M4R to TAR Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
iPhone Ringtone and TAR Archive exist for different jobs: M4R is Apple’s ringtone format — technically an AAC file capped at 40 seconds that iTunes and iPhones recognise as a ringtone. TAR preserves the exact file tree and permissions that Linux tooling expects.
This converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — your files never leave your device, nothing is uploaded, and there are no watermarks, sign-ups or queues. Drop in several files at once to convert them as a batch.
How M4R compares to TAR
| M4R | TAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy AAC | None (pair with gzip/zstd) |
| Best for | iPhone ringtones | Linux packaging and source trees |
How to convert M4R to TAR
- 1
Select your files
Select your M4R file — it never leaves your device.
- 2
Convert instantly
The engine packs the file, byte for byte, into a TAR container — no re-encoding, no quality change.
- 3
Download results
Download the finished TAR archive.
About the M4R format
M4R is simply iPhone ringtone packaging: an AAC audio file (same as M4A) capped at 40 seconds, named .m4r so iOS treats it as a ringtone instead of a song. GarageBand and Finder sync are the supported paths to install one; the audio itself is ordinary AAC.
Practical workflow: pick the 30–40 second chorus you want, convert to M4R, sync it to the phone, and set it in Sounds & Haptics. Nothing about the audio changes — the extension and the length limit are the entire format.
+Strengths
- ✓The native iPhone ringtone format
- ✓Simple — it is AAC with a new name
!Limitations
- −Hard 40-second length cap
- −Installation requires sync or GarageBand
About the TAR format
TAR (tape archive) is Unix's fifty-year-old answer to bundling: it concatenates files with headers into a single stream, preserving POSIX permissions, ownership and symlinks — but compressing nothing. It is the container half of the classic .tar.gz pairing and the native format of Linux source trees and backups.
Being pure bundling, TAR pairs with a compressor: gzip (the classic), bzip2, zstd. Alone, a TAR is the same size as its contents. Windows 10+ ships bsdtar, so even Windows can unpack it now — permissions aside, where NTFS has no room to be faithful.
+Strengths
- ✓Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks
- ✓Streamable: works over pipes and tapes
- ✓The standard of Linux distribution and backup
!Limitations
- −No compression by itself
- −No built-in encryption
- −Permissions meaningless on Windows filesystems
Why convert M4R to TAR?
Converting makes sense where the strengths of TAR meet what M4R cannot give you. Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks Meanwhile Hard 40-second length cap One pass through the converter above puts your file on the right side of that trade-off.
Frequently asked questions
Is this M4R to TAR converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for M4R to TAR?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Can I convert a whole folder of M4R files?
You can select many files at once and they are processed in a single batch. Output files land in one ZIP download when there is more than one result.
Will converting M4R to TAR reduce audio quality?
If TAR is lossless, the output contains everything the M4R file contains — no further loss is added. If TAR is lossy, one recompression pass is unavoidable; the quality slider controls how much. Loss that already happened in the source file can never be undone by converting.