How to save a phone dropped in water

Did you just drop your phone in water? Forget to take it out of your pocket and accidently ran it through the washing machine? Dropped it in the toilet? Dropped your phone in your drink or soup? Were you pushed into the swimming pool with your phone in your pocket? Or just came in from the pouring rain to find your phone was soaked?

Better Act Fast! Time can be a factor in saving your mobile phone from further damage. Here is a list of things to do if your phone was exposed to water and some methods that can help you to save it.

Take your phone out of the water!

Remove your phone from the water or liquid as quickly as possible if you have not done so already.

Don’t Press Anything

Resist the urge to see if it’s still working:

  • Don’t turn it on
  • Don’t navigate
  • Don’t press any keys
  • Don’t use the phone

Remove the battery

If your phone will allow you to then remove the battery, and cut all the power to the device to decrease the chance of a short.

Remove it from its case

If you keep your phone in a protective case then dry the outside of the case and then remove it. Try not to rock the phone to much to help prevent water from running into any of the phones ports, plugs, holes, cracks or spread further throughout the inside of the phone.

Take off the removable parts

If your phone has a SIM card or Memory card then take it out and if necessary set it aside to try as well. SIMs are replaceable if needs be and most memory cards (at least the best memory cards) are waterproof.

But take them out of the phone and leave the battery cover or back plate off to help with the drying process and allow those parts of your phone to vent.

Dry the phone with a dry towel or cloth

Dry the outside and any visible areas with a dry cloth or towel. Again take caution not to let any water into the openings of your device if possible.

DO NOT Blow it

I do NOT recommend air in a can, a blow dryer, or even blowing air through your lips or a straw.

You might cause heat damage with a blow dryer or adversely blow water into the phone or blow the water around that’s already into the phone and cause more damage.

Do not take the phone apart

Don’t unscrew the phone or try and open it to get access to the inside of the phone. Even though the LDI (Liquid Damage Indicator) on your phone was most likely activated voiding your warranty, taking the phone apart could void your warranty 100%. So I don’t recommend it except as a last resort.

Dry the phone

You dried the outside and visible moisture as best as you could with a dry towel but now we have to dry the moisture that you couldn’t get to.

  • Use a Vacuum – although blowing the water on the phone is a bad idea, sucking the water off and or out of the phone might not be. Just make sure that you use caution trying not to scratch the phone or create a static charge from the vacuum.
  • Use Rice – One of the most common tools for drying phones is uncooked rice. Get an airtight container or zip lock bag and bury your phone in rice. The rice will absorb the moisture and help dry out our phone.
  • Silica Gel Packs – If you have any of these cool packets lying around (they are the gel packs you can find in shoeboxes) then these are great at absorbing moisture because that’s what they are meant to do. Place some packets into an airtight container with your phone and wait for them to help dry it out completely. Note: old packets that have already been used will have already reached their absorption capacity and won’t work.
  • Phone Drying Pouch – If you planned ahead and bought a phone drying pouch for just this situation then locate it and use it to assist you in drying the phone. If you don’t have one of these nifty packets then you can plan ahead for any future incidents and buy one for next time. These packets are often sold by stores as well (including Wal-Mart) if you want to check online to see if they have any in stock or place your phone in rice in the meantime and then run down to the store and see if you can locate one.

Wait for 24-48 hours

Wait for the moisture in the phone to dry out completely. If you have another phone that’s the same carrier as your current one you might be able to use that device while your primary phone dries. If your phone uses a SIM card then make sure your SIM is dry and insert it into another phone of the same wireless provider. Or simply take a break from your texting, tweeting, and networking and read a book or browse this awesome website instead /wink.

Check the phone

After a day or two of allowing the phone to dry check for moisture that might still be in or on the device. If moisture remains evident then do not re-insert the battery or accessories just yet. Continue the drying process with the suggestions above again until the phone is completely liquid and moisture free.

Attempt to power it on

Try and turn your phone on listening for any irregular noises and listening to make sure that the speakers still work on the unit. Check the screen and make sure that it appears to be working properly visually and if your phone has a touch screen make sure to check the touch screen to make sure that it too is responding correctly.

If your phone does not power on

If there is no response when attempting to power the phone on then plug your phone into a charger and see if you can get a response from the charger. This will help you to see if perhaps the battery was damaged or if it’s the phone itself.

If you a friend or a family member has a battery of the same type you can try that as well.

Addition things NOT to do to a wet phone

  • Freeze your phone – I don’t recommend that you put your phone in the freezer for many reasons. The chance of it causing additional damage is high because of many different factors.
  • Use an oven or microwave – don’t use an oven or microwave to help dry out your phone.
  • Apply heat – Applying heat from an external source will likely cause more damage to your phone. This could also cause your lithium ion battery to explode or start to leak, so don’t try it on your battery either.
  • Tap or bang your device – If your device isn’t working after drying it then read the article mentioned at the bottom of this article. DO NOT bang your phone against a hard surface to try and get it to work again. Along with liquid damage you might add some physical damage as well and it will be even more difficult to fix.

More Tips

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

If your phone was submerged at the beach and the salt water has gotten into it OR at a pool and has been exposed to water with chlorine in it then your phone might have a higher chance of being damaged or malfunctioning and you might also consider worrying about, minerals, possible corrosion or even calcium buildup forming and causing additional damage.

Some people recommend submerging your phone in clean water to remove the salt/minerals/chlorine water but I don’t recommend that because water, as you know, is a conductor and clean water can lead to a short, corrosion or calcium buildup just as well. Read the article mentioned below for some tips on fighting these forms of water damage.

Still not working properly

If your concerned with corrosion, calcium buildup or other damage, or your phone is simply not working properly even after drying completely, then I strongly suggest that you read How to fix a water damaged phone for some tips on how to get your phone working properly again.

Fixed and working correctly

If your phone is up and running again then make sure everything is working properly, keep an eye on the functionality of your device and enjoy the continued use of your phone. I hope you enjoyed the article. If you have any other tips or tricks then don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

This INTEL was submitted by:

If you found this content

Informative Helpful Instructive Beneficial Valuable Educational Useful

Shaken

Stirred

Help others find this by sharing it...

168 thoughts on “How to save a phone dropped in water”

  1. Phone dropped in water
    I dropped my phone in my dog’s water bowl accidentally last night. I managed to dry it out before it was to badly waterlogged. It worked initially but this morning i was getting a no sim/no service message. I opened the phone to check and there was a bit of water still inside. I dried it out and after a bit it seemed to work. Now I just keep getting the above mentioned message again. What should I do?

    1. Trying to fix your cell phone after its been submerged in water

      Hi Robert,

      Sorry to hear about your phone. Water damage can certainly be a phone killer for sure. From your description there might still be moisture in the SIM card area of your device. Speaking of “device” what phone did you happen to accidently drop in water, if you don’t mind me asking?

      I would take the SIM card out give it a good cleaning and make sure that the port on the phone that your SIM plugs into is completely dry and that you don’t see any signs of buildup of any kind (such as calcium or mineral deposits). You might even want to remove the SIM card from your cell phone and let it dry some more. I am sure that you have already heard about the rice drying trick, if you still have a bag of rice available (a Ziploc bag works well) then you might want to let it sit in rice over night just for good measure.

      Just try and make sure that that SIM card tray or port is nice and clean and that the SIM and the phone have a good connection. If there is something that is now in that port and the SIM and phone do not have a good connection then your cell phone won’t read the SIM card and you won’t have any service. There is also the chance of water damage which often requires you to look into your replacement or repair options as an actual piece of hardware could have been damaged.

      Sometimes after being exposed to moisture and then dried out a phone might work fine for a while but problems such as this or especially power related issues can often occur.

      Your SIM card might have been damaged as well. Out of curiosity have you tried using a different SIM card that you know is working properly? Hopefully your SIM just needs replacing as that would be the easiest and most affordable solution. If you need a replacement SIM then any retail location that sells phones especially a corporate store should be able to provide you with another SIM usually at no cost.

      Make sure to also check out the guide mentioned at the end of the article as well. It has a few tips that you might find helpful in trying to fix your cell phone.

      Good luck Robert, thanks for visiting the site and don’t hesitate to leave another comment if you have any more questions or if you would like to let us know if the suggestions on How to fix a water damaged cell phone seem to help resolve your issue.

  2. Hi, I went fishing with my…
    Hi, I went fishing with my dad and my Sony Xperia phone dropped down a hole in my trousers and the trousers were soaked. I took the phone out of the trousers and the phone was pretty much dry but the phone wouldnt turn on. I have tried to dry it out and charge it but still no joy and its not coming on.

    Any ideas?

    1. Take me to the river, drop me in the water. I wanna know…

      Hello Jordan,

      Fishing is one of the best pastimes that you can do with your dad. Some of my best memories of childhood involve going down to the river with my dad. If your cell phone isn’t waterproof and you don’t have a waterproof protective case the next time you go out fishing, or another activity where you might get a little wet you can use a Ziploc bag (and maybe even double bag it to be extra safe) to keep your phone nice and dry. That way you don’t have to part with your phone, you’ll have your phone available for emergencies and you won’t have to worry about water damage.

      Before troubleshooting your Sony Xperia for water damage make sure that you try this simulated battery pull trick first. Sometimes Sony Xperia smartphones like to pretend that they are broken even though they’re not. So try the advice in that guide first and if you can’t get it to turn back on then come back and proceed to the advice below.

      Did your phone hit the ground or did it just sit in a soaked trouser picket? If water got into the phone then it could have caused some damage. River water can be a little dirty too there might be some left over minerals in the phone causing issues.

      It’s hard to say for sure but you might get lucky and may be able to fix it with a quick 99% isopropyl alcohol bath. If the river water caused a short in the phone then you might not be able to fix it but if there is some leftover water or some dirt or other mineral deposits left in the phone and that is what is causing problems then the alcohol might help as it can get into all the nooks and crannies in your cell phone and help to clean it out. I talk a little more about this in how to try and fix a phone dropped in water if you care to read more about it and since your phone is completely unresponsive I don’t think that you have too much to lose by giving it a try. So check out that other guide and let me know if it helps or if you have any more questions.

      1. Hi James, the phone was supposed to be…
        Hi James, the phone was supposed to be waterproof, it was a phone i got from my dad and he said it was waterproof. When i looked at the phone it had water in the camera and that was it, when i told my dad it wouldnt work when we were fishing he said it could have caused a short in the phone and to leave it for so long. I tried it a bit later on in the day and it still wouldnt come on. I will check out your other guide James.

        Many Thanks.

        Jordan.

        1. Your welcome Jordan

          Thanks for coming back to the site and posting a follow up. Hopefully those guides can help to fix your cell phone. I wish you luck and if you have any more questions then don’t hesitate to ask.

  3. My MOTO G fell under water
    H, My moto G fell under water few days back for 2 to 5 Seconds I immediately picked it up and swiched it on to see if it was working. It was working perfectly but after some time the battery of my phone was very low so it switched off and now I can’t turn it on. Even if I put it on charging then also it is not switching on just the white LED is blinking thats all. Please Help.

  4. my MOTO G will not come on at all
    Hey, my Moto G has been dropped in the water a while back , like 2 months ago . And ever since then it wouldn’t come on at all ….. i charge it alot and the only thing that pops up is the LED light , and 0% .what do i do.

  5. Why do MOTO G’s suddenly think they are water proof?

    Hi Anugrah and Jay,

    So strange that both of your MOTO Gs decided to drown themselves, that poor model must need to spend more time enjoying sweets and visiting the Play Store. That’s one of the things I like to do and it seems to keep me happy 🙂

    After dropping a phone in water the most common issues that seems to occur are power related. Whether the phone stops charging properly or it stops turning on, or powers off suddenly for no reason, power related issues often go hand in hand with water damage. These unfortunate and aggravating issues can happen right away as in your situation Jay or can creep up quite suddenly as in your case Anugrah.

    Since your phones charging lights come on then that’s a somewhat decent sign as it means your cell phone isn’t completely dead or completely unresponsive and there may be hope. Unfortunately the Motorola Moto G doesn’t allow you to simply pull out the battery and check for corrosion, buildup, or visible damage and since its non-removable you can’t just pull the battery out and try one that you know to be working properly. It could be that the battery was just damaged and isn’t charging or holding a charge correctly.

