrated in the guide.

        • Somehow my ringtone for calls is playing for my text messages also and I don't know how I did this to make it stop. Any ideas?

        • Did yo check the notification tone settings?

        • I think so. Notifications are playing the correct ringtone. Only messages+ are playing the same as what I have set for phone calls.

        • You need check the settings inside message+. The notification for third party apps are controlled by individual apps. I don't use this app, so I am not sure where are the settings.

• Hey guys, so far I've set 2 individual contact message tones but when they message me the default phone tone sounds, possibly a problem with my phone?

  • Did you check the contacts to confirm the notification tones are current? Sometimes, the settings may be reset for no reasons.

    Also, this notification tone only work with messaging app, not hangouts.

  • I have the same problem and have not found a solution for this. Another forum submitter suggested downloading the Ringo app. I did this and it applies the custom tone for that individual's incoming message AFTER it plays the default one. There may be a setting I need to find but haven't found it yet.

    So, I haven't found a good solution yet.

• I've tried changing my vibration patterns for my texts but no matter what I do my phone only does the standard two short vibrates. This is frustrating because I can barely hear/feel these vibrates even though my vibration setting is turned all the way up. Is this a glitch with my phone or is there a setting I need to adjust to change the pattern?

  • Are you using messaging app or hangouts? The settings in sound or Samsung applications are for messaging app only, not hangouts or other apps.

    • Yes, I'm using the samsung messaging app

• I downloaded ringtones from playstore. When I open the app and try to select a tone it plays but i can not hear it? What do I do?

  • Which app?

• I am wondering if there is a way to turn off message and app notifications but keep the ringer on (for night time). is this possible? If so, how?

  • Yes, it's quite easy to set what you want in blocking mode. You can uncheck block incoming calls but check block notifications.

    Go to settings - blocking mode.

• I have an s5 and the voice keeps saying incoming call instead of letting my ringtone play. I have tried everything listed in all of the comments above related to the issue but nothing works. Any thoughts?

  • Did you check the accessibility settings? Or are you in driving mode?

    Sometimes third party screen reader apps or voice control apps may cause this issue as well.

• Can't set individual notification tones on the verizon GS5 without downloading the samsung messages app? The app is total s*** though... I have .wav's and even tried mp3's, they play in the preview but that's it; when i receive a message from that person I get the default notification tone.

  • It only works for Samsung apps, because some third party apps may have their own settings, and they don't read this setting. This isn't a standard feature in Android.

• How do I extend the ringtone duration?

  • This is configured by your carrier. You don't have the control on this duration.

• I am attempting to change my phone ringtone to a song I have on my s5. I want to use the recommended part of the song they choose. Everytime I select this option it still plays the full song for the ringtone is there some step I am missing here?

  • I don't think that Samsung allows you that option on their ringtones, but if you use a customized ringtone, it will allow you to start at the beginning or at some point that the system chooses. I would suggest connect your phone to your computer, copy the ringtone to your 'puter, modify it there to delete the portion prior to the part you want, then rename it and copy it back to your phone.

  • Did you apply the settings after choose the mp3?

• still cant personalise ringtones.. when i open Contact app,select the individual contact, click on the pencil.. then all i get is the name and the number.. there is no field that says "Ringtone" all of my contacts are saved to the sim.. does this make a difference

  • I'm having same problem. What is the solution please?

  • Same here as well.

• How do I set a custom voice recording as my notification tone?
  The only options I get to choose from (when wanting to change the sound) are Zedge and the pre-recorded Samsung S5 sounds.
  I have my personal voice file saved to my music but can't access that through the notification sound settings.

  • You can find the voice recording file. Then follow the guide to copy the files to the ringtones folder. Once the music file is in the ringtones folder, it will be available for your selection as pre-installed ringtones.

• All my notifications are the same for text, email apps etc. Can you explain how I change it for each specific thing? Under settings I only have notifications when I change it there it changes it for everything! This is so frustrating, my s4 was not like this. Please help

  • In the settings- sound page, if you scroll down, you can find Samsung apps. You need set individual notification tones there.
    Alternatively, in each app, for example, email or Gmail, you can set different notification tones for each account.

