How to fix a water damaged phone

Is your phone not working after dropping it in liquid or exposing it to moisture? Don’t panic just yet there is hope to get your phone working properly again. Here are a few methods that you can do to try to revive your phone and bring it back to life.

Before we proceed with the mobile phone revival process…

IF YOU’RE PHONE WAS JUST DROPPED IN WATER OR LIQUID THEN HURRY AND READ HOW TO SAVE A PHONE DROPPED IN WATER FIRST.

Otherwise if your phone has been dried and is just not functional or is not working properly then try some of these steps.

Try a different battery

If there is no response to a charger and your phone will not power on after being exposed to liquid then the first thing I recommend is to attempt to locate a different battery to try in the phone. If a friend or family member doesn’t have a battery you can barrow for a few minutes to see if it is a battery issue then you can go to a store that sells your type of phone and briefly barrow a battery from their display phone. Just tell a store representative that you want to check your battery with one that you know is working properly and they’ll usually let you try a working battery in your phone.

If you insert the battery and your phone boots up then you’ll know that it was a bad battery and you can go online and buy a nice affordable battery to replace it.

Charging and power issues are some of the most common issues resulting from liquid damage on a cell phone. If your phone simply isn’t charging properly after a liquid accident then remove the battery (and charger) from the phone and clean the charging ports on the phone and the connector leads on the battery with alcohol; the closer to 99% alcohol used the better. Clean areas that you might see any spots or places that might seem like they are not getting a good connection to one another, such as spots of corrosion or areas of calcium buildup.

After everything is dry put the phone back together and try to charge it and power it on, if it works enjoy and if it’s still malfunctioning then proceed with the next step.

Bathing a phone in alcohol can revive a water damaged phone

This is one of the most interesting and successful methods available and is a great option for phones that were exposed to salt water, chlorine water, or just normal fresh water where chemicals, minerals, sediments, and corrosion might exist inside the phone.

Basically what you do is fully submerge your phone in 99% alcohol (isopropyl alcohol). Believe it or not alcohol is a non conductive liquid, so it won’t cause a short, and will get into all the cracks and crevices in your phone and help give it a good cleaning.

Let the phone sit and soak for an hour or two and then remove the phone, let it dry, and try it out.

IMORTANT WARNING – Make sure to check your phones LDI (Liquid Damage Indicator) Sticker before trying this method. If your phone was exposed to liquid then changes are very high that it was activated turning pink or red and your warranty is void. If however it is still white then your phone might still be covered under the manufactures warranty and you should consider trying to file a warranty claim instead.

If your LDI sticker is white and you submerge your phone in alcohol the LDI will activate and void your warranty.

If your LDI is activated then your warranty is void and though water damage is covered under insurance (if you have insurance on your phone) you would have to pay a pretty penny to file an insurance claim so you might as well try to fix it with this method first.

If bathing the phone in alcohol does not fix your phone then you can file an insurance claim. If it does fix your device then you will have saved yourself some money and of course you will get to keep the information stored in your phone.

Enjoy your working phone

Hopefully this has fixed your phone and your device is now up and running properly again. Water damage can be hard to fix sometimes depending on the extent of the damage and is not always repairable. If the methods in this article have not worked in reviving your liquid damaged cell phone then I suggest that you look into these other options available which include possible exchange and or purchasing options.

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290 thoughts on “How to fix a water damaged phone”

  1. my phone got splashed with water
    Hi, my phone xperia u has a broken screen and the touch system is not working . when it got splashed with water a little bit of water got in i immediately took off the battery and took of its case
    will it work again ? and if i fix the screen will the touch system work again and thanks for your time !

    1. Hard to tell if it will work or not

      It’s impossible to know for sure if it will work or not or whether the water/moisture will affect the touch screen or the display screen or both or something else entirely. Water damage is a tricky thing. Sometimes the cell phone will work fine once it’s dried completely and then all of a sudden something will stop working.

      The only way you’re going to be able to tell is to wait for it to dry and then try it. If it doesn’t seem to work then consider attempting the advice in the article above and if that doesn’t seem to work then you might have to look into replacing some of the damaged parts or look into replacing the phone itself. It depends on how extensive the damage is, if any.

  2. phone dropped into swimming pool
    Hello, my phone Xperia C suddenly dropped into a swimming pool when i was snapping some photos with my friends. my screen worked just fine after drying it for a whole day but the problem is my touchscreen is not working. the touchscreen does worked at first but after i reset the phone, the touchscreen malfunctioned. could you help me? thank you for your time.

    1. Trying to fix an Xperia that’s been dropped in water

      Hi Ambram,

      Out of curiosity why did you perform a factory data reset on your cell phone? Was it having other issues as well? Did you reset it to try and fix your touch screen? Did this issue only occur after performing the hard reset?

      If you were not having any issues with your cell phones touch screen after it got dropped in the swimming pool and after drying it out completely and this only occurred after the reset then it MIGHT be a software issue (doubtful but possible) and I would suggest connecting your phone to a PC and if the phone will let you then try to reset it again using Sony’s PC companion.

      Sometimes you can combat the negative effects that moisture can cause to a cell phone and sometimes you can’t. Did you have the opportunity to try the 99% alcohol bath yet? If you have and your touch screen is still unresponsive then you might have to replace the touch screen in order to get your phone to respond and function properly again.

  3. My nokia Lumia 520 shows a blue screen when its on.
    when i switch my phone on it shines a pale blue light on the screen but nothing else. my touch screen and everything else on my phone is working. i had tried the rice method for a day before i looked at this and it stayed the same although it used to show “nokia” and glitch and now it doesnt. i dropped it in sea water yesterday and my local shops don’t sell that 99% alcohol. i need help please. i need a working phone!!!!!

    1. It can be hard to find but definitely worth pursuing

      Hi Yoda,

      Yes, 99% isopropyl alcohol can be difficult to find in local stores. 70% seems to be the standard mixture and what is often the most commonly available. I do NOT recommend anything less than 99% though. While isopropyl alcohol is NOT a conductive liquid the greater part of that other percentage of liquid found within that container is going the be water which IS a conductor and if you choose to use less than 99% than it increases the possibility of causing an electrical short and you take an unnecessary risk of causing damage to the cell phone.

      If you look and look and simply cannot find any local stores that sell it then ordering it online might be the next best thing. The downside is that you will have to wait for it to arrive and during that time you will be without a cell phone.

      Another thing that can be disconcerting is that bathing a phone in 99% isopropyl alcohol is NOT a guaranteed fix for a cell phone experiencing issues after being dropped in water. If your display screen was damaged when exposed then this trick isn’t going to work and the screen will have to be replaced or a different phone will have to be purchased.

      1. OK, but now…
        Thank you James I shall try online, but now I’ve got another problem, I’ve got rice in the micro SD slot and my touch screen is not working…

  4. Lg G2
    I had my phone in my back pocket of my shorts and it fell in the toilet. I dried it quickly and it still acted up. First the screen blacked out for about 5 minutes but I could still receive calls. Then it lit up again but just for good measure I left it in rice over night. The next morning I kept getting the indicator that I plugged in a headset and it got stuck there for about a minute. Now I can touch my phone and everything works except…. the phone will not read my SIM card. I tried putting my card in another phone to check if it worked and it did, so I know its the phone. What else can I do??

    1. Trying to fix your LG after it fell in the toilet

      Hi Angelica,

      Sorry to hear about your phones misfortune, that incident is a lot more common than you might think.

      Ok, so the display screen was acting up but is now fine (that’s good), the charging port was having issues but that seemed to go away too (if it happens again check out this Charging Issue Guide as you might have to physically adjust or clean that port), but the SIM card is having issues. Which stinks because without a SIM card you won’t have service… You established that it’s not because the SIM card was damaged (good job) and that the issue lies with the phone itself.

      It’s most likely an issue with that SIM card port (where you plug the SIM card into) and although it can sometimes be difficult do to because of a lack of space, I think your best bet is to give that SIM card tray/port/slot a thorough cleaning with 99% alcohol. I don’t think you need to bathe your entire phone just yet as everything else seems to be working at the moment. In fact I would just get a Q-tip and give those metal contacts that press against the SIM card a good but gentle scrubbing. Just focus on that port for now trying to get those metal prongs as clean and shiny as you can. You want to remove anything from them that can be preventing the SIM card from reading correctly.

      I know that the LG G2 is not designed to allow you to remove the battery but before you start cleaning the phone, just as a precaution, I suggest that you power it off completely. Alcohol usually dries pretty fast but depending on how much alcohol you end up using I would give it enough time to dry all the way before putting everything back together again and before powering it back on. Once it’s dry then you can reinsert the SIM card and give it a try.

      If it still will not recognize the SIM card then you have a few options to choose from…

      You can:

      • Give it a full alcohol bath (as described in the article above).
      • Try to order and replace the SIM card tray/port yourself.
      • Take it into a local repair shop for servicing.
      • File an Insurance claim (if your phone is covered under an insurance plan).
      • Look into selling your device for parts and purchasing a new or different working cell phone…

      Hopefully a good cleaning on that SIM card port will get your LG G2 to work again and allow it to communicate with a SIM card properly. I wish you the best of luck Angelica.

  5. sim card not getting detected
    I accidentally dropped my phone (samsung s4) in water. i immediately turned off the phone n kept it in rice. Phone is getting turned on but sim card is not getting detected. Could someone suggest me what i should do to make it work.

    1. Start out by getting a new SIM card

      Hopefully the SIM card is the issue as you would be able to get a replacement SIM card and that would resolve the problem. If however the issue is a damaged SIM card trey on the phone itself then the issue is NOT going to be as easy to fix. If that is the case then you might be able to thoroughly clean that SIM card port which might get it to read the SIM card properly and work again.

      Definitely not a fun issue to have on a cell phone; without a working SIM card your phone won’t have service and what is the point of a cell phone that can’t text message or make and receive calls.

    2. Response to saving a cell phone after, water submersion
      I read that the entire phone should be placed either into plastic bag sealed or container with a lid to enable a tight seal with rice then place it in a lighted location or window with the phone completely submerged in rice. I think you described that you did place your phone into rice however, you didn’t leave it there long enough.

      For example, a few moments of being submersed would require it to be in the rice for 3 days and longer time the submersion up a week from what I read. Actually, this occurred with me and that was what I read and therefore, I am unable to at this time personally, verify how successful this drying technique would be.

      Also, from the information that I read the phone should not be turned on or charged even though your immediate reaction would be to find out if it will work after contact with water. However, don’t worry if you did turn your phone on because, the author indicated he did but, stressed not to attempt to check for operation till after, being left in the rice with the phone being off a sufficient amount of time.

      I think you just didn’t leave your phone long enough in the rice. Wish you success and I hope this additional information serves beneficial in recovery the use of your cellphone I am in the same situation with my phone.

      1. Thank you for your contribution

        Hi Janice,

        Thank you for contributing to the site. A lot of what you mentioned in your post can be read in this other guide about trying to save a phone dropped in water. You might find some additional tips that can help you if your phone is in the same situation.

        Good luck my friend, and thanks again for taking the time to leave such a helpful comment.

  6. In the pool
    Hi!
    Thanks for this post in the subject.
    My phone fell in the pool 6 days ago…we got it out right the away. Few minutes later put on rice…and left it there until yesterday 5 days later…and put it to charge…nithing came up…then a day later I tried turning on and it come on …I was so excited but then a few minutes later and went off and since then I keep trying to turn it on and nothing happens. what should I do? Is there still hope?
    Thanks in advance!

  7. lg g2 dropped in a tub
    So i dropped my G2 in the tub while bathing my 3 yr old….i took it out right away and the screen went from lit to black. I have had it in rice for days..still no screen….you can tell the phones on…just still a black screen…i don’t know how you open the thing….is there any chance it will work again.

    1. There is a chance, but you won’t know till you try…

      Hi SueEllen,

      Sorry to hear that your LG decided to join your 3 year old in the bath. If you can tell that the phone is on but the screen remains black then the display screen is malfunctioning (it may have been damaged by the water). Try the Alcohol trick described in this article. You might just get lucky and it might resolve your issue. If it doesn’t then you will likely need to replace your G2’s display screen yourself, or take it into a local repair shop to have them replace it for you.

        1. 70% vs. 91% vs. 99% alcohol

          Since 99% alcohol can sometimes seem like a challenge or difficult to acquire quickly and many people don’t often store 99% alcohol and don’t often have it readily available as opposed to the more common 70% I get asked frequently if using 91% or 70% alcohol will work as opposed to using 99%.

          It might work perfectly and it might not… 70% alcohol is going to contain approximately 30% water which I suppose is better than 100% water; so if you dropped your cell phone in water then Yes 70% might help to clean out some of that water as well as help your phone to dry quicker so you might choose to try it.

          Just remember that the less alcohol you use the more water gets introduced into your phone and water and electronics don’t get along very well together. You want to get that water OUT of your phone not introduce water INTO the phone… even if it is only 30% or 9% water.

          As for me, I have used, I continue to use and I recommend that a person use 99% alcohol when trying to revive an electronic exposed to moisture or having been dropped into some kind of liquid.

          I figure that its best to order 99% alcohol for less than $10 online from a site like Amazon and then wait for a couple of days for the alcohol to arrive then it is to risk possibly damaging my smartphone which is worth hundreds of dollars.

          If I have to have a phone for work or life (many people have become dependent on their cell phones) while I wait for the alcohol to arrive I can switch over to the phone I had before upgrading or I could go out and purchase a cheap prepaid phone to use as a temporary solution.

          The risk may be very small but when the situation involves hundreds of dollars and possibly losing my cell phones user data it just isn’t worth it to me. If you don’t have 99% alcohol you might want to consider ordering some to use or you might want to think about buying some just to prepare for any possible unforeseen accidents in the future…

  8. damage in sea water
    Hi, thank you for posting this post.

    my lenovo K900 smartphone fell in the sea yesterday. what should i do ?

    is there still hope ?

    thank you

    1. Definitely try the advice in the article above

      Hi Roland,

      It’s always hard to tell when it comes to possible liquid damage and I am not sure how the sea water affected your cell phone but I would definitely recommend trying the advice in the article above. Salt water might do a number on your cell phone and an Alcohol bath should help get in there and help clean all that out.

  9. Smartphone screen has a black spot after fall in the water
    Hi, my smartphone fall in the water recently. But after it dried up, i can turn on the phone but i notice that there are some black spots on the screen. The camera can’t focus well when taking picture. Other than that, everything is function well. May I know this situation is due to what reason? Is there any component in the phone that has been affected by the water?
    Please help!
    Thanks.

    1. It sounds like the water affected a couple things…

      From your description is sounds like the camera was effected and your display screen was effected. You got lucky though, water can do far worse to a cell phone and if everything is functional on your phone and you can still use it for the most part than be very grateful and enjoy it.   

  10. please help me
    i had my phone in my back pocket wearing high-waisted pants and when pulling down my pants my phone fell in the toilet, i took of the charger and case right after and let it dry over night. when i woke up to check on it, it turned on and the screen was flickering then went black but u can still hearing turning on and i left it like that and i started getting messages and was able to unlock my phone but you still cant see the screen, the screen is able to touch and work but your not able to see it. please help me i cant afford to buy a new one at the moment.

    1. Your poor cell phone is not alone

      Hi,

      Like many other people your poor unlucky and unfortunate cell phones display screen has had a negative outcome after coming in contact with liquid. The “flickering” doesn’t sound good either (good description by the way). A flickering could indicate a greater chance that the display screen has been damaged and if the advice above doesn’t help resolve the issue then you will most likely need to replace that display screen on your device.

  11. My S4 won’t come back on………..
    Hello, I need HELP!!! My phone was updating, but I accidentally took the battery out but now it won’t come on. I was told it had water damage but it was never near water. Is there a way it can come back on some how?

    1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly…

      Hi Aeriel,

      I got some good news and some bad news… Let’s start with the good news. The Good news is that even though the LDI (Liquid Damage Indicator) on your phone has been activated if your phone was working properly before trying to update then this is not a hardware issue which means that it is potentially fixable.

      Now the bad news this can be hard to fix sometimes as it is one of the more serious software related problems that an Android can experience. Since the update didn’t get to finish properly the brains of the phone and how it thinks got all messed up. The brains still there you just have to try to teach it how to think again.

      Put your Doctor Frankenstein gloves on because you might just be able to give life back to your phone. It may not have the memory of its previous life(s) (its info is going to be lost) but it will be able to think and LIVE again. What you need to do is Flash the software to your Samsung (I recommend flashing the latest software release from Samsung) using a tool like ODIN.

      I know that it seems a little off topic but check out THIS article as you should attempt the advice listed there before doing anything too drastic.

      So…

      The Good – You might just be able to fix your cell phone and this is not a hardware concern.

      The Bad – Since this is a more serious software issue it also requires more serious troubleshooting and you might have to do a little research online for step-by-step tutorials on how to flash your Samsung Galaxy S4.

      The Ugly – Your phone has signs of water damage and is no longer covered under warranty.

      Make sure to try the advice listed in the article that I linked to earlier. You might even get lucky and solve the problem without having to reload the OS (Operating System) back to the phone.

  12. iphone
    my iphone screen is shattered and I spilt water on it a while back so I was just wondering if I soaked it in the alcohol now if it might work but it still works but the screen is black. ive been using a track phone to replace it and I dropped it in water, i soaked it in alcohol but the screen is still glitching, I used 91% alcohol instead of 99% should I try again with 99%?

    1. Trying to fix your damaged iPhone

      Hi Tyree,

      If it didn’t seem to work with 91% you could try 99% but I don’t think that 99% would give you enough of an edge to make much of a difference.

      Since your screen is shattered there is no question of whether or not your iPhone is damaged but I don’t think you lost anything by trying the alcohol trick and I admire the fact that you at least gave it a try. At this point I think you will need to look into your repair and replacement options.  

  13. dropped in toilet
    I dropped my LG optimus x4 in the toilet and I’ve had it in rice and on the boiler, it comes on to the battery icon when I put charger in other than that it wont come on, any advice will be appreciated

    1. Trying to fix your LG Optimus x4

      I recommend that you take it off of the boiler (you don’t want to inadvertently cause heat damage to the phone). Then I would take the battery out of the phone for a good 5 minutes, plug it back into the phone and then try to turn it on again. A battery icon is a good sign but a strange one. Is the battery icon on the screen to show that the phone is charging or is it just an LED light on the phone?

