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Galaxy Note8 & S8: Set Text Message Ringtone

Mitch BartlettSeptember 7, 2017 Comments (53)

Change the notification ringtone sound for when you receive a text message on the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and Galaxy S8 smartphone.

Setting Default Notification Sound

  1. Open the “Messages” app.
  2. Select the  button at the upper-right corner of the screen, then choose “Settings“.
  3. Tap “Notifications“.
  4. Tap “Notification sound“.
  5. Choose the desired ringtone.

Setting Individual Contact Notification Sound

  1. Open the “Contacts” app.
  2. Select the person you wish to set the ringtone for.
  3. Tap “Edit“.
  4. Select “View more“.
  5. Scroll down and select “Message tone“.
  6. Choose the desired ringtone.
Categories: Android

Author Mitch Bartlett

Through my career that spans over 20 years I have become an expert in Microsoft Systems Administration, Android, and macOS. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful knowledgebase for everyone.

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Comments

  1. Dillain says:
    March 25, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    I’m trying to change the text message sound to a ringtone I downloaded, but it doesn’t show the plus sign to add it. It worked fine when changing the ringtones for my contacts, but will not let me add one for text messages and notification sounds. Any solution for this?

  2. Richard Goetzman says:
    June 28, 2019 at 11:36 am

    No help at all. I need a different ringtone as I had before that (**&&^^#^% upgrade. I am hearing impaired and I need a louder and longer ringtone to texts! as I used to have before you took it away! If I have to get a new phone, it sure as hell won’t be Samsung I have had four of them and never had such a frustrating problem!

  3. Kristen says:
    May 5, 2019 at 10:25 am

    My note 8 doesn’t have an option to set individual contact notification sounds. This sucks

  4. Tara says:
    January 7, 2019 at 9:54 pm

    Also… if you update the message app on galaxy, you get the option to add message time to conversation (not contact) but you LOSE the ability to schedule a message. I used that gesture all the time on my previous galaxy 4. I think of stuff at midnight but can’t go texting some people at that time so I write the message and schedule it for a decent time in the morning. Even if it doesn’t seem like a huge feature… it can’t be so solace or time consuming to leave features like that in.

  5. Jenn says:
    December 21, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    I have the Note 8 and can’t change my text message notifications since I switched to Cricket. I have done everything I can think of to change the notifications, what do I do?

  6. hollywood says:
    December 14, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    go to the text messages of the person u want to change there tone right hand corner of the text where the 3 dots are click notifications select custom ans change it in there it works

  7. Deanna Petty says:
    October 6, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    I had same problem with notifications for different individuals. I changed my text board to Textra and now I have all of those optyand more.

  8. WILLIAM ELMORE says:
    September 6, 2018 at 12:19 pm

    Same issue cannot set individual ringrone

  9. Margie Flinn says:
    September 4, 2018 at 10:34 am

    I just got the Note 9. Same problem. Cannot assign a text ringtone to individual contacts. Probably will resell phone. Not happy at all with Samsung downgrades.

  10. Joey says:
    August 18, 2018 at 7:24 am

    It did NOT help. There is no message tone to select, only ring tone. I might just trade this in for an iPhone if that’s the case.

  11. Kmarsh says:
    August 5, 2018 at 11:50 am

    Not fair! I just got my phone and had to update it right after I set everything and now everything is gone!! Wtf!!!

  12. Jennifer says:
    July 10, 2018 at 8:07 pm

    There is no “message tone” option under individual contacts for the Note 8. Only “ringtone”.

  13. Mitch Bartlett says:
    May 6, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    Which carrier do you have? I updated and still have mine on Verizon.

  14. Will says:
    May 6, 2018 at 10:40 am

    The option to change a text tones is removed when you update your phone.

  15. Crystal Napoletano says:
    April 17, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    I want to know how to set a text message tone for one person….since my phone updated I can’t can someone please help me???