• When I get a text it never stops giving the notification tone until I open the text. How can I stop this?

• How do i make it stop making noises when i swipe on the home page?

• how do I turn off facebook notifications?

  • If you want to disable all notifications from Facebook, go to settings - application manager - Facebook. Uncheck show notifications, accept the warning message.

    • Thank you!!#

• Thank you Simon! Good grief, I would have never found that...

• Does anyone know how or if I can get the alarm tones that are pre-installed on the S3 on to my S5? They S5 doesn't have the alarm tone I'be been used to for two years :(

  • You need get the audio file (usually a ogg file) first. In your S3, you may install ES File explorer, then navigate to /system/media/audio/alarms. You should find the audio file there. Copy it to other locations and transfer it to S5.

    If you are not sure how to use ES File explorer, please check this guide: http://motoeguide.com/moto-e-guides/manage-files-moto-e-es-file-explorer-file-manager/

• Can you set phone to automatically go to vibrate profile on certain days? ie: m-f 8-5pm auto goes to vibrate at 8am then back to sound at 5pm???

  • You may try settings-blocking mode.

• So, I've turned off email sound notifications, but I keep hearing a notification sound without a notification showing up in the notification area at the top of the screen. Is there any way to determine which application is causing this? As far as I know, I only have it turned on for instant messaging. Thanks

  • It could be sms notifications, or notifications from other apps. Most apps will display a notification, but some may not.

• @simon

  Just thought that I would let you know that I found a fix for the voice announcing who was calling instead of just playing the ringtone. After following all of your instructions, I found the fix I was looking for:

  Go to settings accessibility-- scroll to answering and ending calls -- click it and uncheck Voice Control.

  Just wanted to let you know to possibly help people more easily in the future. Thank you for your help, however!

  • Thank you for sharing the solution. This is surely helpful for this community.

    • Cool, ill give this a try, hopefully one down other gripes to go.

• Hi I'm also having the problem of mot being able to disable the voice notification as the phone rings on the s5, talk back is off and the five items on language and input are not ticked. I can't find this hands free mode on the the phone. Please help as this thing is very annoying.

  • Check the car mode (in some regions, the name may be different).

    Swipe down from the status bar (top of the screen) with two (2) fingers, make sure "car mode" is not active).

• Car mode is not active.

  • One last possible setting: in Phone app, tap the menu key (3 vertical dots), tap Settings--Call--Answering and ending calls, uncheck using voice commands.

    If this does not work either, it is very likely triggered by other apps you installed.

• Thanks that worked bro.

• One last thing...my download booster app just disappeared from my phone don't know what might have caused that...can you help?

  • Settings--Download booster?

    Settings--notification panel?

• It's not there...It was there the first two days I had the phone, then it disappeared completely, can't even find it when using the search option on settings nor using the s finder.

  • Not sure about this. You may reboot the phone to see whether you can get it back. If not, you may backup your data and do a factory data reset.

• How do I make the notification sound for my gmail different that the one for text messages? I see how to change for "email" but not for gmail.

  • Inside Gmail app, you can set different notifications (including ringtones) for different accounts.

• How do I remove a notification tone set on a individual contact to have it on the default tone set for the specific app?

  • The notification tone for individual contact is only for messages. Third party apps have their own settings. Different apps may work in different ways depending on the preference of the developer.

• How do you set up the phone to vibrate on email messages coming in?? thank you

  • Inside email app, tap menu key (3 vertical dots ), tap the account. Then you can set notifications for this account, including vibrate.

• Is there a way to change the sound for when you plug in your charger on the Galaxy S5?

• Hi.
  My s5 is only 2 weeks old.
  Every time I set my alarm, the alarm goes off at the correct time - but then auto turns off after 1 minute without going to snooze or repeating!
  It just turns the whole alarm itself off. I don't even need to press anything. I've read it may be a bug?
  Any idea please how to stop this recurring problem?. Thanks

  • I guess this is the default setting. You may delete the alarm, then create a new one. When creating a new one, it will ask you whether you want to enable the snooze, and you can set the interval (up to 30mins) and repeated times (up to 10 times)

• I'm trying to change ringtones. After I select one of the ones in the menu and hit add, it sends me to a page that ha tracks, albums, etc and only five songs and I can only hit done if I choose one of those 5. Otherwise, cancel and the ringtone remains default.