      There isn’t too much that you can do if your phone won’t turn on properly but definitely try the battery pull. See if you can boot your phone into Safe Mode or the Android system Recovery as well, just to see if it will let you access those features or not. If it will then let me know and we can try a few other things to try and fix your LG Optimus x4.

  14. My phone fell in the toilet
    Hi my phone had fallen in the toilet. I took it out immediately and took it apart to wipe it off to dry it. My phone turns on but the screen stays on the home screen and I can’t swipe it to unlock it or to answer it. The screen is pretty much unresponsive. What do I do?

    1. Your touch screen is malfunctioning

      Hi Cheyenne,

      If the Alcohol trick doesn’t work then you will need to look into replacing your cell phones touch screen as it has been damaged and is no longer working properly.

  15. PHONE FELL INTO WATER… NOT CHARGING
    Hi,

    My samsung wave 525 phone fell in water. I removed the battery and soaked it in rice for 8-10 hours.
    After that it started working fine. But, since it was fully charged, i forgot to check whether it’s able to charge or not. Now after 20 hours, when i am trying to charge…ITS NOT CHARGING . Could you please help . Thanks

    1. That is one of the more common issues related to water damage

      Power related issues such as not being able to charge a phone properly after it has been exposed to water is one of the more common side effects of moisture and liquid damage on a cell phone. If I was in your position I would power your Samsung OFF, remove the battery, and take some alcohol and a Q-tip and give that charging port a really thorough cleaning. Try to get everything nice and clean and shiny again. Hopefully the charging port didn’t experience any permanent damage and hopefully a good cleaning will get it to recognize the charger and allow your Samsung to charge properly again.

      I also recommend that you try to perform a full backup (if possible) before your phone completely runs out of battery life. Just as a precaution in case you cannot get your phone to charge up properly again and it continues to have issues. Then you will have a backup of your data available should need it later.

      1. Thanks. I showed the mobile to nearest Samsung service center…
        Thanks James. I showed the mobile to nearest Samsung service center. There is a black spot near one of the chip. He tried cleaning it but still its not charging. I am charging thru external battery charger.
        will the pin short near one of the chip create any problem to other chips ? is it risky to use the phone ?

        1. I don’t think it will be an issue

          Hey Ramesh,

          I don’t foresee any issues. Just keep an eye on things. If you notice that your cell phone is starting to get hot (especially in that area of the phone) then you might need to give it some attention. Otherwise as long as it’s working enjoy it. Glad that you still have a working cell phone my friend. Thanks for coming back to the site to post a follow-up.

  16. water damaged phone
    Hey my son dropped my Optimus F3 inside a cup of water and the screen turns on but there is little black lines going through. What can I do.

    1. Can you grab me a cup of water and my cell phone?

      Hi Adrienne,

      Next time you ask your son to get you a cup of water, ask him to hold off on adding your cell phone to it. Ha ha just kidding; it happens.

      As far as trying to fix those little black lines on your screen it might be slightly difficult and may not be possible. You got nothing to lose by trying though. If this happened to my phone then I would start by checking the flex cable that attaches the display screen to the phone. You will have to take your cell phone apart, but since the display isn’t having issues with a singular pixel (which would likely point to a damaged screen) and it’s a whole line (or lines) of dead pixels there is a good chance that the issue lies with that flex cable that or more specifically with the connection between the display screen and your phones motherboard.

      So you could take your cell phone apart, check that cable, give it and where it connects a good cleaning with alcohol, see if it helps and if it does then enjoy. If checking and cleaning that cable doesn’t seem to help and you have tried a full alcohol bath (as suggested in the article above) but you continue to have problems and cannot handle seeing those annoying black lines on your display then you might need to invest in a replacement display screen.

  17. I have an Optimus…
    I have an Optimus and the battery is built in so i cant take it out. My calling is messed up and my volume button. I can hear you but you cant hear me and i have to press down super hard in order to lower my volume. Idk if anything is stuck inside. Please help.

    1. Malfunctioning Microphone and Volume key

      Hi Brianna,

      So from your description your microphone is having issues as people are having a difficult time hearing you and you might be right, there might be something under the volume button causing it to not respond without some effort. Both of these issues might be a bit of a challenge to resolve as the volume key would be hard to clean under without physically removing it and the microphone might be a little clogged up too.

      I am assuming that since you’re visiting and posting on this page that these things started happening after your LG Optimus was exposed to liquid or moisture. Have you tried the 99% alcohol bath yet? It might be enough for the alcohol to soak in under your volume key and into your microphone and might just do the trick. If not then you might need to attempt a good cleaning by some other means (I still recommend using alcohol though) and if you cannot seem to get your microphone to hear you correctly it might need to be replaced. Try cleaning it though as I have a feeling it’s just clogged up and the audio isn’t getting through properly.

  18. Sony Xperia SP Water Damage
    Hi,
    So my Sony Xperia SP was in my back pocket and it dropped in the toilet. it turned off, so I put it on my radiator and then into rice and then I tried charging it but it wouldn’t turn on. I have taken it to the phone repair shop but they cant get it to turn on as well help!!!

    1. Trying to revive your Sony Xperia SP

      Hi Viv,

      Sorry to hear about your Sony Xperia SP. If this should ever happen again try not to put it on your radiator (or any heat source for that matter) as the heat from the radiator might cause additional damage to the phone which of course you want to try to avoid. Good job with the rice though; rice is excellent at absorbing moisture and is one of the most common tricks used to dry out a cell phone that’s recently been dropped in water.

      Believe it or not my brother just had the same issue with his Samsung Galaxy S4 (it wasn’t a bathroom accident but he did drop his phone into water). Like the advice listed in this article I suggested that he try the 99% alcohol bath, which he did and left his phone completely submerged in the alcohol for about two or three hours. We then removed it from the alcohol and put it into a bag of rice sealed it, as it was a Ziploc bag, and let it sit for about eight hours to dry out completely. Lo and behold we put the cell phone all back together, put the battery back in, put the SD card back in, the SIM card back in, etc. and guess what… it powered on.

      I am telling you guys that it works! It may not work for every phone but definitely try the advice listed in the article above. Buying a bottle of alcohol beats having to buy a new cell phone every time and if your phone is completely lifeless then you’ll have nothing to lose by trying it.

  19. phone put in washing machine
    My daughter put my phone in the washing machine. Ive been told to put it in dry rice. Its been
    in 3 days now and there is still a small water bubble in the middle of screen. Will it be ok to turn on now or should i leave it a little longer?

    1. I wouldn’t risk it

      Hi Karley,

      If you can still see a water bubble and it looks like there’s liquid underneath the display screen then I would wait. I would not risk turning on the phone if there is a possibility of moisture still present in the phone as it may cause an electrical short.

      Now if your cell phone has been drying in rice for three days and it is still not completely dry yet then you might want to consider submerging the phone in 99% alcohol as not only will the alcohol create a chemical bond with the water (helping to dilute the water and remove it from the inside of the phone), but it will also help the phone to dry out quicker which should speed up the drying process. This might also help to clean out any soap residue that might have been in the washing machine at the same time as your phone and may have gotten into the phone as well. Just another thing that you might want to consider.

      As far as your original question though, I would not turn on the phone if there is even a chance of liquid still remaining in or on the device. You run the risk of an electrical short and causing irreversible damage to your cell phone.

  20. Success story with Nexus 5
    Just wanted to let people know I fixed a water damaged Nexus 5 using 99% isopropyl alcohol.

    My girlfriend’s phone got damaged when her bottle of tea spilled, soaking her backpack and all its contents (including her phone). I dried it off in a box of rice, then tried turning it on. The power button alone did nothing, but plugging in the USB cable caused it to display the “Google” screen, then it would immediately turn off, and repeat this in a cycle. We were going to send the phone in for service, but noticed the water damage stickers were pink, so I figured we were out of luck as far as the warranty goes.

    I read about people fixing water damage with Isopropyl alcohol, so I figured I would give it a try. I took out just the motherboard, soaked it in some 99% alcohol (about 1/2 hr), and brushed it a bit with a nylon toothbrush. I just let it air dry for about 1/2 hr, reassembled the phone. Now when I plugged in the USB cable, I saw a battery charging icon. Progress! Once it got enough charge to turn on, I turned it on, and it booted like normal. Unfortunately, operation was glitchy – in particular, any time sound was playing, it would play for about a second, then stop, and stutter. Also, the camera was completely non functional (camera app just displayed an icon of a camera).

    I followed some instructions online and took the phone apart again, but this time I took the daughter board off of the motherboard, and took off the gold-colored metal shield that covered several of the chips (including the audio coded chip and a gold covered metal shield which for some reason wasn’t mentioned in the online tutorial).

    I soaked and brushed all of the disassembled motherboard parts. I also removed and soaked the camera. Again, after a quick dry, I reassembled everything, and, like magic, the phone now works perfectly, including sound and camera functionality. It’s nice being a hero 🙂

    So, I just wanted to share my story so people know there is hope for a water damaged phone. And I suppose I wanted to gloat a bit as well.

    1. Fixing a water damaged Nexus -Thanks for sharing-

      Hi Isaac,

      Way to go all out for your girlfriend. I am sure that she is very very happy. Thanks for sharing and contributing to the site and I am sure that she is going to enjoy her working Nexus 5.

    2. Turning on then off and repeating
      Thank you so much for giving this information! I have a moto G and the EXACT thing is happening to me. The screen will turn on like normal, it will vibrate, then it will turn off and repeat this cycle (also my backlight died before this but I could still make out the image). I want to try this and will wright on this blog with my success if it works.

      Thanks! –
      Zach

      1. Same issue (progress)

        I just soaked my Moto G in about 95% and I’ve already noticed signs of life because my notification light went out. This is a problem because it would never go out, EVEN WHEN THE DEVICE HAD NO BATTERY.

  21. Galaxy Discover Not Charging
    My friend left my Galaxy Discover outside for about 2 days, and it rained at least once. I got my phone and it started up, but it just won’t charge. Everything else works just fine. The LDI is red, though, so I know their’s definitely some water damage or something. But I really want to save this phone because it has a lot of information on it that I need. Is their anything I can specifically do?

    1. Try giving the charging port a good cleaning

      Hi Ana,

      If your phone isn’t charging then the first thing you should do is backup your phones information to a computer or an SD card because once it runs out of juice, unless you have a way to charge the battery else ware, you might find yourself between a rock and a hard place and you may want that backup just in case.

      That being said… try giving your charging port (where the charger plugs into the phone) a really good cleaning. Try to get everything nice and clean and shiny in order to create a better connection between the phone and the charging cable. It’s possible that the charging part of the phone was damaged and may need replacing but I think that you have a good chance of fixing it with a good cleaning.

      For the cleaning agent I still recommend using alcohol.

      If cleaning just the charging port doesn’t seem to help then try giving your whole phone an alcohol bath as described in the article above.

      I hope that helps Ana, and I wish you luck. Power and charging issues are a common result of water damage and you are certainly going to need to be able to charge your phone again.

  22. Samsung Galaxy S4 not working
    Hello. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 that has been dropped in the toilet. It was moms old phone and she dropped it in the toilet and she got a new one. I am her son and my phone broke and I tried to get this s4 to work. It has been like 1 to 2 months since the incident. The phone turned on nd still works. The touch screen works and everything but the thing is that you cant see the screen it displays. If you could, I REALLY need help. I don’t want to try the alcohol fixing because its a liquid and I’m worried if it would make the problem worse. I have tried the rice and blow dryer fixing and it kinda worked but the screen didnt display. PLEASE HELP!!!

    Thanks in advance.

    1. You have a couple things to consider then…

      Hi Jalen,

      If you can tell that the touch screen is working but the screen remains black then the LCD screen has been damaged or is malfunctioning.

      Since the phone has already been dropped in water the cheapest thing to do is to try the alcohol trick, just try to find 99% if possible and you shouldn’t have to worry about further liquid damage being caused.

      If you simply do NOT want to try the alcohol trick then the next step to get your cell phone working properly again would be to buy and replace the display screen. You can typically swap it out yourself or take your phone into a local repair shop to do it for you but it’s going to be a little more expensive than buying a bottle of alcohol… alcohol isn’t a guaranteed fix either but I think it might give you an edge and you won’t have to go through the expenses that come with replacing the display screen of your Samsung.

      Food for thought, but that is what you are going to need to consider.

      1. Thanks but how long…

        How long do I soak the Samsung in for? Do I also put the battery with the phone also? And could I put it in a bag of rice after for faster drying?

        Thank you so much for replying.

        1. A few hours should be more than enough

          Your welcome Jalen,

          When my brother dropped his Samsung Galaxy S4 in water we fully submerged it and let it soak in 99% alcohol for a few hours, then removed it from the alcohol and put it into a gallon size Ziploc with plenty of rice and allowed it to dry over night.

          Since we don’t really know if the battery, SIM, or SD card was affected by the water or if they are having problems I recommend that you remove all of those pieces and just soak the phone for now. Swish it around under the alcohol a bit so that the alcohol gets into all the nooks and crannies inside the phone and then let it soak for a few hours.

          After a few hours take it out of the alcohol and try and to get as much alcohol out of the phone as you can (so that it will dry faster). Don’t hesitate to wipe the outside of the phone and try to get it dry before placing it into the rice (this should help keep the rice from sticking to the phone). Then put your cell phone into a container with a pretty fair amount of rice along with it (it seems like the more rice you use the faster the phone dries). I recommend one that’s air tight so that the rice will absorb moisture from just the phone and not the air as well. Let it dry (completely), which shouldn’t be too long as alcohol should dry quickly.

          Then turn the phone on and see if the display screen works. If it does enjoy, if not then it’s likely been damaged and will need to be replaced.

          Don’t forget to come back to the site and let me know if it worked or not as well 😉

          Good luck Jalen, let me know if you have any more questions and I hope to hear back from you soon.

  23. Screen Display
    Hi,

    I’ve just turned on my google nexus 5 after leaving it in rice for about 2 and a half days. It came into contact a soft drink which had leaked in my bag. Now everything appears to be working fine and my liquid damage indicator sticker is still white, however the screen itself looks as though it’s almost damp, with colours a bit darker in places. Just wondering if you have any advice on whether it would be possible to dry out some of that moisture or if I should look into replacing the screen?

    Thank you for you help!

    Mary

    1. Hum, it might need a good cleaning…

      Hi Mary,

      Hard to say. Which particular soft drink did your cell phone come in contact with if you don’t mind me asking? If it’s a colored soft drink or sticky when more or less dry then you might have to clean the screen in order for it to look proper again. So for example if you had an orange soda that leaked in your bag and it got underneath your display screen it might look a bit discolored or maybe even a little orange even after drying out completely. Or if it’s a Pepsi or Coke or any darker drink for that matter then it may leave behind a darker stain making the screen appear darker in some places which might not go away even after it’s had time to dry out.

      So it’s hard to say for sure. Now I know that you said that your liquid damage indicator sticker has not been activated but I wouldn’t risk sending it in for a warranty exchange because they would likely be able to tell that there is liquid damage or at the very least that the phone has been exposed to some kind of moisture, enough to possibly cause damage and while the LDI is still white your phones warranty is technically still going to be void.

      Now you might not have to submerge your phone completely in alcohol for this particular situation (which is good as you won’t be activating the LDI) and you might not even need to replace the screen. You might be able to just take the touch screen off of your Nexus 5 to give the display screen and touch screen a good cleaning with alcohol and then put everything back together and be up and running at 100 percent again…

      That’s probably what I would try to attempt anyways, that is if a soft drink was able to get past my awesome protective phone case and both of my screen protectors. 😉

      I hope that helps Mary. If there is anything else that I can try and help you with just let me know.  

      1. Thank you for the reply!!
        Thank you for the reply!!

        I didn’t have any tools (or the courage) to open it myself but was planning to have someone do it for me at the weekend. While I was waiting though I stuck it under my desk lamp for a few hours and the screen is completely back to normal now! I did that twice on two different days after I saw the results the first time. I’m delighted, but thank you so much for the reply, would definitely have tried it out!

        (by the way it was orange soda!)

        1. I knew it… Orange soda is after all an amazing beverage 🙂

          I am glad to hear that your Nexus 5 was able to fully dry and that there is no longer any coloration on your phones display screen.

          Thank you by the way for coming back to the site and posting a follow up. I appreciate it.

          Enjoy the clear and working screen on your Nexus 5 my friend and thanks again for coming back to the site and sharing how you were able to get your cell phone back to normal.

  24. Xperia E1
    Hi
    I forgot my phone in my pocket and it went into the washing machine. It took 4 days for it to dry out now it wont charge at all. It also keeps going on and off by itself and when people phone they are unable to hear me. The screen still works and I can still send messages. It looks like the screen has been damaged because it has lines across it. I want to know if it is fixable and if it is worth fixing or should I just look at getting a new phone.

    1. Only one way to find out

      Hi Natasha,

      It sounds like your phone is experiencing some pretty serious issues but nothing right off the bat that would indicate that it’s not going to be repairable or that the alcohol bath will be ineffective at fixing it. I would go ahead and give the alcohol bath a try. Just make sure that it dries out completely afterwards.

      Even though your phone is experiencing all these problems, this alcohol bath can help resolve power related issues such as powering off and on, charging issues, issues with your microphone and possibly even the those lines on the display screen. So I definitely think that it would be worth trying to fix these issues as opposed to just getting a new phone.

      You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and I wish you the best of luck. Don’t forget to come back to the site afterwards to let us know how it turns out.

  25. Water damage S3
    I had my lifeproof case on and i dropped it in water but the case was faulty and now my phones screen keeps flicking, and turning green and black. The back buttons aren’t working either. I put in in rice but nothing else but its still the same. What do I do?

    1. Trying to fix your water damaged Samsung Galaxy S3

      Flickering and discoloration is not a good sign. There is a good chance that the water may have caused damage to something within your phone (probably the flex cable that connects the display screen to the phones motherboard, but that’s just a guess it’s hard to say for certain)… If it’s flickering then the screen might be on the verge of going out permanently.

      If the keys are not working either then you might want to try the alcohol trick for good measure. It sounds like the water really did a number on your cell phone and hopefully some alcohol can help revive some of those dyeing or unresponsive parts on your Samsung Galaxy S3. If it doesn’t seem to help then you might have to start looking into your replacement options.

      Good luck Alex.