    Since neither of the phones are going to be covered under the manufactures warranty (water damage voids the warranty) then you don’t have too much to lose at this point and I would try a quick 99% alcohol bath and if that doesn’t work you can try to find a new battery and then replace the battery yourself. Motorola can swap the battery for you BUT as of today they charge “$75 plus applicable taxes” in order to do it and we don’t even know for sure if it is the battery so it would be a pretty big gamble, and it might be more affordable to just get another unit or file an insurance claim (if applicable).

    Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. Hopefully the alcohol bath helps to revive your Moto Gs. If you want to read more about that revival method then make sure to visit the “How to fix a water damaged phone” which is linked to at the bottom of the article above.

    1. Solution
      Hey, Thank u very much for your help. I appreciate it. Just one more doubt.
      My LED is blinking so what you think is there some hope and for the Alcohol bath if I take the phone to motorola’s service center would they do it?
      and if there’s a short circuit in my phone can it be repaireda and for how much?
      Thank you in advance.

      1. Trying to fix a water damaged cell phone yourself

        Hi again Anugrah,

        Since your phone isn’t completely dead as you can see that the “LED is blinking” it means that your phone is responding to being plugged into a charger. It’s not just a paper weight; there are some signs of life still in it so your situation isn’t completely hopeless. This doesn’t guarantee that its fixable it just means you might have a better chance at fixing it.

        If you took your cell phone to a Motorola service center then chances are they would say “this phone has water damage, that’s why it’s not working”, which we already know. Changes are very high that they would NOT soak the phone in 99% alcohol as it’s more of a poor man’s solution and a last resort when trying to save a cell phone dropped in water. Motorola isn’t responsible for products that have been damaged. They might offer to take the phone apart for you to see if they can repair it but I am unsure of the price they would charge you to do it.

        If you do have a service center close to you or within driving distance then I would call them first and get an estimate to see whether or not it would be worth the trip. If your phones motherboard shorted out then the phones toast and it wouldn’t be cost effective in trying to repair it. You would be better off just buying a new phone.

    2. Moto g
      Mine fell in the toilet and it was working fine but there wasn’t enough rice to put it in but I dried it off. The led light keeps blinking and the screen comes on but it won’t work if I touch the screen like to unlock it or check a message it won’t type or anything.

      1. Trying to fix a Water Damaged Motorola Moto G

        Hi Haley,

        Sorry to hear about your Moto G, since your phone is not responding to your touch and means that the touch screen was affected by the water. I can’t say if the phones screen is damaged or not but there may be a chance of fixing it with an alcohol bath (see other comments and visit the guide mentioned at the bottom of this article) and of course making sure that your Moto G is completely dry before trying to use it again.

        If the alcohol bath doesn’t seem to help and your sure that your cell phone is completely dry then the water may have damaged touch screen on your phone and you will likely need to replace the touch screen in order for your phone to function properly again.

  6. I dropped my android in the pool
    Help, early today I dropped my LG in the pool I didn’t get to get the warranty on it yet. As soon as I dropped it I picked it up took the protective cover off and attempted to dry it , at the time I didn’t have rice. After awhile I plugged it up the screen came on but blinked in and out and finally went black. I got my camping air pump to blow it dry that didn’t work I plugged it in and the charging light is on but my screen is still black. Finally after an hour I got some rice and put it in the rice but do you think it is to late to save seeing as I blew it with the pump and my screen went black before I put it in the rice? Please help….

    1. Time will tell

      Hello Alexas,

      It’s almost impossible to say for sure whether or not your screen, and the rest of your cell phone, will work properly again once the phone is completely dry. Try to give it enough time to dry though, you don’t want any residual pool water to cause an electrical short (which may have already happened *knock on wood*).

      If a piece of hardware shorts out or gets damaged, such as the LCD screen, then usually that piece will have to be replaced. If too much damage is done or the piece in question cannot simply be replaced then sometimes the repair costs would be too high and it would be cheaper just to buy another cell phone.

      We won’t know for sure until your cell phone is completely dry and you try to power it on again. Moisture can cause all kinds of problems when it comes to cell phones or any electronic for that matter so in this case time will tell.

      Since your cell phone was dropped in water it is no longer covered under warranty, if you have issues trying to boot it up after its dry then make sure to refer back to the article above and review the “Still not working properly section” it MIGHT help get all that left over chlorine and mineral deposits out of your cell phone which could help as well.

  7. Person was dunked in salt water pool with S4 on her
    Hi. My daughter was dunked in pool a couple of days ago and the person didn’t realize she had her phone on her. She immediately took the phone apart (SIM, battery, etc.) and placed it in a bowl of rice. It’s now been 4 days. Phone turns on and seems to be receiving calls and messages, however, screen in blank (won’t turn on). I ordered a micro phillips screwdriver on line and hoping I can clean it’s components (mother board, connectors, etc.s) Any suggestions?

  8. Christian Small

    Iphone 5 S in pocket when in swimming pool
    I was at a friends pool and went in with my phone in my pocket… i realized it was in my pocket within 15 seconds of being in and got out as fast as i could. I tried powering it on (not knowing i shouldn’t have) and it didn’t come on. I have it in rice right now.

  9. Dropped my phone in water…
    I dropped my phone in water. Read the instructions and inserted it into a rice bowl. After 2 days, I tried to start it and it did start. The only issue is the touch screen does not work. the welcome screen pops up but, I can’t unlock my phone since the touch isn’t working… It’s frustrating….Please HELP!!!

    1. The touch screen might have been damaged

      Hi Indie,

      It sounds like the water may have caused damage to your cell phones touch screen or has affected something else in the phone that allows the touch screen to function correctly. Hopefully the advice mentioned HERE can help get it working again. If not then you might need to look into replacing your cell phones touch screen to see if a replacement can get your phone operational again. Without a working touch screen your smartphone isn’t going to be of much use.

      Water damage can be a tricky thing to try and solve. Some parts of the phone it can effect causing them to stop working while other parts of the phone may continue to work just fine. Sometimes after completely drying the phone everything will work fine for a day or two or a week or a month and then all of a sudden it can start to have issues.

      Like you said these things can be very “frustrating” and sometimes all we can do is roll with the punches.

  10. Venkatesh Devam

    Wifi not working after phone dropped in water
    My phone dropped in water few days back .After drying it for 1 day,i switched it on.Everything is working fine except wifi.Wifi is on but it is not connecting to any network.I tried turning it off and again turning it on.But it is not working.Please give any suggestions.

  11. Water under my screen
    I dropped my phone in the toilet about a week ago and when the screen goes black to load a game or something I see water marks on the screen I was wondering if that is a horrible thing and if It’s important to get it fixed right away or whenever I have a chance. Thank you…

    1. Um… It depends…

      Hi Kathryn,

      That incident is actually more common than you might think. It’s good to know that your phone is still functioning properly. Water damage can cause all kinds of problems.

      When you say “water marks” are you referring to a left over mineral deposit that remained once the phone was completely dry? If so, I don’t think that it will be a horrible thing to just leave alone, so long as you don’t mind seeing it when the screen is black and I don’t think it’s likely to cause any considerable damage later.

      If it becomes an annoyance or you notice that your touch screen is not responding as it should or if the phone starts having any issues with the display screen then you could take the phone apart and give it a good cleaning and then put the phone back together. If you doubt your own tech skills then a local repair shop could probably do this relatively quickly as they will have all the tools and experience and since no parts are actually being replaced it would likely be pretty affordable as well.

  12. My phone isnt sliding please help
    So I dropped my phone in a cup of water a couple days ago and right I way I put it in rice I left it there for 2 days to dry, then I charged it. It worked. But then maybe 20 mins later the screen wouldn’t slide. I tried holding down the lock button and home button, but its not working. Any idea what would help without having to pay for it to be fixed ?

    1. It depends…

      Hi Phina,

      Sounds like the moisture might have done a number on your touch screen. What you might be able to do will depend on how bad it affected it. If the touch screen was damaged then it’s likely that you will need to pay something in order to get it repaired/replaced. Since it worked originally if only for a little while though there may be hope and you might be able to fix it.

      Make sure to review the advice already posted on these pages, especially in the comment section. Many other people had similar issues and I think that you might find my advice to them helpful in resolving your issue yourself. At the very least it should give you a fighting chance.

  13. William Edmeades

    I sent my Nokia Lumia 520 through the wash
    Hi there,
    Just yesterday I was at my mate’s house doing some Mountain Biking and I thought it would be a good idea to bring my phone with me to take some photos of the view at the top.
    After various tumbles and falls off my bike we made it to the top so naturally I took some pics, and I got pretty muddy and my jeans were drenched (and my Nokia was in one of the drenched pockets)…
    Anyway I completely forgot my phone was in the pocket annnnd it went through the washing machine 🙁 only to find the screen condensated, and the phone refusing to power on.
    Not only that but before I looked at this website I did a good number of the things you said I shouldn’t do like:
    – Don’t Press Anything
    – Don’t blow on it
    – Don’t take the phone apart
    and applying heat from an external source (i.e my fireplace)… *sigh*

    Since I stuffed up so much, I will be over the moon if there is a solution. 🙂
    Thanks,
    William

    1. There are better ways of cleaning a phone…

      Hi William,

      Phones can be awesome tools and I think it was a good idea to take it mountain biking with you. If something unexpected happened, heaven forbid, then you could call someone for help, you can use it as a flashlight should the trip take longer than expected, and of course you have a camera and video recorder which can capture those rare moments to help you remember them later.

      With all the soap and possible minerals that probably got in your Nokia Lumia during the wash you should definitely try the alcohol trick. Submerge it and give it a gentle but good shaking to try and get that 100% alcohol into all those nooks and crannies and help wash out any soap or other gunk that could be causing problems.

  14. I dropped my phone in a bowl
    I dropped my phone in a bowl of soup. I tried and on my phone, and it worked. But when I charge, there wouldn’t be any symbol.

    1. The charging port may be dirty or damaged

      Hi Hazel,

      Besides from being tasty, soup can do some interesting things sometimes. While just the other day I was eating some SpaghettiOs and when I was just about to take a bite I looked down at my spoon and read “Ooooooo” it was very spooky.

      Ha, ha just kidding but seriously, sorry to hear about your phone and the soup. From your description it sounds like the soup most likely got into the charging port on your phone and it may still have some soup left in there that’s causing problems and not allowing the phone to recognize the charger. I would definitely try to give it a good cleaning with alcohol (99%) and then cross your fingers and hope that a clean charging port fixes it. If you cannot charge your phone then it’s going to run out of juice and you won’t be able to charge it much less use it again. 

      If cleaning just the charging port doesn’t work then you might give it a quick bath just to be extra thorough as there may be some left over gunk inside the phone causing mischief. Hopefully a quick bath (again in 99% alcohol) can help get into all those nooks and crannies and help to revive your phone allowing it to charge again. You might even be able to get away with just dipping the bottom of the phone (the end with the charging port) into alcohol and giving it a gentle shaking… after all if the rest of the phone is working you may not need to submerge the whole phone right away.

      If the soup caused damage to the charging port or charging components though you might have to replace the charging port itself in order to get your phone to charge properly again. Or you might have to start looking into all of the repair or replacement options available. Good luck Hazel.

  15. Iphone went for a swim
    Hi there,

    Looking for a bit of advice – I dropped my iphone 5 in the toilet early hours Sunday morning, it was submerged for a matter of seconds and then wouldn’t work. After a few hours it worked fine apart from the home button and a few hours after that the phone was back to normal and has been fine ever since. I have bought reviveaphone but now I am unsure whether to use it or not as the phone is now fine, what would you do?
    Thanks for your time,

    Jamie

    1. I would leave it alone

      Hi Jamie,

      Great question! Glad to hear that your phone is up and working at 100% again. You got lucky.

      If I was in your position I would just let everything run its course. Since your phone is working properly you don’t want to jeopardize that. Keep the Reviveaphone kit where you can get to it again if your phone (or someone else’s phone) ever needs it.

      Then if your cell phone accidently gets dropped into a toilet, gets left in a pocket and run through the washing machine, or if the phone gets dropped in a bowl of soup or the dogs water bowl, or goes swimming in the pool, or tries to go fishing, or whatever the reason; you will have that kit handy and you will be ready to try and revive your phone if you need to.  