  • What do you mean " After I select one of the ones in the menu"?

    When it asks you to select an app to proceed, you should choose "media storage" in order to access the pre-installed ringtones. Other apps can only access music files you added.

• I use long songs as notifications for email and voice message for when I am driving so that sooner or later I will here the song. This works good for when I am driving but not in meetings were I have to unlock the phone and turn down the volume and "hells bells" is blaring out for 10 secs. Is there any way to set up the volume button to acknowledge and silence a notification without unlocking the phone

  • You can turn over (face down) the S5 to silence it immediately. You need check the motion settings if it doesn't work.

• I've chosen silent as the default notification sound, slid the system sound bar to the lowest, and set individual apps notification states to either off or on as desired Then for messages, I've set specific tones for individuals who send text messages to me. Still I frequently get random default message tones and there is no notification from anything on the notification bar I can't tell what these tones are for. I want to stop them. Only want notification sounds for text messages. Otherwise no notification sounds.

  How do I find out what is generating these annoying sounds? How do I stop them? When I'm on call I need to have the ringer and text message sounds turned on, otherwise I need everything else off.

• When I was originally setting up the phone it gave me an option to get notifications repeated, and I believe I chose every 5 minutes. This function now means that if I get notifications througout the night the phone will continue to vibrate (even when on silent) which messes with my sleep app as it thinks the vibrations are me moving when awake. I cannot for the life of me find where this repeat notifications setting is to turn it off, any help would be MUCH MUCH appreciated. Thanks.

  • Settings--Accessibility --Vision--Notification reminder.

    • Fantastic! Thank you so much, I see why I didn't find it - I don't think I looked in Vision! Cheers :-)

• How do you set the S5 notification so that when your on the phone during a call the song notification will not play during phone call?

  • Open Phone app, tap menu key (3 vertical dots), tap settings--call--call alerts. Un-check Notify during calls.

• When using facebook messenger whem someone messages me it only rings once or twice and then will never ring again unless I open it

  • You need check the settings in the app.

• I would like to know how I could create a different ring tone profile to De available silent. Ring. Vibrate. Is there a way to create a profile where De phone notifies me for emergency contacts and is silent for others.

  • You can set default ringtone as silent, then set different ringtones for any specific contacts as illustrated in this guide.

• I guess the issue then would be that when I want the phone to ring it would be on silent. What I want is an additional profile which gives me the option to be alerted by de closest of people when I don't want to be disturbed by others. For instance, in the night I generally put the phone on a profile where my parents could call me and the phone would ring whilst for everyone else the phone remains silent. But I have another profile, used during the day where the phone rings no.matter who calls.

  • Blocking mode is for this purpose. You can enable it so that only selected contacts can reach you. A brief guide on blocking mode can be found here: https://galaxys5guide.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-how-to-guides/how-to-silence-galaxy-s5/

• Thank you ever so.much.

• Is there a way to receive my texts with notifications and vibrations while having notifications from my apps appear with no vibration?

  • The vibration setting is inside each app.

    • Negative ghost rider only a way to turn off notifications completely. Even by going to settings> application manager and finding individual apps and going to it's settings there is only the option to turn off notifications not vibration. If I turn the notification vibration off then I get no vibration when I get text messages.

      • It depends on the app. Some apps have their own settings of notification. For example, WhatsApp is settings of notification.

        If an app doesn't have its own notification settings, system settings will be used. Therefore you cannot customize it.

• My husband's Active Galaxy s5 will not make a sound when he receives a text even though sound is turned on in Settings for messenging. Please explain why and how do we fix this? Thanks.

  • Do you get the text notification?

• my call keypad doesn't play tones any longer (it plays just a single weird sound not the ususal tones), i tried call/settings/ and all possible variations. It looks like I have to change the sound associeted to the keypad. Can you help?

  • Settings- sound - dialing keypad tone. You may also check haptic feedback.