  26. Okay I dropped my phone into a sink that was filled with water
    Okay I dropped my phone into a sink that was filled with water. Everything works except my screen. Sometimes it’s really dull and other times it’s just completely black…and I have no idea what to do…

  27. LG G2 glitching
    Hi, so unfortunately, my lg g2 has been acting up! Part of the areas on the screen dont always work, and at sometimes, I would start to lose control and it would just open and close apps and change settings, even when I’m not even touching the screen. It’s as if it’s being controlled by someone else. I went to the phone provider store to get it fixed, for them to tell me that it’s due to water damage, which for me was confusing because i try my best to keep it from water. All in all, my phone is driving me nuts! What can i do to fix my phone myself?

    1. Luckily phones don’t get possessed

      Hi Christian,

      I have seen that happen before and it can be a hard issue to resolve.

      It could be a hardware or software problem so you might have to do a little troubleshooting to find out for sure. If the touch screen is malfunctioning then the screen might think that it’s being pressed even though it isn’t. Are you using a screen protector with your phone? Is your phone calling people by itself as well, namely the last person that you spoke with? If so then let me know, otherwise run a touch screen diagnostic on your phone and see if every part of the screen is responding properly. This should help to determine if it’s a hardware or software issue. I have a more detailed article about how to check your touch screen that you should review if you’re not sure how to run a touch screen diagnostic on your LG G2.

      I hope that helps Christian. If you hit any snags or have any more questions then let me know.

  28. i phone screen has gone black but phone is still workimg
    Can you help me? I’m struggling with what to do with my phone.. I was using it and the screen just instantly went black but the phone is still working and its been like this for 2 days now as I tried to see if it will come on by itself but it hasn’t… Is it fixable as I know someone who fixes phones for cheap

    1. Yes, very fixable.

      Hi Lauren,

      Yes that should be very fixable, and depending on what iPhone you have it might even be at a very reasonable price as well. Your iPhone just needs a replacement LCD screen and since it is an iPhone you shouldn’t have any issues finding a replacement online and since you have a friend that can help you fix it you should be in great shape.

  29. Samsung Note 2
    Hello

    Could you offer some advice please? My Note 2 suddenly went dead and wouldbnt turn on. I took it to the Samsung shop and was told that it has liquid damage. I have never dropped it in water, however, I often cleaned it with antibacterial wipes so I am wondering if this is what caused the damage.

    I don’t mind losing the phone as I’ve had it for a while but I would like to know if it is possible to get my contacts and pictures that are on it even though it’s dead and not coming on.

    My warranty does not cover the liquid damage so I took it to a shop to see if it could be fixed but having read your article, I am tempted to go and collect it and try out what you have recommended here. Is it worth a try or do you think all my information is lost.

    1. I think you have a good chance…

      Hi Tara,

      If you setup a primary Google account on your Note 2 then your contacts should have synced to your Gmail and should be nice and safe. If you want to try and verify that they are on your Google account then take a look at How-to check the contacts on a Google account, it should help point you in the right direction. That being said if your pictures are stored to your phones internal storage and your Note 2 wont power on then recovering those images might not be possible. Unless of course you can try the alcohol trick and get your phone to power on again, in which case you’ll be good to go.

      So, is it worth a try? Heck yeah, you got nothing to lose my friend. Don’t forget to come back to the site and let us know if you were able to find your contact list and whether or not you were able to resurrect your unresponsive Note 2.

  30. Remove batt/sim/cover while soaking?
    Hi james bond,
    Thx for all your helpful solutions.

    My first question is, am i supposed to remove the battery and sim and back cover before putting my verizon s4 phone in rice? Because after drying off and sealing my water damaged phone in rice for 24 hrs (with battery, sim, and back cover intact), i plugged it into a charger, and it vibrated every 5 seconds with no battery charging icon appearing. I had to disconnect it to power it up, and while it worked, when i plugged it in to charge, the longer it was plugged in, the lower the battery went. It shows that it’s charging, but the percent keeps decreasing and is now at 15%. I am thinking of putting it back in rice for longer, and i was wondering if i should remove the battery, sim, and leave back cover off for the rice bath or not.

    Next, if that doesn’t help with the charging issue, i was going to try the 99% alcohol soak. Have to go out and buy some first. My question there is, do i remove the battery, sim, and back cover again or leave it all in there while soaking?

    Finally, if i vacuum out excess rice dust or water, how can i keep it from causing problems? Can i use a plastic hose connected to vac, and what can i do to ground myself to keep from hurting the phone further?

    Thanks so much for clarifying,
    Wei

    1. Yeah, go ahead and let it air out as best as you can

      Hi Wei,

      You want to allow (or create) the best drying conditions for your cell phone. I think that taking the removable pieces off of the phone may allow the device to dry faster.

      If you do try the alcohol trick (which wouldn’t be too bad of an idea), you can soak the whole phone intact for 5-10 minutes, and then take the Back cover, Battery, SIM card, possible memory cards off of the phone and dry them by hand with a clean cloth. Alcohol will allow the pieces to dry quickly and you shouldn’t have to use rice to help dry them, you can set them aside while you concentrate on the phone itself.

      Let the phone soak in 99% alcohol for a while; make sure to let the alcohol get into the phone and into all of the nooks and crannies. If you want to try the alcohol before your phone is dry then feel free to do so. The alcohol should help absorb any left over water and of course allow the phone to dry quickly as well (although you will want to use rice to completely dry out your phone). When you take the phone out of the alcohol bath try to let it drip dry a bit to get as much alcohol out from the inside of the phone as you can. Then give it a good cleaning/drying with a dry cloth. That way the rice won’t stick to it.

      You can skip using a vacuum for now. Just make sure that there are NO signs of MOISTURE in or on the phone when you start to use it. You don’t want to accidently cause damage to the device.

  31. Phone fixed after falling in the canal
    The phone got very wet after it fell into the Forth and Clyde Canal at Falkirk (it was in my pocket) :-). I followed your guides and was about to give up on it when I immersed it in isopropyl alcohol after removing the battery as a precaution. After drying it I put the battery back in and It Worked !! Thank you so much for this guide it’s terrific! Cheers I’ve got my (only about 2 weeks old) Xperia M2 again – Thanks, Neil

  32. Xperia M2 fell in water
    hi.. my xperia M2 phone felled in to water and i saw the water spreading inside through out the phone. i switched it off and placed it in rice bucket. its sealed so i cannot remove a battery. while its in side the rice i started to kind of vibrate for a while and stopped.. i only have a software warranty for this phone. how can i fix it if it didn’t work ? 🙁

  33. Samsung Galaxy Fame Home Button
    My phone was in my coat pocket while I was out in heavy rain for no less than 10 minutes – I was walking across my university campus to get from one building to another. The top of the phone was exposed to the rain, and my coat was only thin too so the water went straight through (to my clothing, and evidently to my phone).

    I noticed that my home button had stopped working 6 hours after it had been exposed to the rain but I didn’t realize that my phone was in my pocket when it rained until a good 2 hours after that (8 hours in total) when I noticed a funny pattern on the back of my clear phone case. I took the case off to find it full of water, and the same thing when I took the back off and battery out.

    My phone has since reset its time, and forgotten all my saved Wifi passwords, after I left all the parts out separately for 3 days. But my home button still isn’t working!!!! Its so annoying because I use it all the time!! I’m currently charging it, and the home button has worked once only. Does this mean it might work if I leave it out to dry for a couple more days?

    Should I be charging my phone while it had been water damaged?

    Thanks!

    1. I can see clearly now the rain is gone.

      Hi Amy,

      Don’t charge your phone if there is a chance that it’s not completely dry. In fact you might even want to take the battery out as an extra precaution to try and prevent any chance of an electrical short from happening.

      Once the phone has had enough time to completely dry then put it all back together and see if it will power up properly and then test that Home key to see if it functions properly. You definitely want your Home key to work correctly because like you said you use the Home key all the time it’s probably your most commonly used hardware key.  

      If the phone is dry and the key continues to have issues then you will have a few options available. You can try removing the key, cleaning the phone where the button sits, and the button itself and then reassemble the device to see if that helps or you can try an alcohol bath or you can look into your repair or replacement options.

      Hopefully once the phone has dried completely it will work properly again, if not then try cleaning it with alcohol.

      Good luck Amy, I hope that this issue doesn’t give you too much trouble and that you end up fixing it with little fuss. I also hope that you and your Samsung have good and bright sunshiny days from here on. If there is anything else I can try and help you with just let me know.

  34. Nexus 4
    Hi,

    Recently a little bit of water got into the usb port of my nexus 4, the phone is fully functional except the problem is it doesn’t charge. The last time it was able to charge it I noticed that the phone got really hot and near the usb port it started to smell like something was burning i was wondering could I fix it with the alcohol bath? (since i opened it up and it doesn’t appear to be water damaged, according to the white sensor stickers) or should i buy a wireless charger and try to see if the phone is able to charge?

    1. Water Damaged Nexus 4

      Hum… If your Nexus 4 got water into its charging port and then started to have charging issues, including overheating and producing a burning aroma then there is a really good chance that the charging port on your cell phone had experienced water damage. You can TRY to give that port a good cleaning with alcohol. You may not need to submerge the whole phone if it was primarily the charging port that was affected.

      There is no guarantee when it comes to the subject of water damage but I don’t think you have anything to lose by trying it.

  35. My phoneeeee…
    Hi there,

    I stupidly dropped my phone out of my hoody pocket into the bath I was cleaning with bleach. So unfortunately my phone got a mixture of water and bleach bath. I took it out and it seemed fine but minutes later apps were crashing, then it kept going through a loop of restarting the phone, the restart/switch off menu would come on without pressing the button when it did eventually turned on and the first time it restarted by itself, the phone started with 35% battery then turned back on seconds later with 6% battery…..I’m guessing it’s very much broken, but is there anything at all I can do? Its a HTC one mini also, thanks

    1. Water and Bleach? That doesn’t sound very pleasant.

      Hi there Charlotte,

      You may be right; your poor phone might not be able to withstand that harsh combination of misfortune. Cross your fingers and soak your phone (and all of its parts) in alcohol for 15-30 minutes and then take all of the pieces off of the phone, dry those pieces with a towel, and then put your phone back into alcohol to soak for a few hours, periodically wiggling/shaking the phone underneath the alcohol. You want the alcohol to get into every part of your phone.

      After a few hours of soaking take the phone out of the alcohol, try to get as much alcohol out of it as you can manage, dry the outside of the phone (with a dry cloth), and then place your phone in a sealed container with plenty of rice, then let the phone dry. Alcohol should dry faster than water but I suggest giving it a good amount of time to dry out completely before trying to use it again.

      Good luck Charlotte! I wish you and your HTC One Mini the best of luck.

  36. I walked in the rain and my phone got wet
    My phone started acting a little weird and I started to have a hard time turning it off. When I turned it on again after a while the screen started to turn colorful. Everything almost when blank so i turn it off again. It took around 1h30m for me to get home to place it in a bowl of rice but I kept checking on the phone to try to turn it on. But now it doesn’t turn on. I tried like like three times and have had it in rice for like 1h. Is the phone broken now? Should I try and charge it?

    Do you think a 100% alcohol bath will work on my iphone5? Should I try it for my phone heehee? 😀

    1. There is only one way to know for sure…

      If there is a chance that your iPhone 5 still has moisture in it then I would not risk charging it. Depending on how wet it got from the rain you might not have waited long enough before turning the phone on. If your phone is not powering on at all and has had plenty of time to dry than YES you might want to try the alcohol bath as it might help. It is not guaranteed to help of course but if it won’t power on or work properly then you shouldn’t have anything to lose by trying it.

      Good luck Xueling.

  37. Dropped my phone in the bath:(
    I dropped my phone in the bathtub the other night. And it wasn’t working so I put it in rice for about 24 hours. After that it finally turned on but the screen isn’t working I got it to slide once so I could unlock it but now it won’t unlock anymore. Could the alcohol thing possibly work for my phone? Thanks.

    1. Yes, Possibly…

      Hi Savannah,

      Sorry to hear that your cell phone has become yet another bathroom water damage statistic.

      You said that the “screen isn’t working” and isn’t responding so I assume that the touch screen is having issues as opposed to the display screen… you might want to take your phone apart and put it in rice for another day. Your phone might not be completely dry yet… If the touch screen still has problems then yes, the alcohol trick can help in with your circumstances as well. If it doesn’t then the touch screen might have been damaged and might need to be replaced.

  38. Galaxy Grand GT fell into a water bucket..
    Hi James,

    Good to see your responses to resolving the peoples issues. Great job buddy!! 🙂

    I am hoping you can help me with my issue..

    This morning I accidentally dropped my phone into a bucket of water. I was lucky because when the phone collided with the side of the bucket it caused the battery to fall out of the phone.

    So when I looked into the bucket I saw that the battery and phone were separate!

    –> within 5 seconds I was able to take the battery and the phone out of the water.
    –> removed both the SIM cards and Memory card.
    –> immediately wiped it with a cotton cloth.
    –> kept it in sunlight for 2 hours.
    –> After that I loosened the bolts in order to open the rear cover but somehow I was not able to open the silver strip which surrounds the cell phone.
    –> I tried using a hand drier until my cell phone was warm.
    –> after that I inserted the battery, SIM and memory cards and gave it a try.

    What I observed –> the phone was functional for 2 minutes and I was able to swipe on the screen.

    But after 5 minutes the display was not responding.

    Other below functions are working properly.

    1. Sound- Good
    2. Charging Phone- Good
    3. I can see the messages, Facebook notification but not able to answer them.

    Only the Display is not working completely.

    What I am planning:

    –> To keep it in a bowl of rice: After reading the comments above though it doesn’t seem like rice seems to be solving the problem.
    –> Remaining way is 99% isopropyl alcohol bath.

    Still I can see the evaporated water drops inside the phone’s Camera lens.

    So somehow the water is still inside the phone.

    Can you give me some suggestions on how i might be able to get the water out completely?

    Millions of thanks in advanced!!! 😀

    1. “Time gives good advice.” – Maltese Proverb

      Hi Aditya,

      Ok, so you acted fast removing the phone and battery from the liquid (that good), the battery and phone got separated from each other which might have helped prevent an electrical short (that’s real good), you removed all of the removable pieces from the phone (SD card, SIM card, battery, back plate, etc.) and tried to let them dry out (that’s good), you used a “hand dryer” to dry out the phone a little faster (be careful doing things like this you don’t want to cause damage from excessive heat or by accidently blowing water further into the phone, but your phone will probably be ok)…

      It sounds like you did a pretty good job caring for your phone, except it sounds like you might not have given it enough time to dry out on the inside. If it was dropped in water then it can take a little while to completely dry and if you see moisture or liquid inside of the camera lens then the phone still needs more time to dry.

      This is where the rice comes in. Rice isn’t a miracle solution for drying liquid but it does absorb moisture well and is very affordable and usually easily accessible so it’s often a good tool to use in helping to speed up the drying process. Alcohol dries quickly too (way faster than water) but you might want to hold off on the alcohol for the moment and simply let the phone dry out naturally (or in the sun or set your phone close to (not on top of) a light such as a desk lamp where the phone can sit and be warm but NOT HOT you don’t want to cause any damage to your phone on accident.

      After the phone has had plenty of time to dry and you don’t see any signs of liquid or moisture then you can put the phone all back together and power it on up then try it out.

      Thank you for visiting the site Aditya, thanks for posting such a great comment, and I wish you and your phone the best of luck.

      1. Before trying all the solutions I tried this… and it worked 🙂
        Hi James,

        Thank you so much for your quick response and valuable suggestions!

        When I posted my issue, on that same day I tried to open my cell again and I was able to open that silver strip as well.

        I saw that some water drops were on the microprocessor and on the camera lens.

        Again I kept it under the hand drier.

        All of sudden I realized that something was loose.
        So I tightly pressed the green chip especially where we insert the 3.5 jack pin.

        Woooohoooooooo!!!!

        It got it working for me.
        After I applied some pressure it started working within 3 seconds.

        Somehow some water drops had evaporated on the camera lens so I cleaned it with a tissue.

        This comment is entirely from my cell phone!!!!

        Conclusion:
        –> an alcohol bath may by the best way but I did not have to try it.
        –> in my case the display was not responding.
        I put some pressure on an electronic chip that was located towards the rear and side of the phone and it worked.

        I almost planned to purchase a new phone..

        Now very happy to see my phone alive. 😀

        Thanks James!! For such a great advice and your prompt attention.

        Great job buddy keep it up!

        Thanks

        1. Your welcome Aditya, and thank you as well.

          Hi again Aditya,

          Thank you for your quick follow-up and for posting what you ended up doing to fix your cell phone. Maybe that slight bump which dislodged your battery caused that chip to become lose and come out of place as well.

          Your advice might just help someone else who stumbles upon the same unfortunate situation so thank you for coming back to the site and posting it.

          I am very happy to hear that everything worked out and your phone is up and running properly again and you didn’t even have to try using any alcohol ;).

          Keep up the great work and I hope that you continue to enjoy your working Samsung Galaxy Grand.

  39. My Touch Screen Crashed!
    So, i dropped my Motto X in the toilet. i immediately took it out, shook it off and let it sit. It worked fine for about an hour, then when i turned it on to put my password in my screen would not let me touch anything. My screen is completely fine, shows fine and all. The touch system just wont let me press anything. I cant even press the power off when it gives me the option. I have to wait for it to die.

  40. Phone Repairment
    Today I was at school and i put my DL600 in my pocket with my pen.Then when i took it out it ink was all over it cause a pen was leaking.So i went to the nurse who gave me a swab with alcohol on it of course so then i started cleaning it off.it was okay turning on and everything but after school i turned it on but it didn’t work so when i got home i tried charging it,all it did was show a white light at the top and not turn on. PLEASE HELP ME!

    1. That sounds like a pretty bad leak

      Hi Matthew,

      Sorry to hear about your cell phones misfortune. Does it look like a lot of ink actually got into the cell phone? Surprising that your cell phone wouldn’t turn on after you got home. Good job with the alcohol by the way. Out of curiosity other than cleaning the outside of the phone with alcohol have you tried anything else in particular? Have you tried bathing your phone in alcohol? If you charge your phone and cannot get it to power on again then an alcohol bath might be the next thing to try and even then it’s not a guaranteed fix.

  41. LG G3
    I was leaning over the toilet when my LG G3 fell. It had a case on but I took it off because I could tell there was water with in the phone. I didn’t have any rice or anything so I used a paper towel it start working but now it shut off on its own. Or it goes into safe mode. I have no clue what to do next and I have no insurance on the phone

    1. Avoid the temptation and give it time

      Hi Adrianne,

      It happens to the best of us and those are two common issues associated with water damage. There may be hope though, so don’t give up just yet.

