Can I Download My Ringtones Again?

Q: I bought a bunch of ringtones from iTunes a while ago, and I had a fun ringtone set for each of my contacts. I recently synced my iPhone with my computer, and now they are all gone! I know how to redownload my songs from iTunes, but I can't find anywhere to redownload my ringtones. What do I do?

A: You might have to learn to enjoy the sweet, melodic sound of marimbas, or you might have to pay for the ringtones all over again. In the US and in most other countries, you can redownload most of the media that you purchase from iTunes, including apps, books, music, movies and TV shows. However, you are only allowed to download ringtones one time per purchase.

There might still be a chance you can get your ringtones back. If you have backed up your iPhone to your computer or to iCloud once before, you can restore your iPhone from the backup, and you should have your ringtones back.

First, you should back up your iPhone again before you attempt to restore the old backup. Follow the directions at the link above for backing up your iPhone and then restoring it from a previous backup. If you backed up your iPhone after you bought the ringtones, you should get them back once you restore that backup. 

Once you have them back, make sure to sync them to iTunes on your computer. Then, if you lost anything else, restore the backup that you created at the start of this process. You should have everything back at that point. 

Good luck!