    • thank you SImon. unfortunately i tried sound-dkn, hf, language and input-samsung keyboard-sound and even input-samsung keyboard-reset settings and none of them worked. this is really painful because it prevents me to dial codes when asked for conference calls or phone banking.

      • I am really confused. What exactly do you want to achieve? The touch sound or numbers?

        The dialing pad is different from Samsung keyboard.

        • I am the one confused the most. This phone is awful. Anyway i just would like to have dial tones on my keypad and Settings- sound – dialing keypad tone haven't worked. that's why I tried also keyboard options

• How do i change that annoying lock/unlock screen sound to a custom ones?

  • You can disable them (uncheck) in Settings-Sound. But you cannot change the sound.

• My friends' S5 is reading out the contact name of the caller instead of ringing. How can we change that? I looked for driving mode, went through accessibility, settings etc but got nothing...

  • Please check this guide: https://galaxys5guide.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-how-to-guides/how-to-silence-galaxy-s5/

  • I will. Thanks!

• My car mode button is in the notification tray and I want to put it in the toolbox. How?

  • I don't think you can put it in the toolbox. Car mode is a set of switches, not an independent app. Toolbox is for apps.

    • Drat. But thanks anyway.

• I have different notification sounds set up for specific contacts, but I am still only getting the default notification tone on all.

• i would like "silent" to be one of the options when setting a message notification tone for a specific contact. "silent" shows as an option as the overall default setting for messages, but it does not show on the list when creating a new field in a specific contact

  • this is not available in Samsung phones. The normal scenario is you set default as silent, then customize for individuals.

    The workaround is you can use a "silent" audio file (record a very short audio without sound). Please do not use empty file as it may confuse the player.

• The manual says: •Phone ringtone. The music will be added as one of the available (customized) ringtones in your Galaxy S5. You need specify to play the music from the beginning or to let the system decide, then tap “Done”. Please note, this action only adds the customized ringtone to your phone and it does NOT change your default ringtone. HOWEVER -- I have found that this is NOT the case. It DOES change the default ringtone. I CANNOT get a ringtone from a song to be the ringtone for for my incoming messages !! I add the ringtone to the ringtone list, but when I go in messages under SAMSUNG APPS under SOUNDS, and select ringtones, only the preloaded sounds appear for selection as ringtones. So is it not possible to set a song ringtone for your incoming messages ?? Sounds kind of silly, what with all the other things that these phones can do (I just got this phone on Saturday), but it seems to me that that's the case here. HELP !!

  • Messaging app uses notification tones, not ringtones. There are saved in two different locations as well.

• How do i stop my phone from alerting me every 2 minutes about a notification?

  • If the repeated alert is for messages, you can go to Settings--Messages (under applications)--Notifications, turn off (uncheck) Repeat message alert.

    If it is for all notifications, you may check settings--accessibility- vision, make sure Notification reminder is off.

• Is there anyway to have a different vibration pattern for phone and messages?

  • No, you probably cannot have different vibration patterns for calls and messages, although you can assign different vibration patterns for individual contact.

• It seems I can't change a notification tones for individual friends who are linked to Facebook, how do I get around it? How do I unlink everyone from Facebook?

• No a reboot does not have any effect. It's just a very short "ring" but there doesn't seem to be a connection to any app. And it's in the middle of the night. Does it ring when the charge is completed?

  • Very shot beep (notification) when battery is fully charged,

• I have a wav file that I would like to make my notification ringtone. How do I do that? Alternatively, I have a small ringtone download saved under my "Play Music" - can I somehow get that as my notification ringtone?

  • You can use My Files app to copy the file to ringtones folder or notifications folder depending on the usage for ringtone or notification tone.

    Play music is DRMed and you cannot use it for ringtones.

• I wanna change my text message tone from a song i have. How can i make it play when a certian person texts me.

  • You first need add this song as notification tone.

    In Contacts app, open this contact, tap edit (pencil) button, tap "Add another field", check Message tone.Then you can set special message tone for this person.

• I did that and it's still not playing when I receive a notification. The file is good (it played when I downloaded it) but when I get a text/tweet/etc, nothing plays. I have the same ringtone as a m4r file but when I go to download it, the only options they give me to complete the action is "Goodgle Play Music" or "sound player". If I choose "sound player", can I somehow get it to work as my notification ringtone?