      It’s never a bad idea to be prepared for the unexpected, especially when it comes to our cell phones. Speaking of preparing for the unexpected, remember to try and get into a good habit of backing up your phone on a regular basis as well. It can certainly be a time saver and rescue you from a ton of grief and frustration. You wouldn’t want to lose any important information to any unforeseen circumstances.

      Thanks for the terrific question Jamie, good luck and enjoy your working cell phone.

      1. My phone dropped in the toilet bowl and its working but…
        My SD card is not reading any solutions?

        Thank you

        1. You could try a couple of things…

          Hi Buf,

          It’s going to depend on what is causing the issue… It may be a damaged SD card port, a dirty port (make sure to TRY and give it a good cleaning with alcohol, although this can be hard as it’s a really tight space to try and clean), it could be a damaged memory card (many memory cards are waterproof but not all of them), or something may have been left behind that’s causing a communication issue between the card and the phone (so give the card a wipe down with alcohol too).

          Have you had a chance to try a different memory card yet? If another card doesn’t seem to want to work either then it’s likely the phone (obviously) and vise versa. This should hopefully help you narrow down the cause a little bit and hopefully allow you to resolve your problem.

  16. I dropped my New Nokia Lumia 520 in toilet’s pothole 🙁
    Here is the most horrible thing I’ve ever done in my whole life! I was in a great hurry and while I was rushing to the toilet my phone popped out of my pocket and jumped in the pothole… I immediately removed all of its removable parts and let them dry naturally! But as I switched it on there was an exclamation mark on the screen! I panicked and immediately took it to Nokia Care!! I found out that the water reached the board -_- I’m just worried as I bought the phone from Snapdeal just a month ago and can’t afford to let it die 🙁 They said the minimum charge is 900 INR Approx. 14.90 $ I need urgent help!! Please!!

    1. There is still hope, and here is why…

      Hi Namita,

      Believe it or not that unfortunate incident actually happens quite often, more often than you might think. Try not to be too hard on yourself.

      I think for your specific situation though there is hope and here is why. Your phone is still turning on and that is something to be happy about, whether or not the water reached the motherboard might be irrelevant as it may not have caused any serious damage. In fact I think that you might even be able to get your phone to turn on properly again.

      Here is what I think is happening… I think that the water has affected one of your hard keys and is causing it to malfunction; most likely the Volume Down button. Many smartphones (including the Nokia Lumia) allow you to send or carry out commands by pressing and holding specific keys while the phone is powered off.

      So let’s say for example that your phone had a software bug or virus and it was not letting you power your cell phone on correctly. It would start to turn on and then it would freeze and wouldn’t do anything. Well you couldn’t perform a hard reset by accessing the Settings then going to About and then selecting Reset your phone because the phone is freezing and won’t let you turn it on much less access the settings.

      You could still perform a hard reset using the Alternative Reset method. By disconnecting your Nokia from the charger, pressing and holding the Power and Volume Down keys simultaneously then releasing those keys after the phone vibrates and then immediately pressing and holding the Volume down button until the phone displayed an exclamation mark (!) on the screen. You could then release the volume down key and then press the volume up, volume down, power, and volume down buttons in that order to force the phone to reset. Some gears would appear on the screen for a few minutes the phone would restart and be back to factory default. This hard reset method could help resolve many software issues and would remove any third party apps or programs added to the phone, including any viruses that might have found their way onto your phone.

      But I digress.

      So what I think is happening is that your Volume Down key is malfunctioning, your phone thinks that it is being pressed down (even though it’s not) and the phone thinks that you are trying to access this feature and is doing exactly what it is programmed to do and taking you to that exclamation mark (!) screen. The only problem is your key is stuck down so your Nokia is stuck on that screen. If you can get your key to respond correctly then you should be able to get your Nokia Lumia 520 to turn on properly.

      I recommend that you try to repeatedly press that Volume Down key for a few minutes in order to attempt to dislodge anything that might have gotten underneath it. After a few minutes of pressing and then releasing that volume key over and over you could then try to restart the phone and see if it will boot up correctly. If not then you might be able to remove that key (yes, it’s not made to be taken off but… you got to do what you got to do) and then give it a thorough cleaning. Make sure to clean the Volume button itself and that area of the phone where the volume key sits into place. You can even attempt to power the phone on without the key too, I bet it would boot up properly.

      In any case, as far as water damage is concerned, I think that your situation could have definitely been a lot worse and I hope that this long reply helps you to fix it. Good luck Namita, don’t hesitate to let me know if you end fixing it and what you did to do so. I hope to hear back from you soon.

      1. You are like an Angel to my Lumia 520

        Hi James,
        Thank you for your reply! It was of much help.. Though I had to take my cell to Nokia Care to follow your instructions, it finally revived my dead phone 🙂 You are like an Angel to my Lumia 520.. Thanks Again! 😀

  17. Dropped SG SII down loo
    Hi James,

    Dropped my Samsung Galaxy SII down loo last night after having gone but before flushing (!), pulled it out (loo paper helped stop it getting submerged (!!), dried it off, took case off, washed it, sprayed some cleaner onto bit of loo roll moistened with water to wipe phone clean best I could without using too much water (I probably shouldn’t have done this, but it was all a bit yucky!). Took back off and battery out, left to dry. Tried turning it on some hours later. Came on, sounded funny, and then went off. So I removed SD card and SIM card and left the whole lot to dry overnight.

    I was able to turn it on late this morning and the sound was a little better. The screen came on with all icons and notification info including new text messages. It flickered somewhat and the screen was very bright. The black background of the notification area was very dark grey rather than the usual black. The date and time on the weather widget was 1 Jan, can’t recall the year. I turned it off again and tried a spare battery, which I think was flat so I went back to other battery.

    Phone came on as before. Charged it up for while. Date and time on weather widget eventually normalized, but was still impossible to open any icon or notification panel. So the phone looks like its ok but can’t use any of it. I can’t answer anything the phone is asking me, such as Samsung account update, so it’s stuck on screen. Seems ‘touch’ function disturbed. I have backed everything up to KIES in the meantime. Seems to have worked. Charge is very low now, (it’s charging via my laptop, which is slower than using the phone charger).

    So, do I turn the phone off again and put it in a rice bag or charge it up properly using the phone charger? If I use a rice bag, it’s unclear to me whether I am meant to take the cards and battery out and the back off and place these things in the bag, or should I place the phone in the rice with everything intact? Or do I follow your link to trying to fix a water-damaged phone? Or is it time to buy a new phone?

    Many thanks for your advice and your site is great!

    1. Trying to fix a Samsung that was dropped in the toilet

      Hi Jackie,

      I have gotten a rush of inquiries about bathroom related cell phone accidents lately. I think that our cell phones might be rebelling or something. I decided to keep my Samsung Galaxy S4 away from porcelain for the time being, just to play it safe.

      Bathroom incidents can be a tad different than normal circumstances because the phone can be yucky afterwards and when you put something against your face multiple times a day you want that object to be clean.

      I personally think that it is a good thing that you wiped the phone down, maybe not the best idea to use water on the toilet paper but at least you were able to resist the urge to rinse your cell phone in the sink there by exposing the phone to even more moisture, so good job. I am not sure what “cleaner” you used to wipe the phone after words but it will probably be ok… depending on the strength and chemicals used in the cleaner. Alcohol is a good solvent to use on electronics and to have a bottle of 99% Isopropyl alcohol available around the house for these types of situations is not a bad idea either.

      Now for your particular situation… A few hours was probably not long enough to let the phone dry out completely. That funny sound you heard might have been water in the external speaker which means that the phone hadn’t had enough time to dry yet… and if it powered itself off… that might have pointed to the possibility of an electrical short, which wouldn’t be good.

      After drying overnight much of the moisture was probably gone. Display screen is working (which is good, except for the “flicker” you mentioned and he discoloration as you might have more serious issues with your screen later) but it sounds like the touch screen is malfunctioning and a smartphone without a working touch screen is going to be really difficult if not impossible to use.

      So yes, I would try the link mentioned at the bottom of the article on trying to fix a water damaged phone. It might help to get your touch screen, and hopefully everything else working properly again.

      The point of the rice is that rice is great at absorbing moisture and so it helps the phone dry quicker and more completely. The point of the Ziploc bag is to keep it in a sealed container so the rice draws the moisture out of the phone as opposed to the air. I would take all of the removable pieces off of the phone like the battery, the back cover, the memory card, the SIM card (if your phone has one) etc. that way they can all dry separately. Just try not to let any rice get into any ports though. Don’t let any pieces of rice get in the charging port, SD card slot, SIM card try, etc. It could be time consuming trying to get the rice out of those places after the phone has dried.

      I hope that helps Jackie, if you have any more questions or if there is anything else that I can try and help you with just let me know.

  18. Samsung S4
    I am another one that dropped my phone in the toilet – took it out right away – dried it with a towel and it has been sitting in a bowl of oats and rice since the morning – I did a quick test and it switches on, let’s me put in my pin and let’s me unlock the screen but then it switches off … I have not yet been able to test with another battery – could this be battery related?

    1. More Porcelain Misfortune

      Hi Tammy,

      It’s hard to say whether it’s the battery or the phone itself. Power issues like the one you described can be hard to pinpoint especially if you are unable to try a different working battery or if you are unable to use the questionable battery in a different cell phone.

      You might even get lucky if you let it dry out some more, maybe it wasn’t completely dried out yet and once all of the moisture is gone perhaps your Samsung Galaxy S4 will start up properly (*fingers crossed*).

      When it comes to water damage sometimes all you can do is wait and see. In your case though the Samsung Galaxy S4 is still a newish device and you might even be able to go into a local store and barrow a battery from one of the stores display phones and see if it works or not… if you insert a new working battery into the phone and it works then you’ll know its an issue with your battery and you can order a replacement online. Sites like Amazon or eBay are good places to start looking for the most affordable replacement batteries.

      I hope that helps Tammy, sorry to hear about your S4 and I wish you the best of luck.

  19. Nokia Lumina 530
    I inadvertantly dropped by Nokia Lumina 530 down the toilet yesterday (In my defence I was rushing through the airport and forgot my phone was in my pocket!). I did some of the things you are not supposed to do – like at the time when I retrieved it I held it in the hand drier 🙁 I took it apart when we got home, and allowed it to dry overnight in the airing cupboard. This morning it comes on but then I can’t answer any calls as the screen won’t scroll. Help!! This is my spare phone as I broke the screen on my Lumina 720 and its away being repaired. I know I am such a klutz.

    1. Nokia Lumia 530 flew into the toilet

      An airport is a place where people often rush, it happens; and even when people are not in a rush this can happen so try not to be too hard on yourself.

      It sounds like the touch screen on your Nokia Lumia 530 is malfunctioning which may or may not be repairable depending on the circumstances. It could be that the phone still has moisture inside of it and requires more time to dry, or it could mean that the water got into the phone and caused damage to the touch screen, or possibly even heat damage caused by the hot air of the hand dryer…

      I would try to dry it a little longer in a bag of rice or with a silica gel pack (if possible) to make sure that your Lumia is completely dry. You don’t want to use it if there is a chance of moisture anyways as it could result in an electrical short which could cause even more problems to occur. If all else fails and your cell phone is still acting up then you can try the advice HERE. If that doesn’t work then you might have to consider finding another temporary replacement until your Nokia Lumina 720 is done being repaired.

      1. Thanks James. I left my Nokia…
        Thanks James. I left my Nokia in the airing cupboard, in pieces all of last week – and guess what, when I turned it on on Friday it worked!! I was amazed but really pleased that I hadn’t completely wrecked it. My Lumina 720 has been sorted so I am now one happy bunny with a spare phone 🙂

  20. Another Moto G that think its water proof
    My Moto G fell on the toilet this morning. I took it out right away, dried and now it is working apparently normally.

    The led light blinked for a while and it reinitialized once. But now it is working properly. I haven’t charged it yet.

    The only problem is that both cameras now have evaporated water on it.

    Any ideas?