      First of all make sure that the phone is COMPLETELY DRY. Another common thing associated with liquid damage is that it is sometimes hard to wait for the phone to completely dry before checking to see if it’s working properly or not. So avoid the temptation, give it time, and be patient.

      That being said, let’s see what we can do to fix your LG G3.

      The Safe Mode issue may indicate a problem with your hardware buttons. You can read a little more about this feature in using safe mode, and even more so in how to fix a phone that’s stuck in safe mode, but essentially your phone has an option to start the phone without any third party applications. This feature is called Safe Mode and can be accessed by simultaneously holding down specific hardware keys while the phone is off. In your case the LG G3 uses the Power key and the Volume Down key to access this feature, so it’s likely that at the very least your Volume Down button was effected by the water.

      You can try the bath as mentioned in the article above (which you might need anyways if your phone is sporadically powering off as well), but you could try removing the Volume Down button giving the button and the spot where that button goes a really good cleaning with alcohol. I have a feeling that might just help solve the Safe Mode issue at the very least. The power issue might be a little more challenging to fix depending on what is causing this to happen, and like I already mentioned, you might have to try an alcohol bath or maybe even another battery to try and solve that one.

      I hope that helps Adrianne, if there is anything else that I can do to try and help just let me know.

  42. Xperia M2
    I dropped my Sony Xperia M2 (while it was still powered on) into sea water and could not get it out for a couple minutes. It was off when I got it out of the water, and I have not made any attempts to turn it on again. I am trying to fix it right now.
    Most websites recommend I remove the battery, but as far as I’ve seen, I cannot take the back off of the phone to take out the battery. Is there anything else I can do for it?
    I have rinsed my phone with distilled water and dried it with paper towel, and it is now sitting in a 30 degree C oven. I plan on putting it into a container of rice tonight to remove as much water as possible. If there is anything else I should try, please let me know!

    1. Trying to salvage your Xperia M2 that was dropped in salt water

      OK… where to begin.

      It’s very common for Sony Xperia smartphones to have built in non-removable batteries and the Xperia M2 falls into this category so you won’t be able to remove the battery without taking your cell phone apart (let’s hope it doesn’t come to that).

      Salt water = bad news for electronics. It might be difficult to get your cell phone to work again but don’t give up just yet, there is still hope.

      I recommend that you DO NOT try to heat up the phone with any other electronic or appliance in order to try to get your cell phone to dry faster. Don’t use an oven, don’t use a microwave, don’t use a blow dryer, a hand dryer, a heater, a boiler, I don’t even recommend a light bulb from a lamp. You run the risk of accidently causing additional damage to the device.

      That being said I recommend that you purchase some alcohol (99% if possible) and try the alcohol bath (submerge your phone completely in alcohol). You want to try to get as much if not all of the mineral (especially salt) deposits left behind OUT of the phone and alcohol can help you do this.

      Salt water can be a real phone killer, so I wish you luck and hope that you are able to revive your poor Sony Xperia M2.

  43. Sony Xperia Z1
    So last week I was at a party and someone spilled no more than a drop of alcohol on my phone. The water damage indicator is exposed and one end of it went a bit pink, but other than that it was okay. For the next few days my phone was working fine, however, now it has stopped charging, and I cannot see if there is any more damage because the battery is flat. The water damage indicator has turned fully red now, and I now realize that the water must have been seeping through. I can’t remove the battery from my phone, so how would you suggest trying to fix it? Submerge it fully in Isopropyl alcohol? Or just try to clean the port that seem to have been affected?

    1. Yep, start with the charging port and go from there

      Hi Sam,

      Sorry to hear about your cell phone. If I was in your position then I would start by trying to clean that charging port and if that didn’t seem to work then I would give it a full bath. At this point you have nothing to lose. Since the LDI is red the phone is no longer covered under warranty and a phone that wont charge doesn’t do anyone a bit of good.

  44. My phone stopped charging halfway
    Hi, my sony xperia m fell into the water today and was working properly. At first, it was working fine but when I charge it, it stopped halfway and shows no signal when there is actually signal in my home. What do I do?

  45. Michael Hargreaves

    Hi, when I was out at the beach taking pictures…
    Hi, when I was out at the beach taking pictures, a wave rolled over my LG Optimus G pro and I didn’t turn it off or take the battery out for several hours. When I finally tried it, the screen would not turn on. Only the led indicator lights at the bottom of the screen. Is it completely ruined or is there a possibility it can be fixed?

    1. Only one way to find out…

      Salt water can be pretty bad for any electronic and you won’t truly know if your phone is ruined or not until you try the alcohol bath. It’s a somewhat good sign that those indicator lights are still working though. It means that your cell phone isn’t completely dead and there is at least a chance of fixing it. It might just be your display screen that’s acting up… does your phone make any sounds or give any indication that it’s booting up or that a call is coming through? If so then the display screen might just be malfunctioning and the odds of fixing your phone are even better.

      But like I said you won’t really know until you try.

  46. Phone display has some water impression
    Hi.. my phone fell into the water last night.. I immediately took it out and dried it.. when I tried to insert the battery the display flickered so I left the mobile alone the whole night to dry up. In the morning I checked the mobile and it turned on and was functioning good. The only problem is that the display has a water streak like impression…what can I do to resolve it?

  47. hi.. my phone fell into the water last night..
    hi.. my phone fell into the water last night.. i immediately took out and dried it..when i tried to insert the batter the display flickered.. i left the mobile alone the whole night to dry up.. the next morning i checked the mobile.. it turned on and seems to be functioning good.. the only problem is the display has a water streak like impression… what can i do to resolve it.? plz help me.

    1. You may need to let it dry a little longer

      Hi Sathya,

      If it seems like there is still water or moisture underneath the display screen between where you press and the actual display itself then you might need to let your phone dry for little longer in order for that water to evaporate entirely. A couple other readers had the same issue and the issue seemed to get resolved after the phone had a little bit more time to dry. One reader even put her cell phone underneath a lamp in order to get it to dry a little quicker. I have a feeling that that’s what’s happening in your case and a little bit of time should help to fix that issue right up.

  48. LG L90
    Phone fell in the toilet. Put it in rice twice. Put it in freezer. Reset to factory settings.
    Phone will make calls, receive calls and send texts. NO ONE can hear me speaking!

    Please help!

    1. Your microphone is malfunctioning

      Hi Genesis,

      From your description it sounds like your microphone has been damaged by the toilet water or at the very least is malfunctioning because of the liquid that it was exposed to. There is a good chance that the microphone will need to be replaced but if you want to try it then you might get lucky if you submerge your cell phone in alcohol or perhaps even just the bottom of the phone (where its microphone is) in alcohol for a bit. Make sure to use the purest alcohol that you can get and it’s not going to be a guaranteed resolution. If the water did in fact damage the microphone then you will need to replace the microphone in order for other people to hear you again.

      A cell phones of little use if other people are unable to hear you talking to them…

      If the alcohol trick and replacing the microphone doesn’t work (and I have a strong feeling that it will) then you will likely need to look into replacing the phone itself.

      If you cannot replace the phone then you could also consider investing in a Bluetooth headset or a wired headset that you can plug into the top of the phone… both of which will have their own microphones built in and you won’t have to use the malfunctioning microphone that’s installed in your cell phone.

  49. My phone stopped charging after falling into water
    Hi, My Gionee P3 fell into a bucket of water (thanks to my sis), I acted on impulse and dried it by hand and then kept it in the sun to dry. It worked just fine at first but after some hours the screen blinked like a bulb and then it switched off. I turned it on and saw only 1% charge was left while before it was 48%! I tried charging my phone and it showed it was charging but it didn’t actually seem to charge. It switched off after a while. First I thought there was problem with the battery so I took it to the shop and they said that the battery was fine, it had even charged!
    Please help!

  50. So I went in the shower with my sony xperia…
    So I went in the shower with my sony xperia z3 which is supposed to be water proof once I got out in find my screen is completely black. The touch and sound still work but the screen is dead. I just tried your alcohol method and I am hoping that it works.

  51. I dropped my Zenfone 5 into water
    Hey. I dropped my Zenfone 5 into water while bathing my baby. Everything is working just fine except for when charging. Whenever I connect my phone to the charger, it’s discharging instead of charging. Help.

  52. Moto g gen2 …. Fell in water
    Hi I had one of those dreaded instances of my moto gen2 falling in water.
    I dried it for a while….then switched it on. Phone started but began to shutdown on its own.
    Left it outside for a night. The next day it started and this time the phone worked…. however it would again shutdown after a few minutes of working.
    I tried the following…. vacuum for 10 mins. Then blew the water from the edges.
    Then I submerged it in rice for 1 night. Now my phone works fine but its charging extremely slow…. please advise. Should I try the isopropyl solution.

  53. liquid damage to my galaxy s3
    Hi I just went to a music festival and forgot my life proof case at home, I got sprayed with paint and my phone got soaked with paint what should I do?

    1. Clean it as best as you can

      Your Samsung Galaxy S3 got covered in paint? What kind of paint? Can you wait for the paint to dry and then peel it off? Obviously you’re going to want to try and clean the paint off of the phone as best you can. Just make sure not to use any harsh chemicals to clean it. A lacquer thinner or paint stripper is likely going to cause more harm than good and should obviously be avoided.

  54. I dropped my LG G3 in my Jacuzzi when it was 105*F.
    I have no alcohol in my house except 70%. Will that do?

    I immediately took my phone out and dried it (the best that I could) which has always worked with all my other phones in the past.

    And now all I see is a light that goes blue to green repeatedly and I am not for sure what that means. I was doing that when I tried to turn it on. So now I am trying to charge it hoping that the electricity will help evaporate the water from inside of the phone (which is a theory of mine).

    Also I tried plugging it in my laptop and my laptop cant recognize it… which it was earlier when I was putting some music on to my phone…

    So my main question is. Will 70% alcohol work just fine or would it damage my phone even more?

  55. Moto 2nd Gen water damaged
    Hi, I bought New Motorola G2 mobile for my cousin last month. Unfortunately he dropped his phone into a bucket of water. He immediately took the phone from the water but its still not working.

    I handed over the phone in the service center and they are asking 8600 Rupees (Almost 70% of a New Mobile) to replace the display and board. We are helpless in making a decision. Can anyone please suggest a better idea? Thanks in advance!

  56. Touchscreen acting wierd
    Hi,

    I’m having a problem with my phones touchscreen (HTC One m7). About a year ago it got a bit wet when i grabbed it with wet hands after a shower, and didn’t notice till 1/2 an hour later. I then immediately turned it off and put it into rice. It all worked well until now… I’m not sure if it got wet again and there’s just no visible way to tell, or if its just humidity/moisture that’s giving me problems… but my touchscreen has an unresponsive sideways area which doesn’t work. Funny enough, if I use a hair dryer in low heat for 3 minutes, or put the phone into rice for 8 hours, it gets better, the part of the touchscreen that doesn’t work becomes smaller… any suggestions??

    Also, lately I’ve been getting ghost touches, could it be all the same problem??

    Thanks!

  57. flip phone in the water
    I dropped my flip phone in the toilet. It was in less than 10 seconds. The phone was on when it went in and when I tried to turn off the power it wasn’t responding to the corresponding keys. My lock screen kept flashing. I immediately started drying it off and tapping the phone against my thigh to get rid of the excess water. I asked fellow tech coworkers and we took the back off, removed the battery and air dried the phone with a pressurized hose we had in our work room. It is sitting in a tightly sealed plastic bag with desicant packs for keeping moisture out of equipment since I have no rice. How long should I keep it sealed with these packets and what is the likelihood that my SIM card which is still in the phone hold my information? Will I loose my SIM card info or can the card be placed in another flip phone? Please help!! Thanks..

  58. jeanray gonzales

    Phones touchscreen doesnt work
    2 weeks ago I dropped my phone in the toilet. I dried it out and it worked perfectly but this morning part of my screen stopped working when tapped but it doesn’t shows any dead pixels. When I press the screen it shows some moisture on the inside. What should I do?

  59. Phone not working 24 hrs after water incident
    Hi everyone, My MotoG fell into water yesterday. It was maybe 10% immersed for around 1 sec, I took it out, dried it and left the back open for a while. It worked perfectly fine for around 24 hrs. Then, however, the screen didn’t turn on, I can’t reset it and when charging, the LED blinks, but nothing else. Now I wonder if this is related to the water, to the installed Mod (a nightly build of Cyanogen) or to a general battery problem (I found similar stories without the water incident online). Can a problem like this result from a water damage that didn’t seem to have any effect for the 24 hrs before?

  60. Samsung Galaxy S2 water damage
    Hi there, last year I stupidly left my cell phone in my jacket and ran it through the washing machine. It was in there probably a good 20 minutes before realizing. I did the whole removing the battery and whatever else there was, did the rice thing for days and it still does not work. There was never a SIM card in the phone so I want to know if there is any hope of retrieving the hundreds of pictures on my phone ever again?

  61. water damaged iphone
    I spilt Dr pepper on my phone and it was working fine however its been about 24 hours and all of a sudden it has gone off and it won’t charge.. It is has been sat in a bowl of rice for about 12 hours…

  62. My samsung galaxy ace duos S6802 was dropped in water
    Hi sir, my phone (samsung galaxy ace duos S6802) was accidentally dropped in water and submerged in it for a long time. I gave it to the service center but they could not repair it and if i am trying to charge it then it gets hot… please help.

  63. Galaxy Light Water Damage
    I dropped my phone in the toilet and it had some cracks in it. I Let if dry for about two days, it wouldn’t turn on, so I put in a different battery. It turned on, but it wont turn on fully. It starts to turn on, then it turns off, then on again. it wont stop until I take the battery out. I tried to put it on the charger. It doesn’t help, what do I do?

  64. Wet phone
    Hi James,

    My phone was already dried and it does turn on but the main problem is that the bluetooth and wifi are not working. Should I bring it to a technician? Or do you have any suggestions on how to fix it..

    Thanks

    1. You might have to take your phone to a technician

      Hi again Cahipot,

      Yes, if you try the suggestions in the article above or choose not to try to use alcohol to fix your cell phone and are still having issues with your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi then you will need to look into your repair options such as taking it to a qualified technician. I sort of briefly mentioned this before but there is a chance that when your cell phone got wet the moisture might have damaged those parts on your phone and those damaged parts will need to be repaired or replaced.

      Good luck my friend.

  65. My phone won’t start up
    I have a samsung brightside and it fell in the toilet. i dried it right away and when i turned it on the screen turned white and had water droplets in it. I tried putting it in dry rice but it was only for 30 minutes or so. as well i tried the vaccum method to suck the water out. my phone looks dry but it won’t turn on or charge….

  66. Sony Xperia M fell in the toilet 🙁
    My cell phone fell in the loo from my back pocket. Got it out in about five minutes, washed under tap water, and opened and dried it in sunlight. I didn’t notice if it was still on when I got it out. After that I kept it open in the room to dry for three days. When I tried it after that it seems to be working, but the screen is dark. It beeped as if it had a low battery, and also beeped twice as if a message or other alert had come through. When I put it to charge it seems to be charging. The repair shop guy said the processor is gone. But to me it seems only to be the screen that is gone. Is it safe to put my SIM in and check? Or can all of these things still happen even when the processor is gone?

    1. Trying to salvage your Sony Xperia M

      Hi Karen,

      I don’t think the processer is the issue… if the processor was toast then the phone wouldn’t be able to process things and your phone would likely just sit there and be totally unresponsive. From your description your phone is very responsive. It chirps and beeps and charges and everything. The only problem is the display screen.

      Can you still see something on the display screen? Is it dim or completely black? Both would likely point to an issue with your display screen (obviously) but if its dim then it could be that the backlight is malfunctioning and you might have a better chance at fixing it or if it’s completely black then that could lead to a few different causes… It’s often a guessing game when it comes to possible water or liquid damage.

      Plugging in your SIM should be ok and shouldn’t hurt anything so long as the SIM and the SIM card port on the phone were completely dry when you did it. If the cell phone is completely dry and is still having issues then don’t forget to try the alcohol bath…

      I am telling all of my readers again that that IT WORKS and alcohol can help to bring a drowned cell phone (or the components within a cell phone) back to life. It isn’t guaranteed to work of course, as it cannot repair damaged hardware but it can clear out existing moisture and can also help to clean out deposits that might have been left behind from that moisture which can cause problems and cause things not to function properly.

      1. Thanks for the reply, James!
        Thanks for the reply, James! I, in the meanwhile, lost hope and got a new phone. But I’ll definitely try the alcohol bath. My screen is completely dark though, not dim.
        Thanks again!

  67. My phone drowned
    My phone drowned in the pool yesterday (Samsung Galaxy s4) and I immediately dried it off and submerged it in rice. Now my LED light is flashing through a variety of colors and the phone won’t turn on. I was told by Samsung not to take the battery out, which I didn’t, then once it was dry I took out the battery and put it back in rice. Still no change. Help please?? Is there hope of survival?

    1. Water Damage Survival Course

      Hello Micaela,

      I don’t know why Samsung would encourage you to leave your battery in the phone while it dried… that doesn’t make any sense to me as it would increase the changes of an electrical short and would most likely cause your Samsung Galaxy to dry slower, increase the chance of damage to the battery, and many other different reasons. But I digress.

      That being said, if this happens again and your phone is submerged or dropped into liquid (especially if that liquid turns out to be water that contains salt or chlorine) and your cell phone is designed to allow you to remove the battery then take that battery out right away, this will cut power to the phone and decrease the chances of parts of the phone getting damage due to an electrical short, then try to get your cell phone as dry as possible as quickly as possible.

      For salt waters and waters with chemicals in it… you might want to skip the drying process and go straight to an alcohol bath (or two or three baths just to be thorough) and use the purest alcohol that you can find. You want to dilute that salt water and get it out of the phone. Afterwards try to get as much of the liquids (water/alcohol) out of the phone as you can manage and then put the phone into rice and wait for it to dry out completely. The alcohol should help the phone to dry faster too.

      After its all dry put everything back into the phone (SIM, Memory card, Battery, Back plate, etc) and give it a try. Hopefully the alcohol will have done its job and with any luck the phone will turn back on and function properly again. If not you will have to diagnose the phone, see what might have been damaged and repair or replace those parts or even the phone itself depending on the severity of the damage.

