How do I change the incoming email sound?

Being able to customize the sound for incoming email notifications on your device is a useful way to personalize your experience. The default email notification sounds can become annoying or distracting over time. By setting a custom sound, you can choose audio alerts that are more pleasant or fit your preferences better. This article explains the step-by-step process for changing the incoming email sound on your device.

Whether you want to use one of the built-in sounds, assign different sounds to various email accounts, or add your own audio files, this guide will walk you through how to update and manage the incoming email sounds. With the right settings adjusted, you can have your device play a subtle chime, a song snippet, or a silly sound effect whenever new emails come in. Customizing your notification sounds ultimately allows you to take control over your alerts and notifications.

Locate Sound Settings

On an iPhone, the Sounds settings are in Settings > Sounds & Haptics. To customize sounds and vibrations for various alerts and notifications:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap on “Sounds & Haptics”.
  3. This will open the Sounds & Haptics settings where you can customize sounds and vibrations.

The Sounds & Haptics menu contains various sections to control ringtones, alert tones, keyboard clicks, lock sounds and vibration patterns. This is the main place to customize the default sounds on your iPhone.

Change Default Email Sound

The default iPhone email alert sound is called ‘New Mail’. To change it to a different built-in sound or your own custom sound:

1. Open the Settings app and tap ‘Sounds & Haptics’.

2. Scroll down and tap ‘Ringtone’.

3. Tap the ‘New Mail’ sound option and select a new alert tone from the list. You can preview sounds before selecting.

4. Tap ‘Back’ to return to the Sounds & Haptics screen once you’ve chosen a new sound.

Now your iPhone will play the new sound whenever you receive a new email. If you ever want to revert to the original New Mail sound, just repeat the steps and reselect it.

Set Custom Sounds Per Account

One advantage of customizing your email notification sounds is the ability to assign unique sounds for individual email accounts. For example, you may want a ding sound for your personal Gmail account and a chime for your work Outlook account.

Setting a custom sound per account allows you to quickly identify which email inbox a new message has arrived in without having to look at your phone. This can be especially useful if you have multiple work and personal accounts configured on your device.

Most email apps like Gmail and Outlook provide options to set customized notification sounds for each account. You simply have to go into the settings for that specific account and change the notification sound. The process is usually quite straightforward.

With unique sounds assigned to different accounts, you’ll no longer have to guess which inbox has a new email when you hear an alert. It’s a simple but effective way to stay organized across all your accounts.

Use Existing Sounds

Your iPhone comes pre-loaded with a variety of notification sound options to choose from. To select one of the default sounds:

Open the Settings app and tap Sounds & Haptics. Scroll down and tap Default Alerts.

You will see a list of the built-in alert tones such as Tri-tone, Chord, and Opening. Tap on a sound to preview it.

When you find one you like, tap Back in the top left corner. The sound you selected will now be set as your default notification sound.

The default sounds that come with your iPhone offer a variety of tones and chimes to match different preferences. Choosing one of these existing alert sounds is a quick way to change up your notification sound.

Add Custom Sound Files

You can add your own custom .m4r sound files to use for incoming email alerts. .m4r is the audio file format optimized for iPhone ringtones and alerts. To create a custom .m4r file, you’ll first need to convert an audio file like .mp3 to the .m4r format. There are a few ways to convert MP3 files to .m4r:

Use an online audio converter like Zamzar to quickly convert MP3 files to .m4r format. Just upload your MP3 file, select .m4r as the output format, and download the converted ringtone.

Download a desktop app like Ringtone Maker to batch convert multiple MP3s to .m4r iPhone ringtones.

Use iTunes’ built-in Ringtone creation tool by right clicking on the song, selecting Song Info > Options, setting the start and end time, and clicking Create AAC Version. Then change the file extension from .m4a to .m4r.

Once you have a custom .m4r sound file, connect your iPhone to your computer and drag the .m4r file into iTunes. Sync your phone, go to Settings > Sounds on your iPhone, and you’ll see your custom sound file available to set as your new email alert tone.

Manage Sound Volume

You can adjust the volume specifically for new email alerts on your device. This allows you to set the volume for email notifications lower or higher without affecting the system volume.

On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics. Scroll down and tap on “New Mail”. Drag the slider left or right to lower or raise the volume for new email alerts.

On Android, go to Settings > Sound & vibration > Advanced. Tap on the option for “Default notification sound”. Under this menu, you can set the volume slider specifically for new email notifications separate from your ringtone or media volumes.

Setting email alert volumes lower than your general system volume can help reduce distraction, according to productivity experts. However, some people prefer keeping email alert volumes equal to ringtone volume so they never miss an important email.

You may need to experiment to find the right balance for your own workflow. Just remember you have granular control over new email alert volume on both iOS and Android devices.

Change Vibration Pattern

You can customize the vibration pattern for new email notifications on your device. This allows you to set different vibration patterns for emails versus other notifications.

On Android devices, open the Settings app and go to Sound & vibration > Vibration pattern. Here you can select from preset vibration patterns or create a custom pattern by tapping on the + icon. Tap on email notifications and assign the vibration pattern you want specifically for new emails.

On iPhones, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone. Scroll down and tap Vibration. From here, you can select one of the preset patterns or create a custom pattern by tapping ‘Create New Vibration’. Make sure to assign this custom vibration to your email app notifications in the Settings.

Setting unique vibration patterns for different apps like email can make it easier to identify notifications just by feel. You’ll know an email has arrived without even having to look at your phone. Customizing vibration patterns takes just a few taps and allows you to personalize the experience.

Troubleshooting

Here are some solutions for common issues when changing incoming email sounds:

If no sound is heard for email notifications after changing the setting, first check that the iPhone is not muted. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to open Control Center and make sure the mute switch is off.

Go back to Settings > Sounds & Haptics and drag the “Ringers and Alerts” volume all the way up, then back down to your preferred volume. This resets the audio system and can resolve missing notification sounds.

Check that the app’s notifications are enabled by going to Settings > Notifications and make sure the app is turned on. If it’s off, toggle it on.

If notifications sounds are still not working, try restarting the iPhone by holding down the side button and volume up or down button until the power off slider appears. After restarting, test the email notification sound again.

For issues specific to the Gmail app, open Gmail, tap the user profile icon, go to Settings > Notifications and make sure “Notification sounds” is enabled with the desired sound selected.

As a last resort, back up your iPhone and restore it to factory settings, which often resolves persistent notification sound issues. Just be sure to restore your backup after.

Conclusion

In summary, there are a few easy ways to customize the sound your phone makes for new incoming emails. The default notification sound can be changed in your phone’s Sound & Haptic Settings. Unique sounds can also be assigned in the settings of specific email accounts. Existing system sounds can be chosen, or you can add custom audio files. The volume can be adjusted as needed in Sound Settings, and custom vibration patterns can be created. With these simple steps, you can select notification sounds that suit your preferences. Changing the incoming email sound allows you to personalize your device and know instantly when a new email arrives.

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