It’s a scary feeling when your phone falls in water. Most people panic and don’t know what to do. But if you stay calm and follow these simple steps right away, you have a very good chance of saving your phone from breaking.
Let’s walk through it together.
Step 1: Get it Out and Turn It OFF!
This is the most important step of all. As soon as you grab your phone out of the water, you need to turn it completely off.
- Press and hold the power button until the screen gives you the option to “slide to power off.” Do it.
- Why is this so important? Think of it like this: electricity and water are enemies. If the power is on, the water inside can cause the phone’s “brain” to get fried. Turning the power off right away is the best way to prevent this serious damage.
- Don’t be tempted to press buttons to see if it still works. Just turn it off fast.
Step 2: Take Everything Out and Off
Your phone needs to breathe so it can dry out.
- If you had a charger or headphones plugged in, unplug them now.
- Take your phone’s case off completely. Water can get trapped between the case and the phone.
- Find the little hole on the side of your phone and use a paperclip or a special tool to pop out the small tray that holds your SIM card.
Taking everything off and opening the SIM tray gives water more ways to escape and lets fresh air get inside to start the drying process.
Step 3: Gently Wipe it Dry
Now you need to dry the outside of the phone.
- Get a soft, dry cloth. A t-shirt, a dish towel, or a glasses-cleaning cloth works great.
- Gently pat the phone dry on all sides. Wipe the screen, the back, and the sides.
- Important: Do NOT shake the phone hard or blow into the holes. This can push water even deeper inside and cause more damage. Just be gentle.
Step 4: Let It Air Dry (And Do NOT Use Rice!)
This step needs patience, but it’s the safest way to dry the inside of your phone.
- Find a dry, flat spot, like a table or a bookshelf.
- Lay your phone down on a dry towel.
- Now, just leave it alone. Let it sit there and air dry for at least a full day (24 hours). If you have a fan, you can place it a few feet away to gently move air around the phone.
- Why shouldn’t you use rice? You’ve probably heard that putting a phone in rice helps. It’s a myth. Rice works very slowly, and worse, the tiny white dust from the rice can get into the charging port and speaker holes and clog them up, creating a new problem for you to fix. Air is much better and safer than rice.
Step 5: Turn It On and Check the Speaker
After waiting at least a day, it’s time to turn your phone back on. If it turns on and everything seems to be working, that’s great news!
But you might notice one last problem: the sound is very quiet or crackles when you play a video. This means there are still a few tiny water droplets stuck inside the speaker.
That’s what our website is for!
- Turn the volume on your phone all the way up.
- Press the big “START” button on our homepage.
- Let the special sound play for a minute. It will safely vibrate the water out of the speaker.
After doing this, your phone should sound loud and clear again. You saved your phone!