  • If I were you, I would try another file or one of the pre-installed notification tones to see whether it works first.

    M4a format should not be a problem.

• I purchased some ring tones and ring back tones from Verizon. I go to Setting, Ring tones, I click on add and it will not find the ring tones at all. It will only find what is under the music player. I go to the Verizon tons app and they are ther. I have changed some personal RBT and they work. But I can not get any to work and my phone ring tone or the defalt ring tone for anyone that calls. right now it plays that awful violin playing music. Any idea or help. I appears that the VZ app and the music player and the setting are all on seperat wave lengths.

  • Normally when you click ringtones, it should ask you to use media storage or use the ringtone app. You then choose the Verizon app. I am not familiar with Verizon' app.

    You may try settings - application manager - all - media storage. Tap clear defaults. Then try to set the ringtone again.

• lost all my ringtones that was delivered with my Samsung.galaxy s5 . Where can I go to redownload the original ringtones that was delivered originally.

  • You cannot lose them because they are read only.

    Are you using other ringtone apps? When you try to change ringtones, what do you get?

• On the Samsung5 can you have a music for ringtone and another music for text tone for a contact person?

• I have gone into an individual contact and clicked additional field to add "message tone." When I change the message tone, it still plays the default tone. Not sure why it won't change?

  • You may try to reboot the phone.

    • I tried that too. I found that it will work if I am using the system messenger service but not the Verizon one that it was set to. Really weird...

• How do I make a song that I downloaded on my samsung s5 my ringtone?

  • I think this guide shows how to do it already.

    Short answer: copy the audio file to the ringtones folder or use es file explorer to specify ringtones.

• How can I make a song that I downloaded on my S5, my ringtone?

• How do I stop text message notification music that I have downloaded stop when I open phone and click on message. Music always continues for the full length of ringtone.

  • Settings--Sound --notifications. Choose silent.

• why does the ringtone on phone ring at low volume for the first two rings while in my pocket and then for the next rings it comes up to full volume? This is very annoying because I need it to ring at full volume for all the rings when I'm in a noisy environment. Instead it's wasting the first 2 rings or so at low volume so quite often I miss the call because by time I hear it and get it out of pocket it's gone to message centre. I've tried different ringtones that are built into phone but all seem to act same.

  • The best solution is to enable vibrate when ringing.

    • Anyone know how to to turn ON a chime or whatever when I get a facebook msg. Mine just vibrates. Tried everything. ..

      • Open Facebook app, tap and hold the left key (recent key) to access menu key, tap settings, make sure sound is checked. Then set notification ringtones in the same page.

• where is the folder keep the original pre-installed ringtones and notification sound files ? I want to use the ringtones as my notification sound but by default I can't find most ringtones files on media storage during notification sound selection. I try MY FILES or ES FILE EXPLORER apps to search those pre-installed ringtones files name but failed too.

  • You can navigate to /system/media/audio. You can find all of the ogg files in ringtones, notifications and alarms folders respectively.

    Enjoy.

• Ok, I have been trying to set the sound for when i get a text, so it is not the same as an email sound ect... I use Message+ and for a while it worked, now i just get the same sound for everything, so i have to check my phone all the time to see if it is a text or not, Please help

  • Maybe some settings inside the message+.

• I want to use a ringtone I had downloaded to my pc and uploaded to my old Galaxy4.

  The instructions in the article which I posted below does NOT tell you HOW to get the file from my PC to the PHONE --
  I should NOT have to search again to find these instructions -- it should be listed WITH the METHOD 3 solution

  Method 3: Use music files (e.g., MP3 files) in your PC to customize Galaxy S5 Ringtones

  Sometimes, you may want to use the music file on your PC to customize Galaxy S5 ringtones.

  You can copy the music to your Galaxy S5 through USB cable, Bluetooth, or WiFi direct. Then you can follow Method 2
  to use the music to customize Galaxy S5 ringtones and notification tones.

  If you want, you can also directly copy the music file to the Ringtones folder in the internal storage of your Galaxy S5.
  Once the music file is copied there, it will be available in the ringtone list so that you can customize Galaxy S5 ringtones
  with this music.