    1. That’s a tough one…

      If the evaporated water was on the outside then it wouldn’t be much of an issue but I have a feeling that it is on the inside of the lens which might prove very difficult to clean. I am not sure if you can to be perfectly honest… I have been trying to think of ways you could do it without the risk of making the situation worse. Maybe alcohol as it dries quickly and it may not leave anything (or as much residue) behind once it dries. I am not sure…

      You stumped me my friend, and I don’t get stumped very easily. Good luck and if you do think of a way please come back and let me know what you ended up using or what you ended up doing to try and clean it.

      1. Hey! Thanks for the reply!
        Hey! Thanks for the reply!

        Actually now my phone is working perfectly! I left it inside a rice package for around 10 hours and now the lens are good to go and all the others problems vanished.

        The only thing that stopped working was the led lens, but that’s a minor issue haha

        Rice does work!

        1. Rice is Nice

          Your welcome Gabriela,

          Rice is awesome no doubt about it. I am happy to hear that there is no left over mineral deposits or residue after all. Enjoy your working cell phone and thank you for coming back to the site to post a follow up.

  21. If my touch screen cant feel
    If my touch screen cant feel my taps, i have to change only touch screen or display too? Picture on the screen is fine.

    1. You should be able to replace just the touch screen itself

      Good question Petersilsi. If the display screen seems to be functioning properly and your phone looks like it’s running correctly but the phones touch screen is unresponsive and simply will not recognize your touch then yes you should be able to replace the touch screen as opposed to the display screen and the touch screen. Provided that you can find a replacement for just one or the other that is; sometimes it can be a challenge to find the two pieces sold separately while other times it can be a piece of cake.

  22. phone not working – water damage
    Hey, I own a Moto G which is supposed to be water proof but I accidentally dropped it in some water which caused the phone to restart and then everything seemed to be working fine! After wiping it I started the phone but after some time the phone stopped detecting the SIM card in slot 2 and gradually its touch screen stopped responding! I left it to dry in the sun for 2 hours which helped the touch screen to work fine but it’s still not able to detect the SIM card and the speakers aren’t working!

  23. I dropped my phone in the toilet
    I dropped my phone in the toilet. Its built in battery . Everything works except people hearing me when i call and my down button on the volume its been about a day in a half and i think there might be something stuck in my little speaker.

  24. Beach Camp with my Samsung Galaxy Note 3… Gone Wrong.
    So I was casually taking photos whilst calve deep in the water when BAM! My friend tries to take my phone… BAM! It falls to the sea. It was there for probably 2 seconds but it was soaked. I immediately dried it with a towel and set it aside. However, I forgot to remove it’s cover. When I dropped it, it was 12pm, I read this post at 10pm, so it’s been 10 hours since. I removed the SIM battery and stylus and put them all in the rice. It’s in an air sealed sandwich bag. I also found bits of sand around the phone, what do I do about the sand? Will it affect my phone.

    1. Sand and salt might cause undesired after effects

      Hi Stella,

      Water damage is hard to predict and you usually have to wait and see for such things but… sand and possible salt or other mineral deposits left behind after drying a phone may have unwanted effects on the functionality of your Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

      For example, such deposits can get under the physical keys of your cell phone (volume up, volume down, the power key, etc.) or come between the connector leads in your phones battery compartment, or cause other issues inside of the phone, etc.

      Salt water can also lead to a higher risk of corrosion which would want to be avoided as well. So you have a couple of options to choose from… you can wait and see if your cell phone works properly after drying out completely (which it might) and/or you can give your phone a good soaking in alcohol (99%) as just an extra precaution in an attempt to give it a good cleaning and to try and avoid any future problems.

      You may also want to try and give the charging port a good cleaning as well so there is less of a chance of experiencing charging or power related problems later, especially if there is a noticeable amount of sand or a mineral deposit within the charging port.

      I hope that helps Stella.  

      1. Screen not working?
        I’ve removed it from the bag of rice! I put the battery in and… Well, is the screen broken? My phone seems to be vibrating, however the screen will not turn on whatsoever. I’m soon to find out if it’s just my screen since my mum has the same phone as I do.

        1. Are you sure that it’s completely dry?

          Hi Stella,

          Make sure that the phone is completely dry before trying to start it up. If it is dry and your phone seems to turn on but the screen remains black then the display screen is having problems. You said that it’s vibrating, so I assume that it’s vibrating when you tap or press on the screen. This is good as it means your touch screen is still working. You can probably even answer calls if you remember where to press on your screen when a call comes in… in essence you can probably still use the phone you just won’t be able to see anything on the screen.

          But that won’t do you any good so if your phone is completely dry then I suggest you do what I mentioned earlier and try soaking your cell phone in 99% alcohol for a few hours. After you have let it soak then take it out of the alcohol and dry the phone completely (again in rice if possible), and then try to turn the phone back on. This little trick might just get your screen to work properly again assuming that the screen wasn’t damaged by the water.

  25. Dropped my lumia 520 in toilet
    Hey, I dropped my Lumia 520 in the toilet, I took it out right away, dried it with a towel and then used a dryer as suggested by a friend. I kept it in a rice sack for couple of hours and then did a quick test and it switches on and works perfectly fine as of now except the creepy water marks behind the screen.

    Please tell me, is it advisable to disassemble the phone and clean it or let the water just evaporate by itself? Also the screen looks divided into 2 parts. Separating them is a few inches of thick bands made of thin lines.

    Many many thanks in advance. Your site is great. Glad to find this.

    Ridhi

    1. I recommend letting it dry out naturally first…

      Hi Ridhi,

      A few hours was probably not enough time for the phone to dry out completely. You might want to place it back in the rice at least over night.

      Since the phone powered on you might want to hold off on disassembling it and just try to let it dry out naturally. After waiting and you know that your phone is completely dried out (24-48 hours wouldn’t be a bad time frame) then you can check to see if the phone is still having issues or not.

  26. Phone fell in a waterbucket
    My mobile phone is a lava iris 406q. When I was going to take a bath I slipped and I am OK but my phone fell in a bucket full of water. After that I removed the battery and as much of the cleaning water as I could and then I tried to get the rest of the water using sun light for 3 hours. After that I put the phone back together and switched on my phone. My phone is working perfectly now but there are air bubbles present under the screen. How do I remove the air bubbles from my screen?

    1. Air bubbles under the display screen

      I am happy to hear that your phone is working properly. Air bubbles hu? Are you sure that your cell phone is 100% dry? I had another reader mention a similar situation and she was able to put her phone under a lamp for while which got her screen back to how it was supposed to look. You might want to try that first.

      If necessary you could also take the phone apart and try to briefly remove the touch screen. If there are bubbles under the screen then they are probably between the glass touch screen digitizer and the LCD display screen and by removing the two screens from each other it might just help to get rid of those annoying air pockets…

      I hope that helps Manikandan. Hopefully you can get those bubbles to disappear and get the phone back to where it needs to be but either way if the phone is functioning properly then the situation could have been a lot worse.

  27. LG Phone
    Hello! I have a very unique situation. (I think) I dropped my LG phone in a bucket of anti-freeze that I had drained from my car. (go figure) I pulled it out as quickly as possible, and took the battery out and started to dry it best I could. After about 20,30 minutes drying it, I put the battery back in and when I turned it on all I got is “Emergency Mode!!!”. I took out the sim card too, and still nothing good. Is my phone toast?

    1. Dropped cell phone in a bucket of anti-freeze

      Hi Tom,

      That’s not fun. Good job by acting fast you might have saved your LG from some serious damage. There are far worse things than anti-freeze, it could have been lacquer thinner or paint stripper (not fun at all).

      I got some good news for you. If the only issue seems to be that your phone is booting into “Emergency Mode” then there is a really, really good chance of fixing your cell phone. You can check out How to fix a phone that’s stuck in Emergency Mode for more information about this issue BUT in essence you can boot many smartphones into this Emergency Mode by holding down a combination of hardware buttons. So if you had an LG Optimus T (P509) for example and you held the Back button the Volume up key and the Power button while the phone was off and not plugged into a charger then it would boot up into Emergency Mode.

      In any case, this might simply mean that one of the hardware buttons on your phone was effected, which make sense as if the anti-freeze had a chance to enter the phone this would be one of the areas of the phone that it would be able to do so. Your LG might think that you are pressing down the buttons to enter Emergency Mode (even though you aren’t).

      So as far as fixing your problem… Perhaps only half an hour was not enough time for your LG to dry out completely in which case some rice might help to speed up this process. Or perhaps it did dry out but the dried (likely sticky) anti-freeze is causing problems in which case you could try and remove the buttons themselves to give the buttons and the area where the buttons sit a good cleaning with alcohol. Then you could put the phone back together and see your LG will boot up properly. Or if you don’t want to remove the keys then you can try and alcohol bath instead.

      In any case, I hope that helps narrow things down for you a bit and I hope that it gives you an edge in fixing your LG smartphone. Good luck Tom and if there is anything else that I can help you with just let me know.

      1. Re: Lg phone
        Thanks so much for your advice! I also used a vacuum to get rid of any excess moisture, and waited longer. She’s up and running now! Thanks again!

        1. LG smartphone up and running

          Hi again Tom,

          Thank you for taking the time to come back to the site to post a follow up. I am happy to hear that your LG smartphone is working properly again.

          Enjoy your working cell phone and I hope that you have a fantastic evening.

  28. Wrong about Washing
    You said:

    > I don’t recommend that because water, as you know,
    > is a conductor and clean water can lead to a short,
    > corrosion or calcium buildup just as well.

    Wrong. Water is an insulator. Dirt or salt, in or out of water is a conductor. Cleaning dirty/salty water out of a phone with distilled water will REDUCE the odds of a short or calcium buildup.

    You can follow that up with a solution of denatured alcohol…try not to use isopropyl or ethyl alcohol if you can avoid it, because they can dissolve the glue in some phones. The methyl (denatured) alcohol will displace the remaining water, letting the phone dry faster with even less chance of a short.

    1. Correct on Paper but Not in Nature

      Hi Kaz,

      I want to start out by saying thank you for posting your comment on the site. I like a little constructive criticism every once in a while to keep me sharp and to keep me on my toes. I definitely want to provide my readers with some of the best advice on the net.

      That being said, pure water can act as a very poor conductor or even an insulator depending upon the right conditions (so great job for knowing that, kudos my friend). In fact semiconductor manufacturers use Ultra Pure Water in the production process of many different types of electronics; even some of the parts found inside your smartphone. So if you work in a lab as an Ultrapure Water Technician (I used to work at Intel and believe it or not this is an actual job title!) and you happen to have access to Ultrapure water and don’t think that the liquid that your phone was originally exposed to would contaminate that pure water to the point of turning it into enough of a conductor to cause an electrical short then by all means clean your phone with that water.

      As far as using distilled water… you are correct there as well. Using distilled water can REDUCE the odds of an electrical short but it does NOT eliminate the chances of an electrical short. Distilled water can still conduct electricity although not as much as tap water or water from most other sources that people would generally have access to. You would be hard pressed to find pure water naturally occurring in nature. Even tap water contains enough impurities to act as a conductor so running your cell phone under the tap in the sink after dropping your cell phone in the toilet is not necessarily a good idea as it increases the chances of an electrical short and you can inadvertently cause damage to the phone as opposed to preventing damage to the phone.

      As far as using denatured alcohol… I am by no means an expert on alcohol but I believe that ethyl alcohol which you advised not to use, is in fact the same thing as denatured alcohol which you do advise to use. Both are simply ethanol produced using yeast. The only thing different with Denatured alcohol is that it contains additives which are intended to discourage people from drinking or consuming it.

      As far as isopropyl alcohol dissolving the glue found within some cell phones… ethanol, in general, can be used as a solvent to help dissolve things such as glues. Have I personally ever noticed any such problems occurring after using alcohol on an electronic such as a malfunctioning cell phone? Nope. Is there a possibility of this happening, possibly not right away but later on down the road? Yeah, maybe…

      But when it all comes down to it, If you have a cell phone that’s been exposed to liquid and it is no longer functioning properly and you have done everything that you can think of to try and fix it, and had the choice of trying to use 99% isopropyl alcohol which could get your phone working properly again or having to replace parts or the phone itself as the alternative… I have a feeling that most people would choose to at least try using the isopropyl alcohol. If you have a broken phone that isn’t working then what do you have to lose by trying? If it doesn’t work then the cell phone will be no worse off than it was before you tried it.

      As for me… I have personally seen isopropyl alcohol revive cell phones dropped in water, and other liquids, and so that it was I recommend to people that are searching for possible solutions to such problems.