  68. Note 4 dropped in toilet with urine
    So I went to the restroom and forgot my phone was in my back pocket. I went back into the restroom like 5 minutes later because my friend saw a phone in the toilet. I looked and it was mine. I took it out of the toilet and took the battery out and was not around any rice for about 6 hours. I then forgot my phone in the car for like 10 hours. It wouldn’t cut on let alone charge. So I took the battery and Sim card out for 20 to 22 hours and then finally got it charging and to turn on. So the problems is that it doesn’t charge while on only off. It’s stuck in safe mode. Volume down button doesn’t work it still clicks. Home key doesn’t work when I touch it with my finger only with an s pen and the fingerprint scanner doesn’t work. Can I clean my Note 4 with alcohol and hope that it will work?

    1. I would try it and see what happens

      Hi Shehateme2,

      Yeah, I would give it a try. It sounds like this experience really did a number on your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and alcohol might just give you a fighting chance at trying to fix it.

      Good luck my friend and don’t forget to come back to the site to let us know if using alcohol was able to help or not.

  69. Phone in the Washing Machine
    My Samsung Galaxy Alpha went through the entire wash cycle with my laundry. I’m trying the rice idea right now, but i have very little hope. Is there any better way that i can save my phone?

    1. Accidental Water Damage – Phone in washing machine

      Hi Blake,

      A full or partial wash in the washing machine can be pretty brutal on a cell phone. Not only is the cell phone completely submerged in water, it’s getting rocked back and forth causing water to definitely get into the phone, and it’s likely not just water that’s getting into the phone either. Soapy water is likely going to leave a pretty troublesome soapy residue behind, plus the dirt and other things that might have come off of the dirty cloths may have found its way into the cell phone. Needless to say I can see why you have “little hope”. There IS HOPE though so hang onto that hope.

      Do NOT power your phone on, or try to power your phone on until it is completely DRY. If I was in your place I would go straight to an alcohol bath. I wouldn’t even wait for the phone to dry. I would completely submerge the phone in 99% alcohol (use 99% and not 70%, I don’t even recommend 91% go for the 99%) and give it a good shaking under the alcohol making sure to get the alcohol into the phone to try and clean out as much of that dirty soapy watery residue out of the phone. Then after submerging it for an hour or two (shaking it occasionally) I would take it out of the alcohol, I would try to dry it out as best as I could by hand and then I would but it into a Ziploc bag or an airtight Tupperware container with lots of rice. Then I would wait patiently for the phone to dry. Luckily Alcohol will help the drying process go faster as well.

      This isn’t a guaranteed fix of course but it should give you and your phone a fighting chance.

  70. My phone got soaked by water
    My phone got soaked by a small amount of water and now the screen has a dark red tint, and the touch screen is not working. The phone still works and can received missed calls. I tried to put it into dry rice but that didn’t work. What should I do?

  71. Accidental liquid damage.
    Some water accidentally spilled on my Sony Xperia M2 and it was working properly then suddenly it started having charging problems and started to continuously reboot and now only works when it is connected to the charger. Is there any way to save my mobile?

  72. LG Optimus
    I accidentally got water in it then let it sit in rice. Now everything works except the mic. Is there a way to fix that?

    1. Try to fix and then replace…

      Hi Manda,

      Try to fix your microphone using the alcohol trick mentioned in the guide above first and if it doesn’t seem to work then the microphone might be damaged and you could take it into a local repair shop to have them replace it or if you think you can manage you could buy the replacement online and replace it yourself.  

  73. Adina Hirschmann

    Plan B: Indirect, slow warmth of blow dryer

    This worked for my phone.  Open, remove battery and data cards. Disassemble as far down as your skill-set allows, using a Phillips screwdriver from an eyeglass repair kit. GENTLY does it. Put the screws in an empty pill vial and close it. Separate the front of the display from the back just enough to vent it and insert a toothpick or other non-conductive object to maintain that position. Leave the circuit board intact, but vent the keyboard, if so equipped. Place cards and all the parts inside the bonnet and attach to dryer.  Turn on COOL or WARM and allow it to run for 4 hours, checking and changing them around inside occasionally, for an even distribution of heat. When time is up, reassemble, put cards and battery back in. Charge and boot up.

  74. Samsung Galaxy S4 mini broken head phone input
    I accidentally didn’t put the lid on my drink properly and it spilled and went all over my phone. Everything is ok but the headphone input keeps telling me I have headphones plugged in when I don’t and now I am unable to listen to music out loud or talk to someone on the phone without it having to be on speaker. I have tried using the rice technique but it hasn’t work. Do you have any other suggestions of what I could do?

    1. Trying to fix a malfunctioning audio jack

      Hi Kelly,

      I have seen that kind of thing happen to the headset jack on a cell phone before, even without the phone being exposed to liquid and yes that problem can be very annoying BUT count your blessings it could have been a lot worse and you might be able to fix this problem with minimal fuss. 

      If you have not already done so then try to plug in a headset jack repeatedly into that port. You should be able to use just a standard headset for this and it doesn’t need to be one with a microphone or anything. You just want to try to get it to register that headset properly so you might have to repeatedly insert the audio jack for 30 seconds to a minute or two.

      If that doesn’t seem to work (and hopefully it will) then I recommend that you try to clean that port as best you can. If possible try to locate some alcohol (the purer the better, 99% if possible) and then give that area of your phone a good cleaning. A standard Q-tip probably won’t fit without tearing some of the cotton off of the end of it, and you don’t need a whole lot of alcohol to clean it either (more moist then wet).

      If you don’t have any alcohol or for some reason this just isn’t possible then you can try wrapping a nail or toothpick with tape (the sticky part outwards) and then insert that into the jack to try to get any dirt, debris or deposit left over from your drink to stick to it and then remove that junk from the port…

      There are many different tactics that you can use to try and clean it out. If it turns out that the port was damaged from the liquid (possible but not likely) then the next step would be to replace that piece of hardware on your phone.

      1. It worked
        Thank you for all of the suggestions but only one worked which is the one where you plug the speaker in for a bit and keep putting in in and out. God knows I am lucky. Thank you so very much

        1. Glad to hear it! Enjoy your working headset.

          Your welcome Kelly! I had a feeling that would work. Thanks for coming back to the site to post a follow-up and letting me know that you were able to get it functioning properly again. I appreciate it.

          Enjoy your working cell phone and if you ever have any more questions or hit any more snags don’t be afraid to come back to the site and again. Have a fantastic day my friend.

  75. LG G2 touch screen problem
    I hope you can advise me. My g2 turns on but the top and bottom of the screen are not functioning. I also get a notice that my LED hardware has been damaged. My cell has been exposed to moisture and maybe my daughters’ saliva (I have two one year olds) but it has not been dropped in too much water. Do you recommend I follow your alcohol advice? If so, can you give me the steps?

    1. Alcohol may not help your LG G3…

      Hi Fabiola,

      An LG G2 can be an expensive chew toy. If your cell phones display screen (or LED hardware) is physically damaged then the alcohol definitely won’t help, alcohol might be able to help clean out any saliva but it won’t help repair damaged hardware.

      You mentioned that the top and bottom of your LGs screen is no longer functional. Is it black or distorted or is it just not responsive?

      If you cannot use your phone because the top and the bottom of the device are no longer functioning properly then you can try the alcohol trick but there is no guarantee that it’s going to help fix your particular problem and you might need to have that part of your phone replaced.

  76. my phone man my phone
    i dropped my phone in the toilet and it sat for a little bit i was drunk and didn’t realize it till i got out and then it still worked for a few hours and it turns on but screen wont turn on.

    1. The plan, the plan!

      Hello Ron,

      From your description the display screen was affected by the water. Try the alcohol bath, it may help fix it and allow the screen to come on again.

  77. Samsung Note 3 Fell in a toilet
    Hi, i dropped my Note 3 into the toilet. It wasn’t fully submerged and I dried it quickly. I attempted to turn it on after a few moments of being dried apart. no response. i then plugged in my charger, it showed the battery symbol for when its charging but off. i turned it on, the screen flashed and flickered for a second then after that the screen hasn’t come back on. The phone turns on but the screen does not. Should i try the alcohol and rice?

    1. Yes, I would try it…

      Hi Chuck,

      I would try the alcohol and rice trick if I was you. A flashing and flickering screen is NOT a good sign, hopefully it wasn’t damaged from the moisture. Try the alcohol trick though as you don’t have anything to lose by trying it and if it doesn’t seem to help then the screen may have been damaged and you might need to replace it.

  78. I have a samsung galaxy s4…
    I have a samsung galaxy s4 and it came in contact with water. Unknowingly I put my mobile in the washing machine and after I took out everything it was working. But after I dried my mobile in sunlight, my back button is not working, my screen is flashing sometimes and my battery isn’t charging most of the time.
    Can you please suggest a way to solve my problem so that I can get my mobile phone in fully working condition.

    1. Fixing a Samsung Galaxy that was run through the washing machine

      Hi Pradeep,

      Sorry to hear about your cell phone. You are not the only person that has accidently run their cell phone through the washing machine. It sounds like this really did a number on your Samsung Galaxy S4 though and while I have hope that you will be able to fix it… you listed a lot of issues that may indicate permanent damage has been done to your device. Any hardware that has been damaged will have to be repaired if possible and replaced if necessary.

      So as far as suggestions… Buy some alcohol (I highly recommend 99%) and soak your phone for a few hours making sure to periodically swish it around while it’s submerged in the alcohol. After soaking a few hours take it out, dry it by hand as best as you can, place it in a sealed container with plenty of dry rice, cross your fingers and hope that the alcohol was able to clean out all that soap, dirty water and minerals that may have remained in your cell phone.

      If this doesn’t help fix all your problems then you will need to decide if it’s more affordable to invest in replacement parts for whatever parts are malfunctioning or if you will need to invest in a different phone all together.

  79. Phone dropped into a pail of soapy water
    Hi my son dropped a Moto E XT1022 into a pail of soapy water. After sometime the screen stopped turning on when i would switch the phone on. When i charge the phone there is a blinking LED white color that appears first and has a click sound. Then the second blinking doesn’t have a sound. It goes on and on. What happened? Can this phone be revived? Its been a month after the incident happened. Thanks.

  80. Verizon LG G2 VS980 water damage

    We have a newer Verizon LG G2 VS980 4G LTE that got dropped into toilet.  Dried 4 days in rice but screen display fogged.  Replaced lcd touch screen with some improvement, but phone display fades into weak shadow at times, then other times good image but it seems as if there is a fade through from a previous screen display.  Charges OK, works OK other than screen display.  Did not try the alcohol bath yet, might that still work?

    1. Hard to say if alcohol will help or not…

      Hi D,

      That issue is a little trickier… A foggy screen sounds like there is/was still moisture inside of the phone. Four days was a pretty fair amount of time to spend in rice though; it’s surprising that the rice didn’t help dry it out all the way.

      So, you replaced the display screen but it’s still having issues, which is again odd because from your “fading” description it sounds like it might be an issue with the phones backlight, which shouldn’t be the case as you replaced the LCD and touch screen…

      At this point I don’t see too many options available other than trying the alcohol… as long as you use 99% alcohol I don’t see any reason why things wouldn’t get better or at least stay the same. I don’t see any reason why anything would get worse. It’s really up to you though.

      If it was me and the screen just bugged me to the point of almost going crazy, or if I thought the situation could get worse if I didn’t do anything to try and fix it, then I would try the alcohol.

  81. Galaxy Note 4
    This morning a bottle of pineapple juice spilled in my handbag and soaked my Samsung Note and now the screen wont work I can answer calls but that’s all. Please help me.

    1. Pineapple juice – Good for people bad for cell phones

      Hi Sadies,

      I am more than happy to try and help you with your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 but I can only give you advice I cannot fix it for you.

      So let’s do what we can and then go from there. First off, you said that you can answer calls but I am unsure if it’s because your touch screen is only partly functional or if your display screen has gone out and you just happen to remember where you have to press to answer a call or both… Is it your touch screen that seems effected or the display screen?

      You also mentioned that you accidently spilt and “soaked” your phone with pineapple juice just this morning and you are still trying to use your phone. Are you certain that your phone has had enough time to dry completely in this short amount of time? You don’t want to accidently cause additional damage to your Samsung by using it while moisture or pineapple juice is still inside of it. There is a good possibility that your cell phone is not completely dry.

      That being said, once your cell phone is dry if it continues to have issues then the pineapple juice might have left a residue on the inside of the phone which is causing it not to function properly. If that’s the case then you should try the alcohol trick referenced in this article. Until you try the alcohol you won’t know if it will fix your phone or not. If it doesn’t seem to help then the part of your phone that’s malfunctioning may have been damaged in which case it would need to be repaired or in all probability replaced.

  82. HTC One M9
    Hi, I have a new HTC One M9 for 3 days and it started doing funny things, when I took it back to Optus they said its been exposed to water and have sent it off for a look. If they say the warranty is void and send it back, will it be too late to try this?

    1. Not too late at all…

      Hi Bob,

      Nope not too late at all, just beware because like you said water damage is not covered under warranty and I am not very familiar with Optus policies but sometimes when filing a warranty claim through a wireless carrier they can charge you if you send in a phone with liquid or physical damage. If it was made clear that the phones LDI(s) were in fact activated before sending the phone in and Optus knew about it then there probably won’t be a problem but I am just saying…

      So, if or when you get your phone back if it’s still having issues then heck yeah feel free to give the alcohol trick a try. It might just help to fix it and get it working properly again.

      1. Thank you, caught a lucky break
        Thank you, caught a lucky break and they are replacing it for a new one but I will keep this in mind if I ever do drop it in water.

        1. That’s awesome

          That is good news. Glad to hear that you are going to be receiving a working replacement.

          Thank you for the follow up Bob and I hope you enjoy your new cell phone.

  83. hello, i dropped my samsung galaxy s4 into the toilet
    hello, i dropped my samsung galaxy s4 into the toilet whilst it was in my back pocket, and i pulled it out straight away! the screen was cracked when it fell in, and the phone still turns on, but the light up buttons or the screen do not work or light up. i left it in rice overnight, and checked it again but it still doesn’t work! i was wondering if there was any way i could try to revive it??

    1. Broken Samsung with possible water damage

      Hello Katie,

      You can try the alcohol trick but if you can see that the screen was cracked when the phone was dropped in the toilet then there is no question as to whether the phone has been damaged or not. A cracked screen means physical damage and the alcohol is obviously not going to be able to fix it. If you dry out your phone completely and then try to turn it on and can hear it booting up and can even hear/feel it getting calls then you might be able to get away with just replacing the display (and possible touch) screens in order to get your phone back up and running again.

      It’s hard to tell the extent of the damage. If it’s just the screen(s) that is malfunctioning then you can replace the screen(s) and be back in business. You might want to try the alcohol trick first though. A broken screen does not necessarily mean that its 100% broken and alcohol might help to get it somewhat operational again. You won’t know until you try.

  84. nokia lumia 635 fell in toilet water
    I dried it but I was at school and could not get rice or the case open. when I did get home left it in rice for 2 days and bought a new battery. The battery came today and what ended up happening it started warming up and then it stopped and it still wont turn on. what should I do. The LDI has turned pink so I’m lost and confused on what to do.

    1. Trying to fix your water damaged Nokia Lumia

      Hi Sue,

      From your well written description it sounds like it might be a bit of a challenge fixing your Nokia Lumia if even at all possible. Power and heating issues are two common side effects of water damage and can often be difficult to fix. That being said since you have already tried a replacement battery (good job by the way) at this point you have nothing to lose by trying the alcohol bath as well (don’t soak your new battery though). If the alcohol doesn’t help then the chances of fixing your phone are going to be pretty slim and you will likely need to start looking for a replacement :(.

  85. Please Help!
    Hi.. My Samsung Galaxy Grand Just fell in the water.
    Please help!!
    I need to save this phone as I have all the Contacts & few important things stored on my phone memory.

    1. Saving or fixing a phone dropped in water

      Hello Shruti,

      I can only offer advice, and when it comes to water damage nothing is certain. Make sure to follow all of the advice in the article above and the suggestions in the comments as well and you will have a good chance of saving or fixing your Samsung Galaxy Grand.

  86. Thanks for the information
    Thanks for the information, would it be good to use 91 percent rubbing alcohol?

    1. Using 91 Percent Alcohol

      Hello Sue,

      A few other readers asked the same question. Check out one of these posts and my reply by clicking HERE. I think it’s exactly what you are looking for.

  87. ZTE Smartphone Dropped in Water
    The other day, I dropped my smartphone in a fountain by accident, it was in there for about 4 seconds. I then immediately started drying it with my clothes. After I thought it was dry, I started touching the screen. It worked for about 10 minutes, after that the screen was unresponsive. I then went home, did some research and put the phone in rice for 48 hours. It was still unresponsive. So, I did a hard reset. Everything is working normally, except for the fact I can’t get the screen to respond!

  88. I dropped my android phone into the toilet
    I dropped my android phone into the toilet. I tried putting it in rice but the display did not come back on though it had a flickering green light on the top meaning that it was on. How do i fix this?

  89. I dropped my phone in the toilet
    Hi, I dropped my phone in the toilet last night and I had the battery out but when I turn the phone on it vibrates like it is trying to come on but the screen is still black and its been sitting in rice all morning and still not working…

  90. Galaxy S5
    So I don’t remember ever dropping my phone in water or having it out in water in the last few days but my charging stopped working and I see the indicator stickers showing red x’s on it, I called in the problem and they said they were sending me a new phone, and I have to send this one in its place, but if it has water damage they will bill me for the phone… anyone have any suggestions on what I should do?

    1. Checking for water damage on your Samsung Galaxy S5

      Hi Alex,

      Not all LDIs (Liquid Damage Indicators) are the same. Some are pure white while others are white with red Xs on them and not all of them turn the same color either. The best thing to do if you are unsure if the LDI has been activated is to call and ask the manufacture what that specific phones LDI is supposed to look like before and after activation.

      That being said your white sticker with red Xs might be exactly what it’s supposed to look like. If however the sticker was pink or red and you couldn’t see the Xs as they blended in with the surrounding sticker or those Xs were blurred or if the background was mostly white but did have some coloration (pink or red other than the Xs) then that would likely indicate moisture or liquid damage.

      The main thing to look for is if the white part of that sticker has changed colors or not, even a little bit, if only one corner has a little bit of color then the sticker has been activated.

      Oh and if the LDI sticker seems dirty then DO NOT lick your finger and try to clean it. You will unintentionally activate the sticker and void your phones warranty. This might sound funny but it’s happened. So if your LDI is dirty then just leave it alone.

      If your LDI is ripped or missing then that counts as tampering and voids the warranty as well. But I digress.