• I am having problems with the default ringtone on my new applications. My apps keep falling back on the default (Morning Floor) !! Can you help me out here ?

  • The ringtone and notification settings are for Samsung apps only. Most third-party apps have their own settings.

    A few apps, for example WhatsApp, may use customized ringtone if you set it inside the app. Almost no third-party apps can use customized Message tone settings in your contacts.

• Help. I'm trying to customize a ringtone for a contact but when I go into the contact and tap edit (pencil) the ringtone field does NOT appear not does 'add field' the only thing it shows is the Sim Name Phone #

  • Because this contact is saved in SIM card, not in the phone storage. SIM card cannot storage additional fields.

    You can copy the contact to phone storage, then tray again. You can also create a new contact in phone storage (NOT SI card) to test.

• How do I change the message/text sound to a song as my notification?

  • To customize notification tones for sms, you can just follow the notification tone part of this guide.

• I switched from the galaxy s3 phone to the s5. I want to keep my previous ring tone but it's not one of the default ring tones for the s5. Is there a way to find/download it to my new phone?

  • You can find the corresponding audio file for the ringtone in S3, then copy it to S5.

    In your Galaxy S3, install ES File Explorer, then navigate to /system/media/audio/ringtones, copy the corresponding ogg files to other folder in SD card or to phone storage /sdcard/Download. You can transfer these files to Galaxy S5, then follow this guide to set it as your ringtone.

• When I am in a conversation with someone via text message. How do I get it to "Whistle" each time i get that persons text. Right now its silent. The original message comes thru fine but when its an ongoing conversation its silent. So sometimes I miss a text message. Samsung galaxy S5

  • When the messaging app is being used, there will be no notifications for new messages.

• Just upgraded to the S5 and I'm having a problem where my apps won't use my new notification tone to alert me of any notifications. It keeps using the default whistle, which I don't like.
  I have the sound file in the notifications folder, selected it as my notification tone, it even plays the sound as a preview, but my apps still use the whistle.
  I'm not really sure what else I can try to get it to work properly.

  • Some apps have their own notification tone settings. You need check individual apps.

    By default, the notification tone settings is for Samsung apps.

    • The problem is that these same apps on my old S3 would use the notification tone I'm currently trying to use.
      Now that I've upgraded to the S5, they no longer do that, and they don't have any settings to change their individual notification tone.

      • What are the apps? If they don't have own notification settings, they should use the settings there.

        Is the notification tone working for sms?

        • So far it's been the YouTube app and The Sims Freeplay.
          They will use the standard Whistle tone instead of the tone I have set, even when trying to use a different custom tone as the notification tone. Neither of them have notification tone settings for their own application, and on my S3 would just use whatever tone I had set through my Settings.
          Text message tones work fine, even the ones I have set for individual contacts, though there was a little hiccup that caused all my ringtones and notification tone selections for each contact to be deleted. That was just a simple matter of going through and setting them again. I did use the settings through the Messenger App to set the Text tone to something different than my standard Notification tone, but it still played the right sound just fine.
          If it matters, I also performed the upgrade to Lollipop shortly after getting my phone.
          My father did say he had to factory reset his phone when he upgraded to Lollipop due to odd crashing habits after the upgrade, but I'm saving that as a last resort option, if that would even work.
          I just tried using that notification tone for a specific person's text message tone and it plays perfectly fine, but that only really tells me that the issue isn't with the sound file (Hopefully.).

        • For YouTube, after setting the notification tone, uncheck the notifications, then check it.

          If it does not work, you can try to clear the cache partition as shown in this guide: https://galaxys5guide.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-how-to-guides/how-to-enter-galaxy-s5-recovery-mode/

          Factory reset is the last resort. You need backup all your data and files before resetting.