      Thank you again for posting your comment Kaz. Thank you for visiting the site and I hope you have a fantastic day.

  29. Charging problems
    I dropped my Samsung Galaxy s4 in the water and left it in rice for a little over 7 hours, and its working perfectly fine, but it won’t charge properly. It charges for 5 second, and then it stops charging and this cycle goes on and on. What to do? Please help me!

    1. Power and charging issues after being exposed to water

      Hello Havra,

      Charging and power issues are some of the more common problems that can occur after a cell phone has been exposed to water. It remains to be seen what exactly is causing this problem. It could be that your Samsung Galaxy S4 was damaged by the water or something might have been left behind from the water that is causing problems or the charging port itself might have something else wrong with it.

      Start out by reviewing this article first, if you’re lucky you may be able to fix your cell phone in a couple of seconds. If it doesn’t turn out to be that little prong in your charging port that’s causing issues and I was in the same position with my Samsung Galaxy S4 then I would give that charging port a thorough cleaning with alcohol. Make sure to remove the battery first as just a precaution and to let the alcohol dry before trying to charge the phone again. If cleaning the charging port really good with a q-tip and alcohol doesn’t seem to help then you might want to try a full alcohol bath instead.

      As a side note, while you still have a charge on your battery I suggest that you backup your phone, if possible, to a memory card. You can try backing it up to a computer but if your charging port is malfunctioning a computer backup may not be an option. You will want that backup just in case you can’t get your phone to charge up properly again. Hopefully this won’t be the case but I thought that I would mention it for good measure.

      1. Worked
        Thank you for the reply! I left it in rice with charging port down while I was asleep and I think ALL of the water came out because it is charging normally now.

        1. Glad to hear it

          I am happy to hear that your cell phone is now charging and functioning properly once again. Thank you for taking the time to come back to the site and posting a follow up. I appreciate it.

  30. First time dropping a phone in the toilet
    I dropped my phone in the toilet on my way out for work. I quickly towel-dried it and when I got to work to check it, it seemed to be doing fine. I thought I just had gotten lucky. Then I went to turn on my music player and the sound was super muffled. I remembered I had dropped it in the toilet! I took the case and the back off and saw water, so continued drying it with a paper towel, tried to shake water out, and finally put it in some rice. It was working completely fine other than the muffled music. I realize I didn’t take the right steps (haha oops). You think it’s going to be ok since everything seemed to be fine before my brain turned back on and I put it in some rice?

    1. There is a good change that it will be OK

      Hi Christina,

      The same thing happened to my brother’s phone. After accidently dropping his phone in water his speakers seemed a little distorted as well. He didn’t even wait to try and let it dry out all the way. He went and got the 99% alcohol he used to save his other phone, submerged the unit in the alcohol for a few hours, took it out, dried it out by hand as much as he could and then put it into a Ziploc bag of rice to completely dry. Eight hours later his phone was back to 100% and his speakers were working properly. I think the Alcohol even helped the phone to dry out a little quicker as it was able to merge with any existing water within the phone (or speaker for that matter) and of course alcohol dries out a lot faster than water.

      So, while not guaranteed, I have a good feeling that if you exercise a little patience and let your phone dry out completely then your cell phones speaker has a good chance of making a full recovery.

      Time will tell my friend. Good luck and if there is anything else that I can do to help just let me know.

  31. Cell phone-moisture strip says water damage
    I have a fairly new Samsung galaxy s 4 mini. After surgery last week, I brought the phone into the bathroom while showering, and let it on the floor next to the shower, for several days in a row. Right around that time it started acting weird, refusing to charge one day, fine the next, then functions starting disappearing. The phone did not get wet, or submerged in water, that absolutely didn’t happen. I went to the Verizon store, where they looked at it, and said it looked like it needed a new SIM card, and they would order one to be shipped. Well, instead they sent a new phone, minus battery, SIM card, and SD card.So I went back to the Verizon store, and now they are saying it has moisture damage showing on the strip.So I Googled if a phone can be damaged by the condensation from the shower, and the answer appears to be yes. So now i know not to do that again. However, the Verizon guy said they would charge me for a whole new phone, since the warranty was voided by the moisture strip showing water. My question is if the battery, SIM card, and SD card are all functioning fine, which they are in the new unit, should I be billed for a whole new phone? Thank you

    1. Warranty, Water Damage, and the word Should…

      Hi Carol,

      Sorry to hear about your Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini. Let me start by stating that I am currently no longer directly affiliated or employed by any wireless carrier or cell phone manufacture. Once upon a time however, I did work as a cell phone warranty agent for one of the big ones. That being said… an activated Liquid Damage Indicator (often referred to as an LDI for short) means that the warranty for that cell phone is void; Period.

      Whether the phone was ever dropped in water or not it doesn’t matter the warranty is void and if you send in a water damaged (aka a phone with an activated LDI sticker, which many phones contain both on the outside and inside of the phone) then the manufacture is NOT responsible for fixing it.

      Now, if you go through your wireless provider directly and they (your wireless carrier and not the cell phones manufacture) send you a replacement phone (usually a refurbished unit) and you send in your malfunctioning cell phone (which was water damaged) then some providers CAN and WILL charge you for sending in a cell phone that was no longer covered under warranty because of the activated LDI(s).

      Typically these types of exchanges require a verbal or written agreement requiring your acknowledgement that the exchange does not cover liquid or physical damage and that you will be charged if a phone with liquid damage is received and usually the newer the device the higher the fee.

      So should you be billed for a whole new phone like new refurbished phone? I don’t think so. But CAN you be charged in an unfortunate situation such as this? Yes, sometimes.

      In fact, while I have been writing this reply to your inquiry I am remembering a time when I was speaking to a very, very nice women, and when I asked her to verify the color of her phones LDI she noticed that the sticker was a bit dirty so she licked her finger and tried to clean the sticker off a bit. Well guess what… as soon as her wet finger made contact with that phones white LDI that white LDI turned into a red LDI and that phone was no longer under warranty. Should she have been able to file a warranty exchange? HECK YEAH! First of all her phone was having problems before the LDI was even activated, and secondly she totally activated that dumb sticker completely by mistake and an honest mistake at that! So yeah… long story short if she would have filed a warranty claim with that phone she would have been charged over a hundred dollars and her situation, concerning cell phones, would not have been a very pleasant one.

      So “should” is an interesting word in the world of cell phones, and I suppose most types of situations concerning business in general but I hope that this post has somewhat answered your question regarding an activated LDI and how it corresponds to the warranty of a cell phone. If you have any more questions Carol then don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope you have a fantastic evening.

  32. Drunk people broke my phone…
    Hi!

    So on halloween I made the mistake of setting my phone down at a party, someone spilt an entire drink of booze and pop on my phone. I didn’t notice for about 10 to 15 minutes that it had happened, so it sat for a bit. Once I noticed I dried it out as much as I could and than the next day put it in rice for about a week… What I am wondering is if the sugar and booze effects are reversible. The phone works, but does turn off randomly throughout the day, whether it be during a phone call or when its just sitting it will just restart. As well as sometimes charging and sometimes not. It is a Sony Xperia M. Thank you!

  33. S4 underwater for about 2 seconds
    dropped my s4 into water for about 2-3 seconds while it was on. Initially after dropping it i recovered the phone and the display and all other features were still working properly….. After about 5-10 mins … the phones display quit working but all other features were still fine.. I turned it off and took out the battery and sim card and have not tried powering it on again since. Any ideas?

  34. Moto g2 fell into water!
    Hi, My moto g2 fell into water, at a restroom. I immediately removed it, and wiped it clean. I then took off the back cover, and wiped it clean.
    When I reached back home I dumped the phone into a bag of rice. I tried turning the phone on this morning, but it just won’t turn on.

  35. How long will a phone stay on after being submerged in water?
    How long will a phone stay on after being submerged in water?

    1. How long will any electronic stay on under water?…

      Hi Andrea,

      You ask a very interesting question… You should try to avoid exposing your phone or pretty much any electronic device to water even moisture whenever possible and should not ever “submerge” a phone in water.

      If I was you I would play it safe and try to keep your cell phone as dry as you can.

  36. Motorola Moto G KitKat
    The old cell phone into the toilet…probably is this Android’s cover can not be removed at all. Pulled it out quickly and dry off everything seemed to be working except when someone called me, they could hear me answer but I could not hear them until I switched to speaker…left on in a bag of rice overnight. Also when I switched to speaker a caption balloon appeared with “HD”. Any ideas?

    1. Your internal speaker is malfunctioning

      Yeah, it sounds like your internal speaker was affected by the water and is malfunctioning. Your speakerphone still works which means that your loud speaker is still functioning properly and the person on the other end of the call can still hear you so your cell phones microphone is still working as well. Hopefully it just needs a little more time to dry out completely. If not then you should be able to track down a replacement speaker online and replace the damaged one yourself or take it into a local repair show to have them fix it for you.

  37. Dropped my Sony Xperia M2 in the machine
    It was submerged for about ten seconds and the phone doesn’t allow me to remove the battery and the power button wasn’t responding. I started to dry the ports with a hairdryer and then it shut off not too sure if it was a delayed response to me trying to turn it off or it shut off due to heat. Afterwards it started to vibrate on and off for about a minute. Then I stopped and just submerged it in rice. Any comments or suggestions?

  38. Nokia C3 dropped in the toilet, please help!
    Hi,
    The phone dropped in the toilet while vacationing several days ago. Pulled it out quickly, dried out some of the water. The battery, SIM card and memory card was removed. But used the blow dryer in the hotel. Was so frantic about losing the data and trying to get the water out! Didn’t have any rice on hand. Reading your blog, sounds like that was a bad idea using the blow dryer at the time. I did try to turn on the phone after. The screen lit up but you could see water behind it. Blow dried again but now the screen looks crystalized.

    Is there any hope for the phone operating again??? And/or can I retrieve any of the contacts, calendar, notes, messages, etc at all???? Should I take it to a cell phone repair tech?

    Please help!! Thanks much!!

    1. Display screen issues after phone was dropped in water

      Hi Ann,

      Sorry to hear about your Nokia. Hard to say if you will be able to salvage your cell phone or not. I am not quite sure what you mean when you refer to the screen having a “crystallized” look to it… can you be a little bit more specific? Is there any odd coloration? Does it look like a spider web? Is the screen broken (did it break in the fall)? The Nokia C3 utilizes an LCD screen but a crystallized screen isn’t a good sign… you might be able to replace the screen if needs be and if it’s a hardware issue then a replacement screen might help but water damage can be hit and miss sometimes.

      As far as your contacts and other information… If you had previously created a backup copy of the information on a good external memory card then there might be hope. If you can plug it into and get it to recognize a computer connection then there might be hope as well. I am not too familiar with the way that particular phone (or its Operating System) is setup so I am not sure if it has an automatic backup system build in such as Androids automatic Gmail backups.

      If you give the phone to dry out completely and the screen still looks crystallized then you may want to take it into a local repair tech to take a look and give you an estimate.

  39. Samsung Smart Phone Took a Plunge
    My phone just seemed to took a plunge and in haste i did all the things advised here NOT to try out…switching it on and off time and again…drying it out with a hair dryer…etc etc….initially the Samsung start screen was coming up but after using the hair dryer the screen has gone completely blank though the start up voice can still be heard…battery might have also been discharged completely …dont know now what to do 🙁

    1. The dreaded Plunge

      You mentioned that you can still hear your Samsungs “start up voice” which is a good sign as it indicates that the phone is probably still powering on and is functional it’s just that the display screen has been effected and isn’t working so the phone looks dead as it has a black/blank screen but it might be working after all… you might even be able to receive and maybe even answer telephone calls (assuming that your touch screen is still functional). You just won’t be able to read the display.

      This is also a good sign as you may be able to plug your phone into a computer through a USB connection and backup a lot of your cell phones information to the computer, which I recommend you try right away if possible. Why run the risk of losing anything that you don’t have to lose.

      In any case, it sounds like the display screen of your Samsung was affected and should be your first priority in trying to fix your cell phone. If you cannot seem to fix the display screen yourself then you might need to replace it.