      It sounds like your Samsung Galaxy S 5 is still going to be covered and I don’t believe that you will need to be worried about getting charged for sending in a damaged phone.

      If you are worried then when you get the replacement phone just compare the two stickers and make sure that they match. If they match then you will be in great shape and you won’t have to worry. Just make sure to send the malfunctioning phone back and not the replacement (don’t mix them up); this is another uncommon but possible scenario that you should try to avoid.

      I hope that helps Alex, if you hit any snags or have any more questions then don’t hesitate to ask.

  91. Dropped my Lenovo A5000 in salt water
    I was on vacation the other day and dropped my phone in salt water. Its still not turning on today. Any suggestions?

    1. Salt water can be really hard on electronics

      Hello Kicks,

      I get asked this question a lot. Water and electronics do not play well together and salt water is even worse as it’s even more conducive than plain tap water. Try the alcohol bath and if that doesn’t work then the salt water could have done a number on your phones battery or the phone itself and you will likely need to start looking into your replacement options.

      1. It happened a couple of days ago…
        It happened a couple of days ago, will the alcohol bath still work if i try it today? I’m using a Nokia Lumia for the meantime but i feel like throwing this in salt water.

        1. Try it…

          Hi again Kicks,

          Try it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

  92. Moto G dropped in sea water…
    I fell with my phone in the water and the phone was in submerged for 1-2 mins tops, after i just left it to dry out in the sun by taking out the back cover (the battery isn’t removable) I tried charging it after 48 hours and the notification light comes on but the screen remains black, what should i do?

    1. Trying to fix a Moto G that was submerged in sea water

      Hi Veronica,

      Since you cannot take the battery out you should attempt a simulated battery pull first… If a simulated battery pull doesn’t seem to work then salt water can be a real phone killer as its very conductive but I still suggest that you try the alcohol bath mentioned above as well. Try to clean out the inside of your phone as best as you can with alcohol. Let the phone dry, cross your fingers and then go from there.

  93. Note 3 water damage
    Hi, about a week ago my son dumped a bottle of water on my Samsung Note 3. i tried to dry it as fast as i could. not to long after that happened my battery began to get low. i plugged it in but it was not charging. I bought a new battery and put it in at 53% but it began to drain really fast. If i put my phone in alcohol will it fix this problem? and when i do put the phone in the alcohol do i take out the sim card and the battery or leave them in? I have watched videos but they take the phone apart and just put the board in the alcohol. So do i put the whole phone in or just the board?

    Thank you for your time.

    1. How to soak a phone in alcohol

      Hello Nicole,

      Technically speaking there is no real right or wrong way to do this. Since you bought a new battery you don’t have to worry about your battery being damaged and I would definitely avoid soaking your new battery when you don’t have to.

      When I soak a phone in alcohol I take all of the removable pieces off of the phone. I take the SIM card out, I take the memory card out, I take the back plate off and remove the battery from the phone. I then wipe down the outside of all of these pieces with alcohol by hand. And then dry them as best as I can with a dry cloth and set them aside to dry, usually on another (or that very same) dry cloth.

      Then I soak just the phone in alcohol. This insures that the alcohol gets into that SIM card slot, memory card port, charging port, battery compartment, and into the rest of the phone without any trouble. I have not had the need to actually take a phone completely apart. The main goal is to get the alcohol into every nook and cranny of the phone, especially where liquid or moisture may have found its way into earlier.

      Will alcohol fix your phone? Not necessarily. Could alcohol fix your phone? Yes, it’s very possible. You won’t really know until you try.

      I hope that helps answer your questions Nicole, let me know if there is anything else that I can try to help you with and I wish you and your phone the best of luck.

  94. Worked before but suddenly the phone died
    I gave it to a friend of mine who is a phone mechanic… He repaired the phone and it worked fine but in some days its died and now he is saying that its difficult for the phone to work (as he thinks one of the IC has burnt). Can you please suggest me what to do? He says that by heating the phone it might get a boot start but can you please help me out with this..?

    1. Trying to fix your broken cell phone

      Hello Omkar,

      I hate to say this but if your friend, who is a phone mechanic/technician, was able to handle the phone in person and was able to take the phone apart and physically look at it then he is going to most likely be in a better position to help you with your phone then I am in.

      For example… I don’t even know what make and model of phone you have, or what originally happened to the phone that may have damaged it. I only know as much as you tell me; I then do my best to offer advice and my opinion with the information that I have to work with.

      That being said, since you are visiting this page on the site I assume that your phone came in contact with liquid or moisture and was working but is now no longer functioning properly… you said that your friend suggested heating the phone to try to get it to boot up so I am assuming that the phone won’t even power on.

      If something on the phone was in fact damaged (as your friend believes and which is definitely possible) due to something like an electrical short, then that piece or part of the phone often needs to be replaced for the phone to work properly again.

      I don’t know how heating the phone would help. Quite the opposite in some occasions as it could cause further damage to the device in question.

      Have you tried using a different battery yet? Have you tried the alcohol suggestion that I mentioned in the article above? If not then try these things as they are often successful and if your phone is not even powering on then you will have nothing to lose by trying. Just remember that alcohol can help in many circumstances but it cannot repair damaged equipment and if something is damaged and it cannot be repaired or replaced then you will likely need to start looking into replacing the phone itself.

  95. Dropped my phone in the toilet
    I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 and when I dropped it in the toilet my phone works perfectly except that my front camera stopped working.

  96. Old razor phone dropped in water
    I have an old razor which I love and dropped it in water… I grabbed it out quickly and took out the battery and sim card and dumped rice on it… I left it for a bit and went online for more tips.. I saw the one for vacuuming it out which I did… it turned on and works, basically, however there are still a couple of glitches like trying to answer a text and having other things pop up… what else should I do to get it totally back to normal? I hate touch phones and I am an older woman and have trouble learning new things… this phone has been with me since the late 90’s and has everything on it and so I really don’t want to lose it… cant find them anymore… please help… thanks.

    1. Trying to fix your old Motorola Razr

      Hi Carol,

      Can you tell me more? You said that when you try to answer a text message other things seem to pop up. Are these “other things” different apps shown on the screen? Does it seem like you go to tap something and something next to it is opening instead? As if the touch screen is responding incorrectly or seems a bit off? Like it needs to be recalibrated? Or is it something completely random?

      I am not sure what model of Razr you have (Motorola made a lot of Razrs) and most seem to be pretty resilient devices which have a loyal following (like yourself) but you might want to try to run a test on your phones touch screen to see if its responding properly.

      You might also want to consider putting it back in rice for a day or two (or at least at night while you sleep) to make sure that it is indeed completely dry.

      If the touch screen test fails and you are certain that the phone is completely dry then the screen might need to be replaced… you can try the alcohol trick just in case but whatever you end up doing the first thing that you should do is try to create a backup of all of your important information just in case your phone gets worse later or something unexpected happens to your phone in the future…

      If you need help with this then check out How to backup and reset an Android smartphone (just skip the bottom “reset” part of course and stick to the backup part of that guide). It’s never a bad idea to plan for the worse and be ready :). A backup is good to have and not need then to need and not have. But I digress.

      If your phone is having a different type of issue (other than seeming like the touch screen is a bit off) then let me know as much as you can about it and any other “glitches” and I will do what I can to try and help.

  97. Dropped Note II in toilet. What does solid red light mean after?
    Dropped my phone, a Note 2 in the toilet when it was in my back pocket. I immediately put it in cereal because that was all that was available. After a couple of hours I attempted to turn it on, nothing. Then I plugged it in and the light came on, the red/blue indicator light. Didn’t try to do anything else except put it in rice for 2 days, tried again yesterday, nothing. I then just left it out and just now attempted to turn it on, again nothing! Then I plugged it in again and the red light appeared again. What does that mean? Is there hope for my phone coming back to life? Am still hopeful.

    1. Lights are a good sign

      Hello Cassandra,

      Lights, vibrations or any response is a good sign. It means that there is some life still left in the phone.

      A Blue LED Indicator light should blink for a missed call, a message, or other notification and pulses when the phone is turning on or off.

      A Red LED glows when the phone is plugged into a charger (my S4s Red LED light doesn’t stay on unless the phone is charging while it’s powered off). Samsungs says that their smartphones LED indicator light will blink red when the phone is plugged into a charger but the phone is having a problem actually charging and also blinks red when the battery is low.

      Then a Green LED should show when the phone is plugged into a charger and the battery is fully charged.

      It’s good to know that these LED indicator lights can often be changed in the phones settings and may also display different things if an app is providing a notification.

      So it’s hard to say for sure what is happening on your Note 2, it might be that the battery needs charging, or perhaps the battery was damaged by the water (very possible) and isn’t charging properly or maybe the phone itself is where the problem is (also possible). Hard to say for sure.

      You might want to try charging the phone for an hour or so and then try to turn it on. If you can’t get it to turn on then try to track down another (working) battery to see if a different battery does the trick. If another battery is ineffective or unavailable then alcohol might be the next step in troubleshooting.

  98. Dropped in sea
    Hi! My LG cell dropped in the sea a few months back and I tried the rice/dry method but it never came on. After another attempt I just put it back together and kept it aside for a while. Now I have been charging it and a light is coming on, but it is not turning on completely. Any suggestions?

    1. Sea water… OK for people but bad for smartphones

      Hello Nikki,

      So your phones charging light is coming on, or does it look like the phone is turning on but it’s hard to tell because the screen remains off? Either way it might be tough to fix.

      Try submerging it completely in alcohol for an hour or two and then take it out and place it in a pretty decent sized sealed container with a good amount of dried rice. The more rice the better in my opinion.

      Once the phone is dry (completely dry) then try turning it on again to see what happens. If you don’t get any response then you can try charging it for 30+ minutes and then try it again. If the phone remains unresponsive then try a different battery if you can (maybe the battery got damaged) and if that doesn’t work then you should look into your repair or replacement options.

  99. I took my phone apart…
    I took my phone apart and wiped the water dry from the underside of the touch screen.

    It looks like a mirror. Be careful when taking it apart, but I got my touchscreen working so it is doable.

    1. Thank you Richard

      Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the site Richard. Keep up the great work my friend.

  100. HTC E8 fell in the pool
    So my HTC E8 fell inside the pool, I got it out in like 5-6 seconds. I dried the phone as soon as it was out but it turned off on its own. I kept it in rice (uncooked) for a week and now it shows it’s charging but its not turning on. So could you please help me out here? What would have gone wrong? Is it fixable? Its been only 4 months with this phone :'( please help

    1. Trying to fix an HTC that was dropped in pool water

      Hi Sparsh,

      Sorry to hear about your HTC. If you left your phone in uncooked rice for two whole weeks then it most likely had enough time to dry out completely (good job). Since the phone is not turning on properly after drying out completely this could indicate that the pool water may have damaged the phone (especially if it powered itself off right after being submerged in water like you mentioned in your post).

      I would try the alcohol trick mentioned above and if it doesn’t seem to help then you will likely need to look into any possible replacement options.  

      1. HTC that I dropped in water
        I didn’t try the other methods . Replacement wasn’t available because it was my fault and water damaged. I bought a new phone now and will never take it near water now hahaha.
        Bought an (iPhone).
        Anyways thank you a lot for helping me and guiding me.
        It means a lot.
        Thank you.

  101. Samsung J1 got soaked in the sea inside my son’s pocket..
    My son’s phone which is 3 weeks old went for a swim with him in the sea.. he immediately gave it to me and I removed the battery and let it air dry for 2 days. After that I soaked it in rice. Till now it is still soaked in rice. Will it still work?

    1. Sea water isn’t often easy on smartphones

      Hi Joan,

      Sea water is one of the worst types of moisture that a phone can be exposed to… it has salt and minerals and of course lots of water. I would definitely buy some 99% alcohol (I have found that it can be hard to find in the store and online is typically the best place to purchase it). Then I would soak the phone thoroughly for an hour or two submerging it completely in that 99% alcohol.

      You might even want to give it two baths with a fresh application of alcohol if you notice a lot of minerals in the alcohol after soaking it for a while (don’t forget to shake the phone underneath the alcohol to get the alcohol into all of the nooks and crannies within your sons phone. You want to make sure to get as much of that junk out of the phone as you can.

      Your phone might even boot up as is but any leftover deposits in the phone might sneak up on you in the future and cause problems later.

      Good luck Joan. I wish you, your son, and his phone the best of luck.

  102. Phone in the toilet
    Hi I accidentally dropped my phone (galaxy s5) in the toilet 2 days ago. I’ve dried it and its been in rice for 2 days now. I turned it on and everything works. Its charging, touchscreen works, speaker, internet and texting is fine except my screen has a pink and purple discoloration. The discoloration is not too much that I cant work with it. I’m just scared that maybe after using it for awhile it completely breaks so I just turned it off for now and don’t use it. Is it okay to use even if the screen has a slight discoloration or is there something seriously wrong or broken with it? Thank you.

  103. I just dropped my phone in water
    I just dropped my phone in water and took it out very quickly. I thought I knew what I was doing and took out the battery and stuff. But I was curious and turned it on. It all was good, except it restarts the phone itself. What could I do?

  104. Samsung S3 touch screen not working
    Hi there,
    I have a case on my Samsung S3 and accidentally left it outside screen side up on the deck railing in the rain as i was bringing my dog inside (it was honestly out there maybe 3 minutes at most) and now the touch screen wont work. i wiped it off and everything else seems to be working, the display screen is normal, the charging notification comes on when i plug it in, text messages are still being received however i cannot use the touch screen to enter my password to unlock my phone.to use it.
    I took the case off and the back of the phone and there was only water around the sim card part of the inside of the case, the battery part was dry and the water damage indicator on the battery is still white. (no damage right?!) everything else seems to be okay
    What can I do to fix the touch screen? ( i took it apart and put it in a bag of rice…how long should i wait before reassembling to check if the touch screen works??
    Thanks,
    Lara

    1. How long should you wait for the phone to dry…

      Hi Lara,

      Not having a working touch screen sure does make using a smartphone next to impossible. Hopefully drying it out completely will help get it to function properly again.

      As far as how long you will need to wait… well it’s hard to say for sure. It really depends on how much moisture is in the phone. The less moisture the faster it should dry. If this happened to my phone and I didn’t think that there was very much moisture inside of the unit I would probably wait for at least 24 hours before using it again maybe even 48 hours or more depending on the situation.

      I wouldn’t want to risk causing further damage the phone simply because I didn’t wait long enough for the phone to dry out all the way.

  105. iphone 6
    Will this same procedure work for an iphone 6 that has been off due to water damage? If not what would you recommend?

    1. Certainly, give it a try

      Hi Jared,

      It very well could help you revive your dead iPhone, assuming that no permanent physical damage occurred when the phone came in contact with moisture.

      If you have a non functional phone though then I would definitely buy some 99% alcohol and then give that phone a good alcohol bath for an hour or two to see if it helps to revive it.

      It’s not a guaranteed fix of course but I have personally seen it work in the past, even on a totally lifeless and unresponsive cell phone, so give it a try. Just remember to come back to the site to let us know if it worked for your phone too.

      I hope to hear back from you Jared. Good luck my friend.

  106. Hi, I hope that someone can help.
    Hi, I hope that someone can help. I wrote you like a week ago about my Samsung S4 being dropped in the water. After I turned on the phone and realized how stupid that was I kept it in rice for a day. Till today it was a perfect phone again. Pics, charging, talking all worked well. One week and I got a charging problem though. When I plug it in, it`s just not either charging w/ no sign of that is being charged (percentage kept going up) or it says it`s being connected to the dock for some reason. I really have no idea what can I do to help it. I even tried using my bro`s battery today but it did not help.

    1. A problem with your phones charging port

      Hi again Deimante,

      Welcome back to the site… it sounds like your charging port is malfunctioning. Take a look at Android shows its charging when not even plugged into a charger for some suggestions on how to resolve that problem but from your description you might need to give your charging port a good cleaning with alcohol.

      There might be something in there (possibly left over by the water) that’s causing a bad or false connection. So get some 99% alcohol and give that port a good cleaning; then make sure to let it dry out completely (which should be fast as alcohol evaporates quickly) to see if cleaning that area will help to get your phone to charge properly again.

  107. Sony Xperia Z3
    Hello I dropped my phone in water like three months ago and my screen became unresponsive. All it does is switch in and out of different screens on its own… do you think by me replacing the screen that it will fix the problem? How long should I wait after the alcohol bath to charge the phone completely because its all the way dead?

    1. Just enough time to dry…

      Hi Shaniqua,

      After the alcohol bath try to get as much of the alcohol out of and off of the phone as you can. After that try to give it as much time as you think it might take to dry out entirely and keep in mind that Alcohol dries fairly quickly and rice can help speed up the process too as dried rice is good at absorbing moisture.

      Once you’re confident that it’s dry, plug it in, charge it up and see if the alcohol helped.  

  108. Water got into my charging port
    So I dropped my phone into my tub and I took it out immediately after. Everything was fine, the touch pad was working, the screens display had no errors. But once I plugged in my charger, it didn’t charge and it kept saying to use the original charger and this was the original. So I decided to turn it off and try to see if it will charge better off. 5 minutes in, it burned the end of my charger. Stuck the phone in some rice for 8 hours. Nothing happened.

    Is there still hope?

    1. Trying to fix your charging port

      Hi Bryant,

      Getting hot to the point of actually burning the end of your charger is not a good sign. Can you see or notice any damage in the charging port itself? Luckily chargers are relatively affordable but charging ports can be a hassle to find, purchase and replace. Let the phone dry out for a while until you’re relatively sure that there is absolutely no moisture inside of the phone. If the phones connection begins to heat up on a charger (preferably a completely different charger) again then unplug it immediately and try cleaning that charging port with alcohol, let it dry completely, and then try it again. Hopefully that will help. If not then you might need to consider replace that charging port as it may have been damaged by the bathwater.

  109. GALAXY NOTE 4
    About two weeks ago I was taking pictures in Galveston and I accidentally dropped my Note 4 in the sea. I immediately took it out and tried drying it. It turned on and then it turned off again when I put the lid back on.

    The next day I left it in rice for a few hours. But when I turned it back on the screen was black. I have a voice recognition which whenever I receive a call I say “Answer” and the phone answers it or I can reject the call using my voice. I can hear when I get Facebook, email, and other messages and the LED light at the top that indicates messages or missed calls still seems to work.

    My phones been like this for 2 weeks. Originally I wasn’t able to hear the start up sound but my friend tried hitting the phone and now I can hear it. Is there anything I can do? Please Help.