• So I just performed a Factory Reset on my phone.
  Thankfully all my data I wanted to keep was on my SD card.
  It would seem that it's something with the sound file after all, and not the apps itself.
  I set a different sound from the ones that came with the phone, and The Sims did use that tone, when I tried to use my other tone, it went back to the Whistle.
  Even GMail just used the Whistle instead of my custom sound.
  The only thing that I could possibly think of right now is that it doesn't like the file format, the sound file is originally a WAV file and maybe it wants an MP3 instead. But that doesn't make much sense because it would use this sound as someone's text message tone perfectly fine. But it might because I tried using another one of my custom tones, which was a WAV file as well, and it still used the Whistle tone.
  I'm gonna try converting the sound files into MP3 and try again, and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll just have to deal with one of the Samsung tones.

  • Converting into an MP3 file instead of a WAV file did nothing, Sims still uses the Whistle.
    I got nothin'.

  • I feel like I should also clarify.
    It's not using ANY of my custom notification tones when I set them through Settings > Sounds > Notification Ringtone.
    It will use them for texts perfectly fine, but if I try to have a custom sound for the Notifications it will default to the Whistle.

  • Not sure. Did you put the mp3 file in the notifications folder?

• I've done the add message tone to my contacts I want to assign text tones to. But I still get my default text tone pinging when I receive messages. HELP!!!

  • Did you check whether the setting is saved?

    Also, the notification setting for the contact only works with the default Samsung messages app, not other apps.

    • Yes, I made sure it was saved.

      • Are you using the Samsung messages app? The notification tone doesn't work with other sms apps.

• I just switched to the Galaxy 5S Active from a blackberry. Is there a way to set the phone to vibrate mode but still have a few key contacts be able to have custom ringtones that come through as ringtones because they're VIPS?

  • In Android Lollipop, there is a priority mode, which can do what you want. But in the Lollipop update for Galaxy S5 (including S5 active), Samsung messed up this feature.

• I have a ringtone that appears in Ringtones, but not in notifications. How do I transfer all my personal ringtones so they appear in Notification Ringtones

  • As explained in this guide, ringtones and notification tones are independent of each other. The corresponding audio files are saved in different folders.

    You can manually copy the audio files to the Notifications folder so that they are available as notification tones.

• I left the following in another thread, but this thread seems better:

  Hi Simon, How do I delete specific sounds on the S5 ? I’ve read that some notification sounds have been packaged since the earlier phones, like the S4 and S3. Do I need to unlock the phone to remove them ?

  • As asked by another community member (David), why do you want to delete these files? You can add your own audio files if you need your own ringtones or notification tones.

    Pre-loaded files are not meant for you to delete. The folder for these files (/system/media/audio/ringtones) is read only. You need root the phone to delete them.

• I am not the first (nor will I be the last) to be annoyed/frustrated by some of the default sounds (esp. water drop and whistle). It seems appropriate that since I am putting good money on purchasing the S5, that I am entitled to add or delete some aspects of the phone, including sounds. I've tried replacing Notification sounds, but third-party apps keep using the default whistle sound despite my intention to replace the sound. Or, if I can't delete the default sounds, may I modify them to a) make them silent, b) replace the sound file with a modified sound file, or c) know where the actual modification menu is so I may really change the chosen sound ?

  • You need check the notification settings inside such apps.

    Some apps have own notification settings and you must set the notifications inside the apps individually.

    Customization always has a limit. You need root the phone to do more.

    • Okay, I'll search for rooting smart phones. Thanks simon for your help, and away I go !

• I have tried everything to turn off my notifications for emails. I did what everyone said. It even says "silent"......it still goes off all night. May my S5 be broken?

  • What do you want to achieve? What's the problem? I am a bit confused on what you wrote.

• how do I delete an assigned ringtone to a contact and set it back to the default ringtone

  • In contacts app, open the contact, then tap edit. You can then set ringtone to default.

    • for some reason my option to set it to default is not there...it just keeps going into the folder i have all my tone and music in

      • You need clear the default app so that you have the option to choose apps to handle it.

• Any chance anyone can tell me how I change the ringtone based on how the call is routed?
  I have just set up internet calling on my phone for work calls. (Which are routed via SIP)
  I would like to change the ringtone for calls coming in via this method.
  So far all I can find is to set the default ringtone to the one I want the SIP one to be, and add a "personalised ringtone" to each and every contact ! However even if I did this (very long process) I could still get calls from people who are not my contacts audibly identified as work calls.