  40. My nokia lumia was on the floor n a bit of water dropped near it
    My Nokia Lumia was on the floor and a bit of water spilled somewhere about 10cm away but lead there. But now its screen keeps tapping everywhere itself. A few minutes ago it did so and did not stop so I had to switch it on and off. What should I do to stop the screen going crazy?

    1. Possible touch screen issue

      Hello Stacy,

      It sounds like the water may have done a number on your cell phones touch screen? Are you sure that your phone is completely dried out? If there is just a little bit of water (or residue left from the water) then it can certainly effect your touch screen and cause some unwanted side effects. From your description it sounds like your touch screen thinks that you are pressing on it even though you aren’t as the result of a hardware issue/malfunction/damage.

      I have seen that issue happen before and from what I have seen it’s often the result of a hardware malfunction and can be difficult to fix depending on the severity of the effected hardware.

      I suggest that you leave your cell phone powered off and give it some time to dry out completely before attempting to use it again. Once completely dry, if the phone is still acting sporadically then you can look into the alcohol trick to try and salvage the effected touch screen OR you can look into trying to replace the touch screen itself OR of course you could look into other possible repair and replacement options.

  41. My S5 went down the toilet.
    So I forgot my phone was in my jeans back pocket, went for a pee and next thing my phone is completely submerged. Didn’t know about the rice trick so I quickly dried with paper towels and a radiator and then turned it on and it worked ok for 2 days but I could still see moisture and the screen was flickering. I learned about the rice trick and put it in rice for 2 days. Turned it on again and the screen was a whitish color and then appeared ok then flickered and now the screen is black. Please help 🙁 What do I do?

    1. Your screen has been affected by the moisture

      Hello Amos,

      Your display screen has been affected by the moisture/water. Make sure to review all of the advice already posted in this article and currently available in the comments and you will have a fighting chance at reviving your cell phones display.

      If the Alcohol trick doesn’t work then you will likely need to replace your cell phones display screen with a new or working unit.

  42. Is there still a chance for my phone?
    Hi James, I panicked when I woke and saw my phone swimming in a bucket of water so I did all the ‘do nots’ you said not to do. I separated my sim and my memory card from my phone, dried it with a tissue paper and kept hitting it on my hand then i aired it. After sometime, i tried putting it on. though it came on, it would not navigate! I aired it again for sometime and tried putting it on but it still won’t navigate. so, i took it to a phone repairer who took the phone apart and who would not stop talking about phone carcasses! He wiped it with a kerchief and cleaned it up with methylated spirit.

    I am with my phone now, and it’s navigating just fine but i still have this sunken feeling in my stomach. I don’t feel everything is okay with the phone. It is like I’m waiting for the phone to start having faults. Is there anything i should do?

    1. Cross that bridge when you come to it.

      Hi Ifunanya,

      If your phone is working perfectly fine at the moment then I recommend that you continue to use it and try to enjoy it. Other phones exposed to moisture aren’t so lucky and many wind up in that pile of phone carcasses which that phone repair technician mentioned ;).

      Luckily your phone is working at 100% so I recommend that you get into the good habit of backing up your phone on a regular basis, which is a good habit regardless, and if you run into any issues later (which can and does happen) not only will you be ready for them but you can cross that bridge when you come to it and deal with those issues at that time.

      If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

      1. Thanks! My phone is working perfectly fine.
        Thanks! My phone is working perfectly fine. It’s just as if the water incident never happened… But, what do you mean by “backing up your phone on a regular basis”. How do I do that?
        Thanks again.

        1. How to periodically backup up your cell phones important data

          Hi again Ifunanya,

          I am sure that your cell phone has a lot of information on it that you would be upset losing, and there are many different ways that you can create backups of that information just in case something bad or unexpected ever did happen to your phone.

          This data can be backed up many different ways as well. Check out How to backup and reset an android cell phone for some suggestions on how to backup your cell phones information. I tried to include lots of different ways to backup the information on your cell phone on that article. Just ignore the reset part of that guide of course. You don’t want to erase all of the user data from your phone; you want to keep it safe :).   

  43. Trying to fix a Smartphone Andriod
    I brought my phone in the bathroom with me when i took a shower and it worked for maybe 2-3 weeks after it and now when ever i turn my phone on it goes to my lock screen for me to punch in the code and i can get the most of 2 numbers in then it shuts off and turns itself back on and keeps doing that until i take the battery out.

    Any ideas on what i should do?

  44. I went Swimming with my phone
    On Saturday February 14th 2015 i went swimming with my phone. I had it all dried out and i tried to put in on but it would not. I got it to turn when water was still in it and i made funny noises so i shut it off and had it in rice since Sunday do you think i ruined it by Turing it on with water still in it. And would that be a fixable thing? Can you please get back to me. Thank You.

    1. It depends…

      Hi Ryan,

      Sorry to hear about your cell phone. You are not the first person to do that so don’t feel bad. While using a phone while there is still moisture inside of it does increase the possibility of damaging the unit permanently when it comes to water damage nothing is certain.

      My brother had a similar experience with his phone. He dropped it in water, tried to use it and heard a distortion from the speaker like a gurgling noise indicating that his speaker was likely still wet. So we put his phone in 99% alcohol for a few hours, took it out, dried it as best as we could and then put it in rice over night. The next day we took it out of the rice, visually checked it for signs of moisture and it seemed to be completely dry so he turned it on and voila! Everything was working perfectly.

      So when it comes to water and cell phones sometimes you just got to wait and see. If something did get damaged many part of a cell phone are replaceable and replacement parts can often be found online at reasonable prices.

  45. Drying a Wet Phone
    I had good success by placing the phone with the battery removed in a closed glass container with fresh silica gel. It works rather quickly. If the silica gel is light pink you can rejuvenate in an oven or toaster oven at about 300 degrees F. Allow the silica gel to cool first.

    1. Reviving used silica gel

      Thank you for taking the time to contribute such awesome advice ArnieC. I have never tried to “rejuvenate” or revive used silica gel before and to be honest the thought had never occurred to me. Pretty cool information to know so thank you for taking the time to suggest it.

  46. Yet another Moto G incident
    I inadvertently dropped my Motorola Moto G (2015 model) in the toilet the other day and it stopped working…

    In my panic following the incident, I:
    – took my phone out of the water
    – pressed keys
    – tried to see if it would turn on (it did once briefly, but it didn’t respond)
    – removed the case
    – took off the removable parts
    – dried it with a cloth
    – blew on it
    – took the phone apart
    etc.

    What should I do? I only got it a couple of weeks ago…

    1. I don’t see the most important step…

      It’s very common to panic when this type of thing happens, if it ever happens to you again (heaven forbid), then try and stay calm so that you don’t accidently cause damage to the phone. That being said I noticed that on your list of things that you did after the incident you didn’t try to speed up the drying process and didn’t attempt to use alcohol either.

      Make sure to refer to the suggestions listed HERE if your phone has any issues after drying. I wish you and your Motorola Moto G the best of luck.

  47. I accidentally dropped my phone in the toilet
    I dropped my phone in the toilet by accident and well…. there’s water in the screen. What would that mean? Please help me!!!!

    1. If there is water underneath your cell phones screen…

      Hi Kaleigh,

      If it looks like there is water underneath the screen after dropping your phone in water then it means that there is still moisture in your phone. So… I recommend that you DO NOT USE YOUR PHONE until it has had enough time to dry completely, you may want to even remove its battery if possible as an extra precaution. If you use your phone when there is water or moisture still inside it then you run the risk of permanently damaging your cell phone.

      Don’t forget to review the other comments on this page and this page for some tips on how you might be able to dry that screen out a little faster. A few other site visitors had the same problem and were nice enough to share what they ended up doing to assist the drying process.

      Once your cell phone is completely dry if you have any issues with it functioning properly you can try the alcohol, or if you have some 99% alcohol available you can try an alcohol bath right away (refer to other comments and the article mentioned at the end of this guide for more information about alcohol baths). The alcohol can help remove some of the water and minerals from inside of the phone and since alcohol dries quicker than water it should help to speed up the drying process as well.

      I wish you and your phone the best of luck. Don’t hesitate to visit the site again to post a follow up to let us know how things turn out.

  48. mohammed saleem

    screen seems wet
    I have an htc one max
    It was dropped in water by mistake
    I soaked it in rice
    Its working now
    But… the screen… its still wet
    The screen looks like its wet
    I dont know what to do
    Please help…

    1. Make sure to wait for your phone to dry completely

      Hi Mohammed,

      I am going to offer you the same advice I offered to Kaleigh just a few hours ago.

      Be patient my friend. Wait for your phone to be completely dry before using it. You don’t want to accidently damage your phone.

  49. Samsung Note 4
    I dropped my phone in soapy water at work today. I immediately took it out removed the battery and sim card and memory card. Then i submerged it in rice. All took less then a minute. Its a Samsung Note 4. There is a green light on it now. But like i said it happened today. Is there anything else i could do?

  50. Salt water damaged Sony xperia sp
    I took my phone out of my water proof sack to take a photo, put in beach short pocket, forgot, jumped in sea, instantly remembered. Phone off.

    Put in rice as soon as I could when I got back to accommodation. Left 3 days. Took SD card and sim out to dry and left rear casing off. Seemed dry.

    Tried to turn on. Nothing, so tried power cable to see if battery fault. Red charge light came on but was flickering and heard faint noise so disconnected. Tried again. This time no life. Fear I may have caused a short.

    Is there any way to remotely access the internal phone memory using a PC? (nearly all photos are on the SD so OK there and all numbers stored via Google along with apps) however wasn’t automatically saving photos to SD card so some that day in internal memory, along with phone notes (which while not essential, are an inconvenience without). Any help be great.

    1. I understand your concern…

      Hello Andy,

      I can certainly understand your concern. Salt water is a really good conductor of electricity and it may have caused a short in your cell phone.

      To access the internal memory on your phone your cell phone will need to power on and hopefully have a fully functional USB/Charging port… If you are able to get your phone to power on then you could send your photos to your email or try to Bluetooth them to another device but whatever method you choose to try your phones going to need to power on in order to attempt it.   

      Try the alcohol bath. If your phones a paper weight at this point then you have NOTHING to lose and everything to gain by trying it. Since it was dirty salt water you might want to give it a bath and if the alcohol gets really dirty give it another bath in another batch of clean alcohol. Make sure to get the alcohol into the phone to give it a good cleaning.

      Then dry it out completely again and give it another try. If it boots up then backup all of your phones information as a precaution and then enjoy your working Sony Xperia. If it doesn’t work then you’ll be in the same situation that you are in right now and you will likely need to look into your possible replacement options.

      1. Salt water damaged Sony Xperia sp
        I’m in Cambodia and can only find ethanol 70% as opposed to IPA 90%. I gather that the remaining 30% will likely be (distilled and purified?) water. Will this suffice?

        1. Trying to save your water damaged Sony Xperia smartphone

          Hey Andy,

          I suppose that 70% is better than nothing. You are correct though, the less alcohol content the greater the water content is going to be…

          You are not the first person to ask if 70% or 91% alcohol will work as opposed to using 99% alcohol. Check out 70% vs. 91% vs. 99% alcohol for a more in depth description on my opinion of using a diluted alcohol solution to try and fix an electronic but as far as what I recommend, I suggest that you do your best to find as close to 99% alcohol as you can; even if you need to order it online and then wait for it to arrive. If that’s not an option then 70% is going to be better than nothing at all.

  51. My S4 mini was dropped in water
    Hi, my phone got dropped in water, but when I got it out it was still on. I had never done anything like this before so I did not know to immediately turn it off but I took everything out to dry it off. At first it wouldn’t recognize the sim card but after drying it out more it did. It was fine for a couple of hours, then randomly turned off and when it turned back on it would not recognize the sim card. We did not have any rice so I just took the everything back out and left it alone. The sim card still isn’t working and now my dad’s really mad at me for being stupid. Is there anything I can do to try and fix it?

  52. I dropped my phone in the toliet
    Hi, I have a Android Mini. I was at the mall and my phone slipped out of my pocket and it fell in the toilet. I quickly took it out and dried it with paper towels. I was trying to see if it was still working and it wasn’t so i waited till I got home which was exactly 2 hours later. I then immediately put it in rice. I checked up on it and it was having a hard time turning on. So I put it on the charger and a green light was showing at the top. Usually when the green light comes on that means I have notifications. In this case, the green light turned on and then it shut off. So after like 3 days I checked on it when it was on the charger and it would not turn on whats so ever.