    1. Trying to fix your Samsung Galaxy Note 4

      Hi Dulce,

      A smartphone with a non functional display screen can certainly be a challenge to use much less a phone with audio problems as well. Other than “hitting” the phone, which I rarely recommend as it can often cause damage to the phone and there by exacerbate the issue even further, have you done any other troubleshooting?

      Have you tried the alcohol bath yet? If not then give it a try and see if it can revive the display screen as well as the audio. I have seen alcohol baths fix both of those issues before on a phone dropped in water so give it a try and don’t forget to let us know if it helped or not.

  110. Sony Z2 water damage. Everything is ok but screen is black
    Hello Sir
    As my Sony Z2 was waterproof I tried to test it. I sunk it in a jug full of water for just a second and I pulled it out but the screen slowly started dimming, I tried to dry it with a towel but the screen went fully black. Now when I push the power button two or three times quickly the screen shows but for less than a second and then goes back the the BLACK screen again. Kindly Help me 🙁
    Thank you

    1. Sony Xperia Z2 Water Damage

      Hi Shakir,

      Sorry to hear about your Sony Xperia Z2.

      While that specific make and model is supposed to be waterproof or water resistant (up to 1.5 meters or 4.92 feet) it sounds like your phone failed your water proof test and was in fact affected by the water that it was submerged into.

      I suggest that you first contact the manufacture (Sony) to see what kind of replacement options may be available for your device as you may be able to claim that your phone did not hold up to the manufactures waterproof specifications. Whether or not any servicing or replacement options are going to be available will be up to Sony’s discretion.

      If no replacement or serving options are available then you can try using 99% isopropyl alcohol to revive your Sony Xperia as described in the article above.

  111. My M2 Aqua has water inside! Help!
    Hi. I have a Sony Xperia M2 Aqua. Since it’s waterproof, we gave it a try. We took it for a swim and filmed some videos underwater. And it seemed fine. After a couple of minutes, it started to get hot. So I turned it off. And let it cool for a couple of minutes and then I turned it on again. It works perfectly fine but I noticed water getting into the screen. So I opened the flaps and let it air dry but it suddenly shut down itself. And it won’t turn on at all. I tried putting it on rice overnight but it didn’t work for me. So I put it into the heater and the water inside the camera started to dry. And I vacuumed it but it still doesn’t work. And the LDI is bright red. HELP! ASAP. My dad will kill me. T_T

    1. Sony Xperia M2 Aqua – Waterproof but water damaged

      Hello Karlyle,

      The phone got hot, powered itself off and has an activated LDI (Liquid Damage Indicator)… That sounds like a good chance of liquid damage to me.

      After reading your post I have to admit that I was not too familiar with the Sony Xperia M2 Aqua’s underwater filming capabilities off of the top of my head but I had a feeling that there was some fine print somewhere stating that its underwater capabilities had limits.

      Here is what I found on Sony’s website…

      “In compliance with IP65 and IP68, the Xperia M2 Aqua is protected against the ingress of dust and is waterproof. Provided that all ports and covers are firmly closed, the phone is (i) dust tight and (ii) protected against low-pressure jets of water from all practicable directions in compliance with IP65; and/or (iii) can be kept under 1.5 m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes in compliance with IP68.”

      So… what does this mean?

      1.5 m of fresh water has a whole lot of fine print within itself. The phone can get submerged in water and be waterproof but not deeper than 5 feet worth of water. I’m not sure where you filmed the video but are the waters that you were swimming in going to be considered “fresh water”? Did you take the phone deeper than 5 feet?

      Can you say that all of the ports and covers were firmly closed when the phone was submerged? Most likely. This is something that I bet you double checked before taking your phone for a swim but could you prove it?

      Did you film for less than 30 minutes? Time flies when you’re having fun.

      I have a feeling that Sony would be hard pressed to bear the responsibility for your Sony Xperia M2 Aqua because of that activated LDI. I would give them a call though and see where you stand. Would they honor a warranty exchange even though the phones LDI has been activated? Not likely but the worst they can say is no.

      If sending the phone in for repair is no longer an option and you cannot get your cell phone to work again then you will have nothing to lose by following the advice in the article above.

      Open those ports and covers on your smartphone and then submerge it completely in 99% alcohol. Try to get the alcohol into the phone as best as you can. Then let it soak. After soaking for an hour or two remove it from the alcohol and then try to get the alcohol out of the phone as best as you can and then give the phone time to dry. After it’s completely dry you can give it a try.

    1. Better than 70 percent but not as good as 99 percent

      Hi John,

      You’re not the first person to ask that question. You could use 91 percent alcohol but that other 9 percent is going to be water… I suggest using 99% whenever possible. The only problem is that 99% could be a little difficult to get a hold of sometimes and you might have to order it online and wait for it to arrive.

      You can read more about this HERE, but for the most part I think that the closer to 100% alcohol you use the better.

  112. Mark Campaigne

    Dropped my Samsung 4 into the swimming pool

    Dropped my Samsung 4 into the swimming pool. Immediately removed the battery and sucked out as much liquid as I could and put the phone in rice. After 2 days I charged it and the screen worked fine BUT the touch screen feature does not work. How long should I continue to dry it in rice? Would you recommend the alcohol treatment at this point? At any point?

    1. Yes Sir

      Hi Mark,

      You could try drying it for another day or two to see if it just needs more time to dry but if that doesn’t seem to work then yes I suggest you give the alcohol trick a try. You might even want to consider doing it anyways as chlorine water might cause damage to the phone as time progresses and there might be the possibility of running into problems later. But that’s going to be up to you.

  113. Water bottle leaked on my iPhone 5c
    Yesterday, my phone was in my bag and a water bottle leaked. first, I took it out and It wouldn’t turn on. I dried it off and it was vibrating, but soon stopped. I put it in uncooked rice and left it there overnight. This morning, I took it to a phone repair place, and it would work on a charger but when I took it off, it would die, no matter what battery percent it was at. Now, it won’t even turn on or work, even when charging.

    1. iPhone 5c power issues after being exposed to water

      Hi Emma,

      I have heard of such issues before… The phone might just need some more time to dry. If it has dried out completely and refuses to charge properly or more specifically if it is unable to draw power from the battery then I still suggest trying the alcohol bath as I think it could help.

      Out of curiosity what did the representative say when you took it to the repair shop?

  114. My phone fell in a pool & has a cracked screen
    My phone is an Apple product & it fell in the pool & cracked right as I took it out. Do you think this would work? It happened about a month ago.

    1. It might help to some extent…

      Hi Roxy,

      If your phone won’t work at all then yes, definitely purchase some 99% alcohol and give it a nice alcohol bath. Alcohol obviously won’t fix your cracked screen, which by itself could cause functionality problems, but sometimes even with a cracked screen a smartphone can still be usable.

  115. HTC fell in water
    My HTC fell in the toilet for about 7 seconds before I took it out. It was still working even after I dried it off and took the battery out and slapped the phone into my hand quite a few times to help force any water inside the phone to come out. Put battery back in and the phone still worked but I took the battery back out because I was scared that it wasn’t completely free of water. Turned phone back on again like two hours later and it wouldn’t boot up past the android logo and keep restarting over and over until battery was removed. Tried to recovery, master reset but still stuck to logo restarting over and over. Help here please.

    1. Trying to fix a phone stuck at its startup logo

      Hi John,

      It’s odd that your phone would have that problem after being dropped in water. Typically that restarting problem is the result of a serious software problem… odd that it would occur after being dropped in water.

      I suggest giving it a few days to dry out completely (in dried rice) and then giving it another try. If it still refuses to power on properly (which is possible) follow the advice listed HERE; your phones stuck in a boot loop and that article offers some advice that might help if this does turn out to be a problem with your phones software.

      So I suggest that you give the phone more time to dry, follow all of the advice listed on that boot-loop troubleshooting guide and if your phone still has issues then you can try the alcohol bath mentioned in the article above. This should give you a fighting chance at fixing your phone.

  116. S4 problem
    Hey so I really need help, my S4 was dropped in a pool by accident and immediately put in rice then that evening I put my battery back in to see if it works because I’m not sure how long its supposed to be left in rice and for a moment my phone was fine but the the screen went blank and it rebooted so I put my phone back in the rice for about a day and a half then I took it out and tried putting the battery in again, now all my phone does is it starts up but it only works for 10 seconds max before it reboots itself, please I don’t have money for a new phone can someone please help.

    1. I hate when that happens

      Hi Jacky,

      Sorry to hear about your Samsung Galaxy S4. I have the S4 myself and if it got dropped into the pool I would be very sad.

      That being said… a few other readers had similar problems with their phones and my suggestion to you is going to be pretty much the same as I suggested to them. Take a quick peek at some of the posts already listed under this article, including the last comment asked by John (shown above).

      Since your phone was dropped in a pool and the pool water/chemicals might be more damaging to your phone than just regular water you might want to skip right to an alcohol bath but that’s going to be up to you.

      Good luck Jacky. I wish you and your S4 the best of luck.

  117. Galaxy S6 Water Damage
    Hi all,

    I dropped my new S6 in the toilet on Friday. I snatched it out in a second and dried it off. I waited a couple of hours and tried to boot up. It said it had no battery left. So I charged it overnight. It got really hot by the morning. I tried to boot it up and it turned on and I was able to use apps and all on WIFI but had no phone/data service. I rebooted a few more times and at one point it went into an activation process. It did this over and over getting stuck and rebooting itself. The next day I tried again and now it says it cant connect and asked if I wanted to use WIFI. It found available wifi networks and I was able to log onto my wifi and the phone connected but got stuck in “recovering.” It also loses battery life when its powered down. I power down at 75% and when I power on later its at 0%. I’m taking it to a shop tomorrow. I don’t know a thing about phones but if the screen works, the buttons, speakers, wifi, I cant imagine its irreparably destroyed. Please let me know if you have any insights.

    Thanks!

  118. Denatured Alcohol
    Hi James Bond! (I’m digging your blog.) My phone’s screen was extremely cracked when it got wet and I can see water in it. From reading your replies, I don’t believe that this would be a problem, but wanted to double check before submerging. I also was wondering if you could use denatured alcohol instead? It claims to be pure alcohol used for fuel or something, and can be found at the hardware store. Thank you for your time.

    1. Denatured Alcohol vs. Isopropyl Alcohol

      Hi Jackie,

      Thanks for the compliment; I am glad to hear that you are digging the site.

      You asked a very good question… can you use Denatured Alcohol as opposed to Isopropyl Alcohol to try and resurrect a phone that’s been exposed to liquid or moisture? I personally wouldn’t try it.

      Denatured Alcohol typically contains a lot of additives to make it undrinkable. Some of these additives often include methanol (which may leave behind oily traces after it has finished drying), isopropyl alcohol (kind of funny but why use a percentage of isopropyl alcohol when you can use a 99% mixture instead), and it can even contain acetone (which can be a pretty harsh solvent), along with some other questionable chemicals.

      So my personal opinion would be to use Isopropyl Alcohol instead of Denatured Alcohol. The only problem that you might run into is finding it at your local store… while Denatured Alcohol might be readily available at your local hardware store Isopropyl Alcohol may not be so readily available and you may have to order it online first, wait for it to arrive, and then go from there.

      I hope that help Jackie, let me know if you have any more questions.

  119. Water Damaged Nexus 5
    Hi about a week ago my phone (forgot it in pocket) swam with me for aprox 10 min. I did not take it apart right away and I also charged it soon after (dumb but didn’t know better) the phone itself seems fine other than a few water marks on screen and indicators red, only thing is it won’t hold a charge but will stay on while mounted. Question is can I still attempt this method or is it too late? 🙁

    Thanks
    Shannon

  120. Still safe to use the alcohol if….
    Ok so I have an LG Optimus L70 which went into the washer. I took the battery out and placed the phone into a box of instant rice for a few hours. The phone turns on but the screen doesn’t light up at all! I can receive calls because the touch screen works I just don’t know who’s calling because the screen is completely black like it’s turned off.

  121. Inge Nikolai Torsvik

    Phone dropped in sea water for hours!
    Hi!

    I just dropped my phone in seawater, and I haven’t picked it up yet (I have to dive down to get it). I was just wondering. Is it best to put the phone directly in alcohol, or is it best to let it dry first, and then try putting in alcohol afterwards.

    Help is appreciated!
    Inge

    1. Trying to save a cell phone dropped in seawater

      Hi Inge,

      For your specific circumstances I would suggest, that if you can locate your phone, that you do put it into alcohol right away instead of waiting for it to dry, trying it to see if it works and then trying the alcohol. You want to get that “seawater” and everything that comes with it out of your phone. You might even need to give it a couple of baths in fresh alcohol to get all that seawater and minerals etc. out of the phone as best you can.

      The alcohol should dry out quicker as well.

      Good luck my friend. Seawater can be a cell phone killer, so make sure to give the alcohol a try and don’t forget to come back to the site to let us know if you were able to save your phone or not.

  122. I tried to charge my galaxy s6 edge after water damage!
    I really panicked when I realized that my phone fell in water I immediately took it out and tried to vacuum the water inside of it and then charged it first it turned on but then died and never worked again so I put it in a bowl of rice been almost 10 hours but still it is not working… Is there any hope?

    1. There is always hope

      If this ever happens again try not to charge your phone if there is even a minute possibility of water being inside of it.

      If I was in your place I would order some 99% alcohol (or have some ready) and then put the phone back in rice while you wait for the alcohol to arrive (or for a day or two). Then try to turn the phone on again. If there is no response try bathing it in alcohol for an hour or two to see if the alcohol can help revive your poor Samsung Galaxy S6.

  123. Red Bull Spilled ALL OVER My Phone 🙁
    Red bull spilled all over my iPhone 6 while i was working. I noticed probably 2-3 minutes later. I shook and wiped it off and let it sit. It was working at first. The touch screen glitched a bit but was fine AT FIRST. i then restarted the phone. The apple sign showed up and then the blue screen of death. It refused to turn on or charge. When i finally got home i submerged my poor phone in rice. It sat in rice for 24 hours. When i plugged it in the apple sign showed up =D and stayed -_- until the blue screen of death showed again.

  124. Justin Delarosa

    Samsung Galaxy S4 Active was supposed to be water proof…
    Hey my phone the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active was supposed to be water proof but it got water inside of it so I put it in rice. Will the alcohol method still work if I do it a day or two after I got water inside the phone?

  125. S3 dropped in salt water
    Hello,

    My phone spent some time (like a few minutes) in a bag with salt water at the bottom (never use those water resistant bags!). So, the water reached the part for charging, but not the battery, just charging input. It turned off immediately. I took out the battery and after an hour got the hair drier and used it for drying the phone. After that I put it in rice for 20h. Now, the phone can be charged, but when I try to turn it on only the Samsung s3 logo is showing. The system will not start up.
    Any help would be appreciated 🙂

  126. Will My Phone Ever Revive?
    Hello,
    My phone fell in the toilet two days ago. I immediately took it out, but the phone was working just fine. However, I still took the battery out the phone and placed it behind the fridge so that the heat could dry it out for about 30 minutes. After I took the phone it was working perfectly, until yesterday afternoon while my phone was charging it began to malfunction. A notification keeps popping up on the phone that there isn’t any space for some of my apps, and that the sms is disabled. However, I still could do the normal things on the phone, except sliding down the top part of the screen that shows a menu with wifi and Bluetooth etc, and the wallpaper will not show. Also, the home button does not work. When the phone is in settings, I see a part of the screen at the very bottom that is blue. I have put the phone in rice for over 8 hours, but I still haven’t seen any difference. Could you please help me?

  127. Galaxy Alpha
    HELP!!!!! I dropped my phone in the toilet. I got it out straight away and the screen flickered to black/green lights all across the screen and then went off.
    I took the battery and sim out and put it into a bag of rice. Now it has been there about 12 hours and my kid went to get it and put the battery back on. The screen came on and went off again. I pulled the battery back out and put it back in the rice bag… any chance it did not short because of my kid?

  128. Adhesive deterioration
    I read your above suggestion regarding the alcohol bath. I am an electronics technician and have one question regarding the method. Although I also use 99% isopropyl or trichloroethylene to clean almost all PCBs, contacts, sockets, ports etc., I have never completely bathed a smart phone in 99% isopropyl for fear of the solvent nature of the alcohol dissolving (or at least compromising) the adhesive that is typically used to mount the LCD display panel assembly into the phone. Have you personally used this method extensively? If so, have you ever noticed a negative impact on the adhesives, or even the fine foils that are often used in the construction of modern smart phones?

    1. That is very true; Isopropyl alcohol is a type of solvent

      Hi Dan,

      I am not too familiar with trichloroethylene other than it is a solvent (often an industrial solvent) so I cannot really offer an opinion on that particular substance.

      I can say however that I have used Isopropyl alcohol to revive multiple cell phones which were exposed to moisture or dropped in water or submerged in some other type of liquid and have yet to see any negative results indicating that the Isopropyl alcohol had an adverse effect on any of the glues or other materials which allow the phone to function properly.

      Quite the opposite in fact; I have seen Isopropyl alcohol revive malfunctioning speakers, charging ports, touch screens and display screens as well as solve common power issues that often occur from exposing a phone to moisture or completely submerging it in water. We have even used Isopropyl alcohol to resurrect a completely lifeless and totally unresponsive phone before.

      So while it’s not a guaranteed fix, as Isopropyl alcohol cannot repair physical damage (such as an electrical short etc.), Isopropyl alcohol can and from my experience often does help in these types of situations regarding the unpleasant and undesirable effects that moisture or liquid can have on an electronic device.

      When you have a friend (or client) who cannot afford a new cell phone or who would rather not part with their old phone as they love it (very common) or have important data on their phone that they need or very much want to try and recover (also very common) and they come to you with a paperweight in their hand that used to be a cell phone before it was dropped in water accidently and drying it completely has not helped and the phone is totally lifeless or unresponsive or is malfunctioning then they are often willing to try just about anything to fix their phone and the last thing on their mind is going to be what MIGHT possibly happen later by using a solvent to try and fix it.

      That being said, can Isopropyl alcohol (a solvent) have an effect on some of the materials used in the manufacturing of cell phones? Possibly… Have I ever seen it happen or heard of it actually happening in real life? No I have not.

      If I did or ever do happen to run across the rare anomaly or unlucky individual where this has ended up happening for whatever reason (unlikely but possible) then I would probably suggest to just re-glue or repair the part of the phone that was having issues. Trying to fix something like a cell phone yourself is often possible and is going to be way more affordable than paying someone else to try fix it for you or having to go out and buy a new phone.