  • It depends on your SIP app. Most of them cannot use personalized ringtone.

• Help - every time power off/on my S5 all my custom ringtones reset to the default. how do I stop that.

  • Sync contacts with Samsung server or Google server.

    • I think they are - but it is not only contact ringtones - but alarms and calendar event notifications (using google calendar).

• I'm trying to set a custom notification tone from something sent from vtext. Can anyone help me with this? I changed the notification for a couple phone number contacts I have but can not get the contact with the email to change. The reason for this is I get text notifications from our county dispatch when there are fire/ems calls and want to set those as a different notification. They send it through an email that sends to "my number"@vtext.com. I changed it in the contact info but it still rings the default notification when a text come through.

  • Is the message sent as text message or email message ( you get it in messages app or email app) ? If you get it as text message, you can only customize notification tone if it's from a number you know.

  • Android has made some updates available for your purpose, but I don't know which update fixed/updated the Sound and Notification section of the Settings. You have a Samsung Galaxy S5, right ? Try doing a search for the updates since Kit Kat, and for Lollipop if that is your current Android version.

• Why can`t I change my ringtone on my Galaxy S5, I have tried to do it by the book but it will not change from what it is set on, also applies to notification sound.

  • Did to check the settings again after you set the ringtone?

• Hi, nowhere on my computer have I been able to find a Notifications folder on my phone. I've checked literally every place. It's not under Ringtones, Playlists, msc, com.vcast.mediamanager, nothing. It's incredibly frustrating. If there's supposed to be a notification folder, I am not finding it.
  I would not have deleted it, as I have literally just bought the phone.

  • You can take a screenshot of what's shown in the windows explorer and share it in our Facebook page.

• Can I select select no sound on some apps, but have it on others? I want texts to chime, but nothing else, but I still want my email notifications to show up in the top dock menu thing. I can turn off notifications for gmail, but it seems all or nothing.

  • Most apps, including Gmail app allow you to set notification tone for the app itself. You can set it to silent. This doesn't affect your default notification tone.

• I am trying to set up my Gallaxy S5 with Gmail to receive a distinct tone or vibration when it received email from a specific sender/contact. I have not been successful with what I have seen online.

  • Gmail doesn't support this feature. Samsung's email app supports this feature through contacts app.

• I had to do a factory reset on my Samsung Galaxy S5. I have been able to get all my files back but when trying to set individual message tones for different contacts I am now having difficulty. I was able to do this before the factory reset.
  I have changed the message tone on the individual contact to those I obtained from Zedge but when the person messages me it comes up with my default message tone not the individualised one.
  so confused!

  • You need to set it up again. As I know, you cannot restore the customized ringtones.

    In the contacts app, open the contact, tap the pencil icon (to edit it). You can then find the ringtone option for this contact.

  • Thanks Simon but as I have said in my original comment, but not very clearly, I have changed the tones already. They read the new tones on the phone but when the message comes through from that particular individual the default tone is used.

    • Did you check the settings in the contact? Occasionally, the settings may be not saved for unknown reasons.

      Also, ringtone and message tone are set separately (different entries) in the contact.

    • With regards to individual notification tones for different contacts apparently with the new upgrade to android this is not possible any longer. I found this out by chatting online with Samsung.

      • The message tone for individual contact in Samsung phones was removed in Android Oreo update. Galaxy S5 should be on Android Marshmallow in most regions. Did you check contact settings?

• For almost 4 years I have had my phone to do a voice announcement during ring and during alarms:ring-voice announce Doctor’s office-ring and ring-voice announce (doctor appointment/med, etc). For several days now the ring goes off-pause-ring, alarm ring tone-pause-alarm ringtone-does not say who’s calling or what the alarm is for.

  • Are you using any third-party apps to do it? Or using the S5's accessibility settings?

• My galaxy s5 only notifies me for the first text I get. So then I answer it and that is the only time it notifies. All subsequent texts are silent. So if the person takes 10 minutes to answer there is no sound. Very often I miss replies because I can’t just stare at my screen continuously to see if they answered. This is something that’s new. It always notified me before. I can’t find anywhere in my settings to fix this issue

  • did you get the notification in the notification panel? or just missing sound?