  53. Dropped phone in water
    I had my iPhone in my pocket and it slipped out and fell in water as soon as I took it out of the water I immediately shook out a little water and wiped my phone. After 2 min I switched it back on and I didn’t go on any apps to see if it was functioning then I switched it off. I think that it started switching itself on as I was hearing noises from it after a while. I didn’t tamper with it and left it off. All I did was take out the sim and 2 hours later I put it in a bowl of rice to soak it. Is it possible my phone will still work??

  54. I love you…
    I love you… I went to New York for the first time in my life… then dropped my phone in water… died inside…
    then I followed your steps… took out the battery… blow dried my phone and plugged it into the laptop… after that I connected it to the usb… inserted the battery and voila!!!! I really love you guys.

  55. Dropped my phone in the bath, it was working now it isn’t
    As the subject title states I dropped my phone in the bath, it was intially working but I figured I should switch it off and give it a rice bath over night. Now I’m not sure if that’s where I have gone wrong as when I tried to switch it back on it did go to the apple logo screen which eventually went to a screen with ios on the background telling me to connect to itunes. After unplugging and replugging my usb, it will not go away from the apple logo screen, it keeps on that for a couple of seconds before going off and then coming back on again. Is their anything I can do?!

  56. Moto g2 not working
    My Moto g2 accidentally fell in water, I switched it off and turned on the phone after 10 min and it was working fine… after 6 hours the battery was low so I tried to charge the phone but it wouldn’t charge. So I put my phone in an unboiled rice container and I have no idea if it will really help…

  57. Z1 Compact
    Hi. I tried taking photos in the pool using my Xperia Z1 Compact, I used it for about 5 mins, after that it seems that it’s working perfectly fine (I used the internet, played a game etc.) I thought my phone was still okay cause I can still use it but after 30 mins or so, it just went black and won’t open again so I tried putting it in a plastic bag with rice after 3 hours I tried turning it on, it opened but now the power button and volume are not working. What should I do? Should I still soak it in rice? Or is there any other way it could be fixed? Thank you.

  58. I have a Motorola Razr Droid
    I have a Motorola Razr Droid maxx Hd and my boyfriend dropped it in a 3.5 inch fish tank and quickly took it out. I immediately tried to turn it on and plugged it in (big mistake I know) and it seemed to work fine till seconds later I found it off and unresponsive.

    I then placed it in rice about 20 minutes later and let it sit in rice for 6 hours. I plugged it into a wall outlet to find my led charging light worked and showing signs of life. But when I attempted to turn it on there was no response. I must mention it was completely dead when it fell in water and dead when I attempted to turn it on prior. Could it just need time to.charge?

  59. Huawei g730 dropped in the toilet
    My Huawei g730 fell in the toilet. I removed everything and let it dry, then i tried to turn it on and it worked but when I tried to charge the phone it seemed to charge but the colors on the screen changed and gave me high voltage message. I removed everything again and put it in rice for a day, then tried charging it but it didn’t charge at all although everything else was still working just fine. So I put it back in rice. Is there a chance it would work again after two nights in rice?

  60. I just dropped my moto G
    Hi, I just dropped my Moto G while taking an Epsom salt bath. Initially it was fine, but then it started turning on and off on it’s own and in my own panic I tried to charge it and the screen won’t turn on now, even though the charger indicated it was still charging. Now it’s in a bag of rice upright. I don’t know if it’s a goner or what to do!

    1. Let it dry and then go from there

      Hi Bronwyn,

      You probably already know this after reading the other comments but salt water can be a real phone killer as its very conductive and there is a higher chance of an electrical short which means a higher chance of damage.

      Accidents happen though so I suggest that you let the phone dry out completely, then if it has any issues you can choose to try the alcohol bath.  

      1. Well I left it in rice…
        Well I left it in rice overnight and plugged it into the charger and the charging LED on the phone is lit, so what do you think?

        1. Sounds like a good sign

          Hi again Bronwyn,

          A charging light sounds like a good sign. It means that there is some life in the phone and its not completely lifeless.

          Now, the question is what else can the phone do? I just left a reply to another reader on an extremely similar topic just a little while ago so to avoid retyping everything I’m going to refer you to THAT POST for more information about what I think you should do.

          It’s going to be hard to tell though. You might still need to try the alcohol. Check out that other post, and if charging doesn’t seem to get it to power on then try the alcohol (or warranty first if you have one).

          1. Well I let it just charge…
            Well I let it just charge and it turned on by itself, so I’m actually writing this from my phone! Thanks for the help!

          2. Great news! I am glad to hear it!

            Congratulations Bronwyn and thanks for the prompt reply!

            I hope you enjoy your working Moto G and if you ever need any more help or have any more questions about your phone don’t hesitate to visit again and let me know.

  61. Today, I did something that I swore I would never do again…
    Hello!

    Bah. Today, I did something that I swore I would never do again after the first time. I had my phone in my back pocket when I went to the washroom. Needless to say, it fell in toilet.

    I knew not to play around with it too much. Unfortunately, because it’s a Nexus 5, and different from any other phone I’ve had before where I could just pop the battery out, I had to power it off using the power button.

    After this, I had the tools to take apart my phone and properly remove the battery and everything else included. Except for some crazy contraption that looks something like a mother board or some such. I’ve had it in a sealed-off bowl of rice for 8 hours or so. I don’t plan on checking on it for a couple of days.

    Any idea what my chances of it being okay are? Or do phones rarely recover from water damage?

    Thanks so much!

    Carly

  62. I am one of those who dropped mobile in water
    I am one of those who dropped mobile in water 🙂 It was pool water and it was completely wet. As suggested in your article, everything done and the phone came back to life but now it hangs a lot and the response to touch is bad. Any suggestions?

    1. That’s never fun but it does happen

      Hello Mehul,

      If you have already tried the alcohol trick then the first thing you should do is backup your phone just in case its condition gets any worse. You don’t want to lose any of your important information.

      You may even want to try to give it another soaking in alcohol. Chlorine or salt water is not very forgiving on electronics and maybe a second bath in alcohol will help. Otherwise the parts on the phone may have been damaged (very possible) and those parts (like your touch screen) would likely need to be replaced in order for the phone to work properly again.

      Sorry to hear about your phone Mehul. I wish you and your phone the best of luck.

  63. My Xperia M2 was dropped in water
    My Xperia M2 was dropped in water. At first it was working but its screen was light blue and blurred so I turned off the phone and left it powered off all night. Now when I tried to start it the next morning it would not turn on. What should I do?

    1. Trying to fix your Sony Xperia M2

      Hi RhYmE,

      Sorry to hear about your Xperia M2. If it’s completely dead and doesn’t even respond when being plugged into a charger than you should consider following the advice listed HERE. If that doesn’t seem to fix it, which hopefully it does, then you will likely need to look into your replacement options.

  64. I dropped my sony xperia sp in water
    Yeah hi I dropped my sony xperia sp in water and everything on the phone still works fine but I am unable to make calls with the phone. How should I fix this problem?

    1. Sony Xperia SP dropped in water

      Hi Shawn,

      Sorry to hear about your Sony Xperia SP. Sorry to say this to you Shawn but if everything on the phone still worked fine then you would be able to make and receive calls fine as well. What exactly is the phone doing that would prevent it from making calls? Does it have no service? No Audio? Is it unresponsive? Is it showing an error message? Was the SIM card possibly damaged?

      Without the exact cause I will be unable to offer specific advice on how you would be able to fix it. Don’t forget though, you can often revive a phone that’s been dropped in water with this little trick.

      Thanks for visiting the site Shawn. I wish you and your Sony Xperia SP the best of luck.

  65. SUDESHNA BISWAS

    My Canvas 4 got wet
    My Canvas 4 got wet but I didn’t realize it at first. After some time the screen became faded… but not for a long time and then it came back again. I cant understand what the problem is at all. I can turn my phone on and off and it takes a charge but sometimes the screen will work fine while other times the screen becomes dim or faded…

    1. It sounds like an issue with the LCDs backlight

      Hello Sudeshna,

      From your description it sounds like your display screens backlight is damaged or malfunctioning. That’s why your screen looks dim or faded. You may need to replace the display screen BUT you can often fix that issue with alcohol as well. If the alcohol doesn’t seem to be a permanent solution then you can look into physically replacing the display screen on your Canvas 4.

      1. SUDESHNA BISWAS

        Thanks for your help

        Thanks for your help. Actually I had already used alcohol and now my phone is fine. But I would like to thank you for this also because I got this idea from your previous comment.

        Thanks again.

  66. Unfortunate experiences…
    I was using the bathroom earlier tonight. The toilet looked like it wouldn’t flush, and so I tried flushing it again, somehow knocking my phone out of my other hand in the process. My phone fell into the water and nearly went down the drain, but I rushed my hand into the toilet without a second thought and grabbed my phone. It didn’t look too badly soaked, despite my phone having a few, VERY narrow cracks in the screen. Being the idiot I am, I didn’t think to try turning it off. I tried drying it off with a towel, and it seemed to work okay despite the touch screen being slightly off center (meaning I’d have to press a different area of the phone than the button I was after). After a little while, my screen started getting all kinds of lines on it (similar to the ones you’d see after turning off a GameBoy) and it stopped working. The screen still lights up, but it doesn’t display anything. What happened here?

    1. Problems with your display screen

      Hi Morgan,

      Sorry to hear about your cell phone. Those lines indicated an issue with your display screen. Possibly even with the flex cable that connects the display screen to the phone. Then the display went out all together… it sounds like its getting power still but the connection or display itself was certainly effected by the moisture…

      You MIGHT get lucky with an alcohol bath but if the moisture damaged that part of your phone you will likely need to have it replaced. You have a good chance of fixing it by replacing the entire display screen but 99% alcohol might work as well and it will be less of a hassle and a whole lot less expensive if it does work.

  67. ZTE Rapido fell in the toilet
    My ZTE fell out of my pocket and into the toilet. It was only in there about 10-15 seconds before I got it out. Not knowing what to do I dried it off and took out the battery drying it too. Then I turned it on and it seemed fine at first but the sim card started not registering. I kept turning it on and off until my break at one. I took one of those little teeth cleaning brush thingies and brushed out the sim card area and wiped the back of the sim card with some hand sanitizer and a qtip. The sim card works just fine now but there is no volume from the speaker and very little volume from the headphone jack. At the highest setting I can barely hear it. I put it in “Success Rice” (the only kind I have) and the volume has gotten slightly louder but I still can barely make it out.

  68. Dropped my Oppo Find 7 in Toilet
    I dropped my Oppo Find 7 in the toilet yesterday and I immediately took it out and dried the outer part and removed my battery and sim card. Then I shook it a lot to let the water inside out and it did the job as eventually water stopped dripping out.

    I put the battery in and tried turning it on as I didn’t read this guide beforehand. When I did that, the flashlight turned on automatically, it eventually got weaker, started flickering and died but the phone wouldn’t turn on. After that I took the battery out again and put my phone, battery and sim card separately into a bowl of uncooked rice. It’s been almost a day since then and it still won’t turn on. What should I do? Please help.

  69. Phone
    My phone fell into the pool water. I took battery, & SIM out to dry it with a cloth. After I left home to put it on rice for 30 mins. I turned it on and everything looks great but when I touch the screen it doesn’t do anything. Is there anything else I can do?

  70. Went to beach
    Okay, I’m confused. I took my Galaxy phone to the beach and the phone was turned off most of the time in the bag but the last night it started acting weird and now it won’t hold a charge. I think the sea moisture still got in. Took it apart and let it sit for 24hrs & it didn’t help. I took it to the AT&T store and it started working, then I came home & it quit again!!

  71. Is it normal?
    I just put my phone in rice, it is hot. Is that normal? I did not try to turn it on yet.

    1. Water damage can lead to overheating

      Hello Epic Duck,

      While it’s true that phones can get warm when you use them, excessive heat is a common indication of water damage. Keep an eye on it and if it continues to remain hot you might want to consider trying the alcohol trick mentioned HERE.

      Good luck Duck. Water damage is never fun.