  16. Mitch Bartlett says:
    April 14, 2018 at 9:42 am

    For those of you who lost individual tones, I’m wondering who your carrier is and if they removed it. I bought my Note8 unlocked from Samsung and still have this capability. My wife bought hers from Verizon and also has it.

  17. michael says:
    April 13, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    no more individual text tones? for the price we paid?? that is just f-ing stupid. first samsung i bought and now the last samsung that i buy

  18. Lisa says:
    March 31, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    I installed the update a few days ago ,& now all my individual contact text message sounds are gone ,it tells you how to add a individual sound but when you go into contacts there is a ringtone choice ,but no choice to add individual text message sounds,it worked before the update whts up sprint ??

  19. Lisa says:
    March 29, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    3-29-18 I did a update on my Samsung 8 about 4 days a ago. I woke up to find all my individual text tones for my contacts were gone including the option to choose same. I spoke to a tech at Verizon who did not have any complaints about this issue directly so she reached out to Samsung. She did advise this was a Samsung update not Verizon. The Samsung tech advised her that is a known error with their software update. They are working on fixing same. She did not have an exact date however as soon as they have a software update to fix it, they will send a new update out. Hope this information helps :)

  20. Leslie says:
    March 29, 2018 at 12:40 pm

    This feature needs to be put back immediately.

  21. Brad Campbell says:
    March 28, 2018 at 12:22 pm

    The current software update benefits provides Android Oreo to your Samsung Galaxy s8t, with tools to improve your productivity and the latest Android security patches. Well, that may be, but taking out the individual ringtones for text messages was a big mistake. Most of my friends text me instead of calling and one of the great features was assigning a song to each individual. Now when I receive a text I am forced to only have one sound or song available. Please update your software to enable us to have individual text message sounds. Thank you in advance.

  22. Courtney M says:
    March 28, 2018 at 12:11 am

    As of update that I had to install today on galaxy s8+ no individual text message notification. Super frustrating!!!!!!

  23. Janet says:
    March 26, 2018 at 11:05 pm

    I’ve been frustrated all night trying to figure out what happened to individual text ringtones…I just read these and see where they’re gone since update…please bring them back!!! I love knowing who’s texting me based on the ringtone…why did you change?? Big mistake!!!

  24. Janet MORTON says:
    March 26, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    I’ve been frustrated all night trying to figure out what happened to individual text ringtones…I just read these and see where they’re gone since update…please bring them back!!! I love knowing who’s texting me based on the ringtone…why did you change?? Big mistake!!!

  25. Jim says:
    March 26, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    I too do not have message tone option

  26. Tina says:
    March 26, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    Since the new update in March 2018, individual message sound tone is gone! I loved that feature! Please bring it back!

  27. Tara says:
    March 25, 2018 at 12:58 pm

    I can’t set individual sounds. There is no “message tone” option…..frustrated

  28. Mary says:
    March 25, 2018 at 10:39 am

    Update pushed last week and now there is no option on my S8 to set a custom message tone. Everyone is the same tone now. Is this a carrier thing or a Samsung thing?

  29. Jbella says:
    March 25, 2018 at 8:31 am

    When I go to contact, edit, view more the option to set notification sound is not there. Please help.

  30. Suzann says:
    January 5, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    I have the audio file I want as my text notification on my galaxy note, but I can’t figure out how to set it as my text notification. It takes me to Zedge when I try to change the sound, but I didn’t get it from Zedge; it’s just a music file.
    How do I set it as my text notification?

  31. Sara says:
    December 6, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    Is there a way to set separate notification sounds? One for general notifications and one for text messages?

  32. Michael says:
    December 6, 2017 at 11:34 am

    I have the same problem. Can anyone help?

  33. Linda says:
    December 2, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    Please help! I have note 8 and also use Zedge. On my last phone, I could set individual Text notifications with Zedge. Now it makes me use the same one for all texts. It was handy to be have different test notifications so I knew when a text came in from my daughter. Now they all sound the same. Anyone know of an app that will let me set different ones?