      You have to also take into consideration that cell phones, in general and as a whole, have very short life spans. When after two years a person is eligible for an upgrade and is able to choose from the newest and greatest smartphones available on the market with all of the latest features and at a discounted price no less it’s often hard to resist the temptation of abandoning an old phone for the latest and newest model.

      I hope that helps answer your very legitimate well written and warranted concern Dan. I have seen and heard of other sources (especially on the World Wide Web) claiming not to use alcohol because it’s a type of solvent but have yet to find a better substance to use which works as well as alcohol and have not yet come across a legitimate case where someone has experienced adhesive deterioration on their smartphones after submerging the phone in Isopropyl alcohol.

  129. My Xperia M2 Aqua won’t charge
    I noticed that my phone wasn’t charging at times and sometimes showed the light to indicate that it was charging even though it wasn’t plugged in. The ldi sticker is red so I am planning to get 99% alcohol to dry it out and I was wondering if I would have to open all ports when putting it in the alcohol. Or should I just leave the charging port open because I am worried that it could damage my memory card and sim card

    1. Trying to resolve your cell phones charging dilemma

      Hi John,

      Charging issues can certainly be a side effect of liquid damage and if your cell phones Liquid Damage Indicator has in fact been activated then the same moisture that activated that LDI sticker can be responsible for your phone charging problems.

      I do have some suggestions though…

      • If you’re concerned about your memory card or SIM card then you can take them out of the phone before exposing your device to the alcohol.
      • If charging seems to be your only issue you could also consider using the alcohol on only the charging port area of your phone.
      • Before trying the alcohol trick I strongly suggest that you review this guide on resolving charging problems first. With any luck you may be able to avoid having to use alcohol all together.

       I hope this helps John. If you have any more questions don’t hesitate to ask.

  130. I have to ask…
    I have to ask…is it possible to substitute 190 proof grain alcohol for 99% isopropyl alcohol?

  131. One touch + river
    I had my phone in a zip lock bag on the river. Well it was set with the ice chest and we went down a fall and it stayed but I didn’t pick it up till after we got back to the cabins about 3-4 hours later. And there was water in it not a lot but enough. I didn’t have rice or anything till the next day and its been sitting in rice I got the home screen to come on but then it shuts right off and repeats. The water damage is in the screen. Will submerging it in alcohol help get that out then rice again?

    1. You might have to cross that bridge when you come to it

      Hey Ash,

      Sorry to hear about your phone. If that happened to me then I would either use the alcohol right away in an attempt to get that water out of the phone and coincidently allow the phone to dry a little quicker (isopropyl alcohol is going to dry faster than water) OR let the phone dry out completely and then try to use it again and hope that the alcohol won’t be necessary.

      Just try not to use your phone if you suspect that there is any moisture whatsoever from the water still inside of the device. You don’t want to accidently cause unnecessary and possibly permanent damage to the phone.

      I am not sure how long you have let the phone dry in rice but if you feel that the phone has had adequate time to dry completely and it refuses to work properly then I would suggest trying to use the alcohol trick mentioned above.

      Either way you can use plenty of dry rice to help speed up the drying process.

  132. That is such a cool tip
    That is such a cool tip to bathe your phone in alcohol to repair it from water damage. I never would have thought to do that. Thanks so much for sharing!

  133. 99% alcohol technique
    Would the alcohol technique also work on an iPad 3rd generation 32gb that had Mountain Dew spilled on it?

    1. I don’t see why not…

      Hello Starla Seidel,

      You would have to have a bigger container to soak it in but yeah… It should work just as well on your tablet as it would on a cell phone.

  134. Nokia 635 water spots
    I dropped my phone in the toilet, took it apart frantically and shoved it in some rice after blowing the water out with a can of air. Problem now is that it works fine, booted up and is just as kick butt as before. But I have water spots under the screen… will the alcohol bath remove these types of spots? Or am I doomed with them forever?

  135. Samsung Galaxy S6 water damage
    Hi

    I accidentally dropped my phone down the toilet!!!! Arggggg!! It was literally in there for a few seconds. I dried it off and I’ve had it in rice for over 48 hours waiting for the water droplets to disperse from the camera lenses which they now have. The phone is recognizing the charger and telling me that the battery had 49% but it won’t charge. I managed to get it to switch on once, put my sim card back in and had to restart the phone but now I can’t get it switched on. Please help, I’ve only had the phone a couple of weeks!!

  136. HTC One M8
    I was pushed into a pool with my HTC One M8 in my pocket. After drying it, it started vibrating until it died and the display would not turn on. The charging light still shows up if I plug it in but the phone itself will not turn on. Should I try the alcohol thing? My screen is also cracked I am not sure if that would affect anything. Please help!

    1. Give it a try

      Hi Napkin,

      Pool water can be pretty destructive on a cell phone so there is no guarantee that alcohol will be able to fix your HTC but I definitely suggest that you give it a try and use some isopropyl alcohol to get as much of that chlorine water (or left over minerals etc.) out of the phone as you can. Then dry the phone completely and see if it will at least boot up again.

      As far as your phones screen… since it is in fact cracked it may need to be replaced but the alcohol may help to get your display screen to the state that it was in before your phone got dropped in the pool. Your main goal however is going to be to use the alcohol to try and get your phone to boot up again. No point in having a cell phone if it won’t turn on.

  137. Pushed into a river
    I was pushed into a river where we were swimming and I had my phone in my pocket. I reached for my phone as I got pushed in but it was too late so as soon as I came up I grabbed my phone and threw it on the bank, got out, grabbed it and dried it off but it has a built in battery so I couldn’t take it out. When I got to the house my ZTE N9130 started turning on and off so I put it in rice and blow dried it for 30 sec. Now it won’t come on at all. Is it fixable?

    1. You might be able to fix it

      Hello Armando,

      Sorry to hear about your ZTE smartphone. You might be able to fix it. Give the isopropyl alcohol a try and see if it works or not.

      It sounds like you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying it. Good luck my friend and don’t hesitate to come back to the site to let us know if it helped or not.

  138. Phone fell in water
    Last night my cell phone a Yu Yuphoria fell into a water bucket. I used the rice bag method and it worked well and absorbed much of the moisture even from the camera. I dried it in the sun too for one day. When I turned my phone on everything worked well except for the display which is blank. I can receive calls but nothing comes up on the screen even the speakers are working well. Please help.

    1. You may be able to fix your display screen…

      Hello Amanjot Singh,

      I suggest that you follow the advice in the guide above. Locate some 99% isopropyl alcohol, give your phone a good bathing in it for about an hour or two, let it dry out completely and then see if that helps to get your display screen working again.

      If the 99% isopropyl alcohol doesn’t seem to help then the water may have damaged your display screen in which case your display screen will need to be replaced.

  139. Lg G3 water damage
    My husband’s G3 dropped in the toilet about 6 weeks ago. He opened it and dried it off (refused to put it in rice,( I had not read yet about the alcohol), and thought it was fine. It did work fine for a while, then slowly several different things went wrong, like it began to open wrong programs. Eventually it would open to “ATT Drive Mode” and you couldn’t turn Drive Mode off. Occasionally it would open to something else, same problem. We had to go to Best Buy, where it was purchased, for something else. They, of course, said it had water damage by indicator (he didn’t think it would show, ha!). They tried a lot of things, mumbled that it wasn’t reading the SIM card. They worked for quite a while. Eventually said it was dead, but we could try putting it in rice (have not yet). They took his old phone and I believe put a new SIM card in. Possibly used old one but I think I remember them saying they had to cut the new one to fit, seems odd?

    So my question is, if it’s still coming on and basically looking like it works, showing full screen, but not accessing things correctly, do you think it’s possible it could work again? If so, would the rice or alcohol bath be suggested? If so, which first? Any idea what was damaged by my not so great description? Thanks so much!

  140. Phone restarts every time I make a call
    My Galaxy S5 (screen already replaced once, so no longer a tight seal against water) fell in the river. I tried to rescue with the bag of rice for 3 days, but the touch screen would not function. I then soaked the phone in alcohol for about 20min and in the rice bag again. The phone looks ok, at least I was able to do a back up, the upper corner part of the screen is yellowish but that is not a biggy. The problem is that every time somebody calls me, or I try to make a call, the phone restarts itself. Any clue as to what is happening?

  141. Aaron Emmanuel Skyers Jr

    Windows Phone
    My Windows phone was stolen and then returned but before it was returned he threw it in water. I’ve tried multiple times to charge it but it won’t charge what should I do? Please help me.

  142. Condensation
    I have an iPhone 4 (old I know) and went to work last night. I work in a restaurant and I was in the kitchen the whole night (so there’s a lot of steam everywhere) when I got off and went home my phone was working perfectly, but when I woke up (about 6 hours later) my iPhone wouldn’t turn on and the flashlight was on? I put it in a bag of rice, is there anything I can do?

  143. Rain damaged
    My phone (htc one m8) got wet in the rain 1 month ago and I am having trouble with my touch screen and my sound speaker. Everything is fine but the corner left side of my screen is not working, to type q,1,! is very difficult. What should I do now? Oh yeah and the speakers are not as loud as they were before.

  144. Dropped phone in toilet
    I have an LG G4 and I dropped it in the toilet. I bought a new battery and the phone is functioning normally for the most part. However, the screen glitches and becomes pixelated and will sometimes go black. Any fix for this? Other then that it’s charging and the internet is working.

    1. Keep an eye on it

      Hi Vicki,

      If your cell phone seems to be working for the most part then I suggest that you backup your phones information, just as a precaution, and then keep an eye on things. Water can often have delayed after effects on a cell phone so if you don’t want to try the alcohol trick right away then you can simply keep using it until it becomes necessary to troubleshoot the phone further.

      It does sound like the moisture has had a negative effect on the display screen of your LG G4 though which may require some tinkering later on down the road.

  145. Dropped S4 in toilet
    Dropped my Samsung S4 in the toilet 2 days ago. I saw the phone screen flash on when it hit the bottom…and then stupidly tried turning it on once I fished it out. Nothing, took battery and sim out and had it sit in rice for a few days. Tried it this morning and it still doesn’t work. Even tried plugging the charger in and still nothing. You think the .99 alcohol will work?

  146. Sony Xperia z3
    Hello,
    My waterproof Sony Xperia z3 turned out not to be waterproof. I took my phone into the ocean (yes I now know how stupid that was) and it got hot and stopped working. I popped it into rice for a week. Still no good. I got a red light when I plug it in and that is it. I sent it to Sony and they said $250 to fix. I now have a new phone but feel like crap cause I have this brick of a Sony that is constantly reminding me how stupid I was. I pried open the back and it’s corroded pretty good. I gave it the alcohol bath and used a tooth brush to clean up the corrosion. I took out all the leads and screws and got everything!! I put it all back together and I still have the red light of death.
    Is this a lost cause? What else can I do?

    1. Alcohol can only do so much

      Salt water is an electronics nightmare. Very conductive and as you mentioned can lead to some serious damage including and not limited to corrosion.

      Unfortunately alcohol cannot fix physical damage and any part of your phone that has corrosion/damage would likely need to be replaced. If that includes the phones motherboard (which all the other pieces connect to) then you might not be able to salvage your poor Sony Xperia Z3.

      If something like this ever happens again, heaven forbid, then its best to act fast and get your alcohol right away. You can read more about this HERE but you want to try to get that dirty salt water out of your phone as quick as you can to try to avoid any damage or future problems such as corrosion.

      1. Thanks, I appreciated the help.

        Thanks, I appreciated the help.

        I think I am going to try and Frankenstein it with a bunch of not so “broken” broken ones 🙂

  147. Galaxy Note 3
    I had a water bottle accidentally spill in my purse and my phone got damaged. I tried to turn it on and it didn’t work. After a couple of weeks I was able to turn it on by connecting it to the power outlet since the battery is damaged. Everything seems to work well except that the phone wont shut down and it heats up above where the battery sits. Is this because the battery is damaged? If I purchase a new battery will that solve these issues? Or is the phone damaged? What other damage may occur to the phone with water damage?

  148. Backlight dimmed so dark I almost can’t see anything
    This summer my son dropped my phone in his pool as a way to get back at me. Luckily I had an OtterBox on it and I was quick enough so the water damage wasn’t too bad but the back light on my phone barely works. In good light I can’t see anything on my screen and I can’t see anything dark like videos or pictures. Do you have any tips for that? My phone works good and its been like this since late July and I’m tired of it but I don’t have the money to get a new phone or have it fixed by a professional.

  149. It has been 1 month since it fell
    Will all of these steps work if it has been 1 month after the incident?

  150. Water damaged Samsung Galaxy S5
    Hello recently my cousin dropped my phone in water while I was at the store and she turned it on and tried charging it. She said she dried the phone before charging it. At first there was a problem charging the phone, but after a while it worked just fine. After like 12 hours there was another problem, the back button would not stop pushing which made it impossible to do anything on the phone. Is the damage irreversible or is there still some chance that it could work. The phone has been in rice for the past 8 hours.

  151. My ZTE Overture 2 fell into the bath tub
    So my phone fell into the tub and I’ve tried all of the usual steps. I tried drying it, putting it in rice, waiting a few days, etc. But when I was drying it I opened the back not knowing I wasn’t supposed to and it still won’t charge or turn on. What should I do? The battery is also non-removable.

  152. Water damaged Galaxy S4 mini
    Total nightmare. I dropped my phone down the loo which had blue cleaner in it. I managed to get it out fast and took the battery out, dried it and two days later, bingo!!! It was working a treat and no sign of any problems. Today, two weeks later, it suddenly died, not a peep, won’t turn on at all. I tried everything l can think of like a battery check, a charger check, a factory reset and its totally dead. Is it a goner?? Is it time for a new phone?? Thanks for any info 🙂

  153. Water Damage
    Okay so my friends and I were walking in the woods in town and the woods were flooded but we still continued walking and we had to get home before our friends mom so we wouldn’t get in trouble, we had to take a short cut through 2 lakes that we thought would be knee high but it came up to my friends neck and she had my phone and her phone and she almost went under like her arms and she had the phones and she almost went all the way under and drowned. I don’t really care about my phone since she went all the way under but when she came back up we got to the muddy bank and threw the phones on the ground so I quickly took apart my phone and took the back off and took out the battery too but it has signs of water damage because the circle was white and its now red, and when we got home I put it in rice but I feel like it won’t help. Do you guys have any other ideas if it doesn’t work? Please help. Thanks.

    1. Phone went under water when crossing a lake…

      Hi Sierra,

      Sorry to hear about you and your friends phones. Be careful when going across bodies of water my friend, especially if they are muddy. You could find yourself in a lot more trouble than just being late.

      You won’t really know what the damage to your phone is until it has had time to dry out completely. Once the phone is dry then give it a try. If it seems to experience problems then follow the advice in the article above and in the comments below it and proceed from there. If it doesn’t seem to have any issues then you got lucky and you should try to enjoy your working cell phone.

  154. Dropped Phone In The Bath
    I dropped my phone in the bath and I left it in rice for a while, then I turned my phone on and it was working fine but then turned off. So I decided to leave it in rice for a little bit and its COMPLETELY dry but it will not turn on and its charging as well. PLEASE HELP.

    1. Give it another bath only…

      Not a good sign Cassandra. I would get a hold of some 99% isopropyl alcohol and give your phone another bath only this time bathe it in that 99% isopropyl alcohol and NOT bath water. There are better ways to clean a phone my friend. Try not to take it into the bath with you. Ha ha just kidding, accidents do happen.

      After a good soaking in alcohol, let your phone dry out completely again and give it another try. So long as the bath water didn’t physically damage any parts within the phone there is a good change that the alcohol can help revive your device.

  155. Waterlogged waterproof Xperia Z3 Compact
    I was busy filming underwater with my phone. Got 2 awesome videos that I watched afterwards however a few hours later the phone died.

    I am busy with the 99.7% alcohol bath and have the rice pack ready. I just want to know whether if this process does not work would i be able to recover the videos?

    Regards
    Simon

  156. The alcohol actually works!!!! Thank you!!!
    My son threw my Moto X (1st gen) phone into the bathtub. It restarted itself optimizing the apps which took an hour. I know to turn your phone off after water damage but I didn’t want to interrupt it so I waited for it to finish. I put it in a bag of rice for 24 hours. I turned it back on and everything seemed fine except it was showing a “SIM card error” every once in a while so I used up the rest of the battery.

    I tried to charge it. The lightning icon on my phone showed up but it wouldn’t charge and would never get warm on the charger. I ordered a replacement battery and put that in. Used up that battery. Still wouldn’t charge. A week went by. Put in another battery. Still no charge. Used up some of that battery and just turned it off and tried to find a solution online.

    I thought it might be the usb port but I could transfer photos from my phone to my computer with those replacement batteries. Finally I found this tutorial. Soaked it in 99% alcohol (which is not in any pharmacy stores, not even behind the counter-it’s not good for medical use).

    I ordered a 16oz bottle on Amazon for $6.15. Took out the SIM card and battery and soaked it for 2 hours. By the way, my phone has 2 water damage indicators and only the one by the usb port had been affected so I only soaked half the phone in the alcohol. Dried it in a bag of rice over night. Put everything back together and voila! It charged to 100% in a matter of an hour (my phone was also warm from charging this time) on the second replacement battery that had about 20% life left.

    Thank you thank you thank you!

  157. Help me please
    Some water was spilled on my Huawei phone and its screen turned white.
    So I put it in a bowl of rice, it worked for about 15 minutes but unfortunately it turned white again.
    Please help me!
    What should I do?

  158. ASUS ZenFone Max got wet with salt water
    My ASUS ZenFone 3 Max got wet when my family went to the Philippines and went island hopping. I placed my phone inside a waterproof phone case. When my family and I went swimming I saw that my waterproof phone case got water inside of it… my phone wont turn on, the screen is just black and my phone feels cold not warm.. please help.. if you think there is no way to fix my phone, do you have any ideas of how to retrieve my photos and data?

  159. Will it work on a car key?
    I dropped my electronic sensor keys in a pool about a month ago and never tried fixing them because I had a spare set. I haven’t tried using the keys since. Do you think that your methods would still apply to my keys? And I also read that putting them in the oven on 150 would work???

  160. Dropped my Samsung in the Hot Tub
    My husband dropped his mobile phone in the hot tub and didn’t notice for 5 hours.
    Is there any hope? Thank you for the information and options you have given. It is resting in rice now.

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