  72. Dropped my BLU phone in rain water as I stepped out of my car!
    Hey it might be too late for my BLU life phone. I accidentally dropped it in water as I stepped out of my car, and it was raining cats and dogs. Well I did some things that I shouldn’t have done, like try to blow dry it, it was on so I turned it off, but it wouldn’t go off completely! It keeps going on and off only displaying the “Welcome to blu” page. It finally came on for a few minutes then went off again. I actually cannot turn off as it keeps going off and on (just the Blu screen though). I just put it in a bag of rice now after reading about the rice, I hope it works never did it before. The annoying thing with the blu phone is I cant take it apart to see if it’s actually water logged or not! Please!!! I hope it’s not too late for my phone..

  73. Water damaged phone
    My child threw my phone into the sink while I was washing the dishes I turned it off and dried it right away and then put it in rice for two days. The phone switches on but my screen does not want to work and I cannot slid or push the buttons. Is there something I can do?

    Regards
    Penny

    1. Malfunctioning touch screen

      Hi Penny,

      Sorry to hear about your cell phone. I suppose that your situation gives a whole new view on cleaning a smartphone.

      From your description it sounds like the phones touch screen is malfunctioning. Even though you responded wonderfully and not only did you power off the phone (good work) but also waited for it to dry before using it (another great thing to do), there is a chance that there may be some buildup or a residue left behind on or within the phone from dish soap or other materials that may have been present in the water when doing the dishes.

      If that’s the case then the Isopropyl alcohol trick might be a quick and very affordable solution. If it turns out that the touch screen was damaged then you will most likely need to have it replaced.

  74. I dropped my Moto E in hot coffee
    I dropped my Moto E in hot coffee and everything seems to be working except for the speaker and the headphone logo in the top of the screen is always displayed do you think there is damage to the headphone port I can’t take the battery out to see if there’s any water in it.

    1. Malfunctioning headset jack

      Hello Leroumie,

      There is probably some left over gunk in there from the coffee which is confusing your phones headset jack and causing it to think that there is a headset plugged into it even though there isn’t.

      You might have to give that headset jack a good cleaning with alcohol but I suggest that you find a headset that you can plug into the phone and insert it into that jack, unplug it, insert it again, and continue this pattern for a short time to try to dislodge that gunk and with any luck this will allow your phone to legitimately recognize when a headset is plugged into it.

      If you can get that headset jack to work properly it should get your other speaker(s) to work properly as well.

      Consider yourself lucky my friend. Hot coffee could have caused some serious damage to your cell phone. If this is all that’s wrong with it then you got very lucky.

      I hope that helps Leroumie. Let me know if you’re able to get that port cleaned out and working correctly again.

      1. I did it
        I did it. Unfortunately after drying it in rice for three days when I turned it on it had no response on the touch screen. After turning it back off and then on again as soon as it got done starting up instead of going to the home screen it shut off completely and I got no further response. The dealer said that because the back doesn’t come off to get to the battery the rice was ineffective and the motherboard was basically destroyed. Sad loss to be honest.

  75. I dropped my phone in the bathtub
    I dropped my phone in the bathtub and now it won’t slide and there are lines going down the screen. Everything else works though.

  76. Another S4 Goes Swimming
    Hey,
    Last night my S4 fell into the toilet and was quickly plucked out by my panicking self. Not being aware of all the great tips and having to head out to a show, I took it out of the case, opened it up and dried it off with paper towel. The phone worked fine so I carried on. About half an hour later my screen seemed to get some multi-coloured interference and then it went black. It still seemed to be working (I was able to answer a test call), just couldn’t see anything. When I got to the show I took the battery out, then when I got home I put the battery back in, plugged it into the computer and backed everything up (was even able to unlock the phone by just knowing where to draw my passcode, so touch screen works). I put it into rice after and now I’m trying to figure out what to do. Battery and first phone LDIs are both white (just haven’t taken screws off to see inside LDI). I can’t afford to upgrade right now but I do have the device protection plan which says it covers liquid damage. I saw an article about removing the motherboard and cleaning it but with my tech savvy that makes me a bit wary. I’m not sure I want to submerge it in alcohol in case that would void the protection plan. Or do I find a cell phone repair place and see what they can do? Best advice with your know-how of phone damage – lost cause or salvageable?
    Thanks, Kim

    1. Lost cause or salvageable

      Hello Kim,

      I think your phone is definitely salvageable and you have many different options available to you.

      You mentioned a protection plan that covers liquid damage. That’s good. Water is a liquid so you’re already covered with that and alcohol is a liquid so if you try the alcohol trick and it doesn’t work then you’re still going to be covered. Liquid is liquid.

      Now, warranty won’t cover liquid damage and I wouldn’t risk filing a warranty claim as you might have to pay a pretty penny if they discover that the phone was in fact dropped in water (even though your two LDIs are still white)… If you want to risk a warranty claim (which I don’t recommend) then you should avoid the alcohol trick as alcohol can and will activate a liquid damage indicator (it is a liquid after all).

      From your description it sounds like your display screen is malfunctioning and there is a chance that alcohol can help fix that problem.

      So, what I would do if I was in your position is to try the alcohol. If it doesn’t work you can look into filing a claim with your insurance provider or whoever you got your protection plan through. You might want to also see if there is a deductable involved when filing a claim too. If the deductible is going to cost more than a new display screen then you might want to consider just swapping out the display screen either through a local repair shop or by yourself (but this might also void the protection plan which is something to consider too).

      Lots of options to choose from my friend, but I personally would try the alcohol; especially if I had to pay a deductible for filing a claim.

  77. Touch doesnt work
    Hello, I accidentally dropped my Samsung Note 2 in the toilet. I dried it and put it in rice for a long time (1-2days) However it still lagged and turned off by itself so I directly took the battery out again and I put back in rice for 6 hours. After I took it out everything worked fine except the touch screen and I was able to know that since the phone is a Note it comes with a smart pen. Is there anyway that I can fix the touch screen? (the pen still works fine).

    1. That happens sometimes. Try this…

      Hello Ahmad,

      If your Note 2 can still recognize the stylus pen then you may want to consider using your pen from here on… If that’s not an option then you can try to use alcohol to fix your touch screen but if that doesn’t work then you might have to replace the touch screen in order to get back to 100% functionality again.

  78. A sorry tale about a Blu Vivo 4.8 and a river
    On Friday, I went on a field trip to a river to do water sampling with my class for an internal assessment. While trying to document my classmate taking temperature readings, I slipped on some rocks and fell into the water taking my phone with me. It was only in the water for a few seconds and I immediately wiped it off and at first it was fine. Then, I noticed water evaporating on the camera so I knew water got inside. But after about ten minutes or so, that went away too. However, the phone began to turn on and off, going from a black screen to the Blu screen but not doing the colored circle thing that is part of the start up. I tried putting it to reboot, and the screen for rebooting came up, but the lockscreen/enter button was not working. My friend said to leave it alone so I left it for about two hours. At 2pm it starting working fine, and is working fine, even up till now. The only problem is that the lock screen/enter button is not working at all. This phone cannot be taken apart because that’s how it’s made, and the warranty has long expired. I asked another friend about it and he said it was a hardware problem.

    Please help me.

    Much thanks,
    Vyala

    1. That does sound like a hardware problem

      Hi Vyala,

      Accidents happen. I myself have slipped on many slippery rocks in my day too. I figure that the most important thing is not getting hurt during the fall. You don’t want to accidently fall wrong or onto another rock and hurt yourself. Phones can be replaced body parts are a whole different story. So don’t forget to count your blessings.

      As far as your phone goes… what are you referring to when you say the “lock screen/enter button”? Is it the power/sleep/wake button on the side of your phone which you use to put your phone to sleep or wake your phone up or bring up the options to power your phone off? Basically are you referring to the actual hardware key on the left hand side of your BLU Vivo 4.8 just underneath the volume button(s)?

      If so then some dirty river water may have been able to squeeze into to that small space around that button and may be what is causing it to malfunction. You can try giving it more time to dry of course but if that is ineffective and you simply cannot get that key to respond then you may need to consider physically removing that key from the phone cleaning underneath where it sits and underneath the key itself so see if a good cleaning with alcohol will allow the phone to recognize it again and of course allow you to use it again.

      Your friend sounds correct. It sounds like a hardware problem and with any luck a good cleaning with alcohol might just be able to resolve your issue.

  79. Nexus 5 under tap water, now screen won’t light up.
    So at around 8 am this morning I was brushing my teeth when I checked my phone and it slipped from my hand and it fell into the sink while the tap was on. I took it out immediately, took the phone out of its phone cover and dried it with a towel. I also cleaned the charging port and mic port with tissue paper. But by this time the screen went off.

    I panicked and tried turning the phone on/off but it wouldn’t respond.

    I rushed to my laptop to check for solutions online and came across the rice method. I have dunked my phone into a bag of white rice after checking both LDI stickers (under the sim card and at the top of the phone near the mic port), both are white indicating no water damage.

    What bothers me is that I can hear the notification sounds but I am unable to turn off my phone especially since the battery of the Nexus 5 is sealed.

    My screen doesn’t turn on.

    It is now 10:30am, should I leave my phone in rice for 24h or try the vacuuming method or just take it to a repair shop?

    Thank you for your help 🙁
    I just want my phone back…

  80. Dropped Note 5 in toilet
    I dropped my Note 5 in the toilet and now the phone reboots on it’s own, and none of the buttons work. What should I do?

  81. Phone took a dip in water
    Hello, my Lenovo ZUK 2 Plus fell in the water. I removed it as soon as possible, dried it with a towel and left it to dry with uncooked rice for 36hrs. I plugged in the charger and it started to charge. When I try to switch it on it doesn’t go past the loading screen. What should I do?

  82. Touch problem
    Sir, unfortunately my Lenovo K3 Note dropped in water for 10 sec. I removed and dissembled all of the parts, cleaned them with cotton and after 15 min I assembled it again and started my phone. It seems good and all of the features worked properly but a few hours later the touchscreen stopped working. What should I do ?

  83. Phone saved!
    I dropped my Samsung S3 in the toilet – yep fell out of my back pocket argh!
    It was only in for a second or 2. Immediately removed the back, battery and SIM, dried off as best I could with toilet paper, and left it wrapped in toilet paper for the rest of the day. I was at work so didn’t have many options.
    I did turn it on after about 5 or 6 hours, but the screen had a mind of it’s own and went nuts. Removed the battery again.
    Didn’t have any rice, so wrapped it in a tea towel and left it in the sun on the windowsill. Also put it outside for a while, I think the sun/heat/wind helped a lot.
    After about 2 days, I turned it on again and it’s all good!

  84. Yesterday when I was in the bathroom…
    Yesterday when I was in the bathroom my phone fell in the toilet. I dried it out as quickly as I could but now it doesn’t cut on. It only shows the light from when its charging and does not cut on at all when I try it.

  85. Water in my phone
    Hello! I have a phone that was in my pocket when I was cleaning out a tank at work. My phone didn’t get submerged in water, but water got all over my pants pocket where my phone was. I tried to push the power button because that is the only way I can stop it from going in to “sleep mode” to check the time. It was then I realized the phone had gotten water in the headphone jack and the area where the camera and power button are located. I took the back off and saw water had gotten in the SIM card area, but not the battery or charging port. Will I still be able to save my phone at all because the water never reached the battery? It is a very old phone (from 2010 or so) so I don’t mind replacing it in the future, I am just worried about not being able to ever retrieve my pictures. It was a few hours before I realized the phone had even gotten wet, is there still hope for my old phone?

  86. Venessa Seelochan

    NOT CHARGING
    I DROPPED MY PHONE IN THE SHOWER WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC :(.. my battery percentage is 1% and IT ISN’T CHARGING. PLEASE HELP ME.

  87. Cell dropped in Salty waterI Dropped my cell in salty water by mistake and immediately took it out. While I dropped it I was on a call. The cell was working, I immediately dried it and suck out water from the various openings using my mouth and then tried to touch the screen but it was frozen. then I tried pressing the power button and the screen was responding to it but not to touch. so I tried to switch it off and it did. I then tried to switch on, but it would just show me powered by android screen which was blinking and then the screen gave out. Now I tried charging it but it wont work. Do you have any idea if I can get it to work after messing with it so much? I tried cleaning it too by opening the case but no result

Comments are closed.