  34. Patricia wilson says:
    November 26, 2017 at 11:29 am

    I can’t get my ringtones from sads to set on messenger can anyone help me figure out how to do that it keeps taking me back to the ringtone sitter in the internal storage think you

  35. Marci says:
    November 22, 2017 at 11:31 pm

    “HM says
    November 10, 2017 at 2:04 am

    I use Zedge, have the Samsung Note 8. You have to save the tone from Zedge to your device, Keep the default message notification app as Android, don’t change it to Zedge. After you have downloaded the ringtone/message notification that you want from Zedge, go through the steps above and your downloaded tone will be among the tones in the regular Android app.”

    You are awesome!! Thank you so much! Nothing but this worked for me. I appreciate it!

  36. steve says:
    November 17, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    I know there is an option to not have the text message notification ringtone sound when you have a text messaging window open. I want to make the sound happen again. Where is this option?

  37. MJ says:
    November 15, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Accidentally picked the wrong app for my sounds for ringtones, now I Can’t figure out how to access my media files.

    Anyone know how to reset this?

  38. HM says:
    November 10, 2017 at 2:04 am

    I use Zedge, have the Samsung Note 8. You have to save the tone from Zedge to your device, Keep the default message notification app as Android, don’t change it to Zedge. After you have downloaded the ringtone/message notification that you want from Zedge, go through the steps above and your downloaded tone will be among the tones in the regular Android app.

  39. Robert Kennelly says:
    November 9, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    I have tried every way and talked to Samsung, You can do it for Ring tones but not message tones.
    That Is if you want to add you own.
    ps I also have Zedge

  40. CHRISTINA PAAVO says:
    November 8, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    I tried to use my wedge ringtones and they don’t work. It keeps resetting to the other ringtones.

  41. Clyde says:
    November 3, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    You will need to set a notification sound for each email app by going into the settings for each app and selecting the required sound otherwise you will just get the default message sound for all apps

  42. Eric D Wixson says:
    November 3, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    This didn’t help me because for some reason I do this but it still won’t change the sound idk what’s up. I also use Zedge

  43. Mp says:
    October 3, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    How do I add a ringtone I downloaded via Amazon?

  44. Eric says:
    October 3, 2017 at 2:16 am

    For email or messages, etc, first make sure that notifications is turned on for the app you are using.
    Secondly, make sure that Media Storage is set as a default app — this is required to get the standard event sounds, instead of audio files.
    Third, now go to settings for the email or messaging app and select the tone from the list presented.

  45. Julie says:
    September 28, 2017 at 4:40 pm

    My notification sound comes on during a phone call. How can I get this to Stop?

  46. Jeannie Beannie says:
    September 24, 2017 at 11:54 am

    For the Note 8, click the 3 dots on the left, select Customize, then tones- now pick your tone

  47. Debbie says:
    September 21, 2017 at 11:40 am

    This only sets tone for messages not email as my last phone did. Is there a way to set email too? Thus is important for my VIP contracts.

  48. James MK says:
    September 18, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    Helped me. Couldn’t set a Text Message notification sound via settings> notifications on phone. This way worked on fist try. Thank you. P.S. I also use Zedge for some sounds. Others are downloaded elsewhere.

  49. Mitch Bartlett says:
    September 16, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    Download Zedge from the appstore.

  50. Linda says:
    September 15, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    There are no ringtones on my Note 8

  51. Nate says:
    September 12, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    I didn’t see the link at first either, It may appear “grayed out” but it is there, just above the “Scan Business Card” button. There are alot of other tags you can edit from there. Was about to view these options from the “Phone” contacts or the “Google” contacts. I do not use facebook so I can’t say if it works the same way.

  52. Mitch Bartlett says:
    September 12, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    Do you sync your contacts with an app like Facebook? That might be the reason you cannot edit it. That, or your wireless carrier locked it down. I have the option on my unlocked Note8.

  53. Beth says:
    September 12, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    There is no “view more” under edit on the note 8 when I follow these directions. There is only delete, Link contacts, And block contact.

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My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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Last Updated on September 7, 2017 by Mitch Bartlett