How to Save a Wet Phone

Don’t despair when your phone gets wet. Even if you drop your phone in the sink, toilet or bathtub, you can still save your device. The most important thing you should do is act fast. Get your phone out of the water as quickly as possible. Next, turn off the power, remove the battery and remove all accessories. Try to dry the water in the phone as much as you can with a towel and vacuum cleaner. The next step is to place the phone in a bowl of instant rice or absorbent material for 48-72 hours before turning it on. With a little luck and quick action, your phone will “live” again.

Table of Contents

Quick action to minimize the effect of water

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Remove the phone from the water as quickly as possible unless it is connected to a power source. The longer the phone is in the water, the more severe the damage. If your phone is submerged in water for too long, you may not be able to restore it. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Turn off the power if the phone is dropped in water while it is charging. If the phone that is charging gets wet, turn off the power before taking the phone out of the water. Taking your phone out of water while it is charging may result in electric shock. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Turning off the circuit breaker is the safest way to do this.

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Power off your phone immediately, even if it’s still active. Failure to turn off the power may cause a short circuit. If your phone is submerged in water, you can treat it as wet regardless of whether it’s still working or not. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Do not turn on the phone to check if it still works.

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Remove the phone case and battery and place it all on a paper towel. After taking your phone out of the water, you should immediately remove a tissue or soft cloth and place the phone on the towel when removing the case and battery. You need a screwdriver to open most phones. However, if you’re using an iPhone, you’ll need a screwdriver that’s as small as a needle. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Read the manual that came with your phone if you are not sure how to remove the battery.
This is one of the most important steps to save your phone. Many circuits in your phone will still work after being submerged in water if not connected to a power source (battery) when wet.
To see if your phone is really affected by water, check the angle near the battery. You should see a white square or circle here. If it’s pink or red, your phone has been affected by water. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Remove the SIM card if your phone has a SIM card. After taking out the SIM card, use a paper towel or towel to dry the water. Place the SIM card on a dry towel or paper towel to dry until the phone is reconnected to the mobile network. If your phone does not have a SIM card, skip this step. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Some or all of your important contacts (along with other data) are stored on the SIM card. In most cases, saving the SIM card will be more important than saving the phone.

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Remove the accessories from the phone. Remove protective accessories, headphones, memory cards or other things that are mounted on the phone. Be sure to keep the phone’s trays and slots well ventilated to effectively dry out the water. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Dry the phone

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Put the phone in a bowl of instant rice for about 48-72 hours. Pour 4 cups of rice (about 750g) into a large bowl. Next, you bury your phone and removed battery in rice. The rice will draw any remaining moisture out of the appliance. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Rotate your phone to a different position every hour until you go to bed. This way, the water inside flows out and there is space to escape. ^{[9] X Research Source}
White or brown rice doesn’t absorb as well as instant rice and isn’t as effective.

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Use a desiccant pack instead of instant rice if you have one available. Put some desiccant packs, the phone and the disassembled battery in the box. The rest is that you wait about 48-72 hours for the desiccant pack to take away the remaining moisture in the phone. ^{[10] X Research Source}

Desiccant packs are small packages found in new shoes, new wallets, instant noodles, and other products.
Speed is still the most important factor in saving a wet phone; so use rice or other desiccant if you don’t have a desiccant pack available.

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Coat the phone with 4 cups (about 750g) of cat litter. If you don’t have instant rice or a desiccant pack available, cat litter is another option. Pour a layer of glass sand for cats into a box with a capacity of at least 1-2 liters. Next, you place the phone and the removed battery on the sand. Add the remaining sand to cover the phone. ^{[11] X Research Source}

You can buy cat litter at most supermarkets and pet product stores.
Do not use clay or other sand. Only glass sand, which is made from silica gel beads, is effective.
Other hygroscopic ingredients like couscous seeds and instant oats are also effective.

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Vacuum the water out of the phone with a vacuum cleaner. Attach the nozzle to the vacuum cleaner, then turn it on to the strongest setting and vacuum the gaps on the phone. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Wet/dry vacuums are especially effective in this step, if you have one on hand.
This is the fastest method, can make the phone completely dry and work again in 30 minutes. However, you should not start the phone so early, unless it has been exposed to water for an extremely short period of time.

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Use an air compressor to blow water out of the phone. Set the air compressor to low psi (pounds of force per square inch). Blow air on the phone’s surface and ports. ^{[13] X Research Source}

Or, you can use a can of compressed air.
Using a higher psi mode may cause damage to the phone’s internals.
Do not use a hair dryer to dry the phone. Heat can damage the phone’s internal components.

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Dry the phone and battery with a soft cloth or towel. When blowing or sucking to dry the phone, you gently wipe the amount of water on the surface. While it’s important to dry the inside of your phone, you also need to dry the surface of the device. ^{[14] X Research Source}

Avoid shaking or vigorous movement so that water does not flow elsewhere in the phone.

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Placing the phone in a well-ventilated area with a fan is another option. Place the phone on a dry towel or other absorbent surface. Next, if there is a fan, be sure to turn it on and place it so that the fan blows to the surface of the phone. ^{[15] X Research Source}

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Wait about 48-72 hours and then turn on the phone. Before turning on your phone, you need to check that it is clean and dry. Wipe or vacuum the device and the removed battery. Finally, you can attach the battery to your phone and power it on. ^{[16] X Research Source}

The longer it waits before turning on the phone, the more likely it is to recover.

Advice

Take your phone to a repair shop if you can’t handle it. They can recover your phone.
Remember to be careful when placing your phone in rice as rice particles can stick to the charging/headphone port.

Warning

Do not attempt to disassemble the phone unless you have been instructed to do so.
Avoid drying the phone with heat as this will further damage the phone.
Do not attempt to remove the charging cord while the phone is in water as you may receive an electric shock. Only take the phone out of the water after you have turned off the power at the charging cord outlet.

Things you need

Paper towels or dry towels
Vacuum cleaner
Vacuum cleaner (optional)
Large bowl with a capacity of 1-2 liters.
4 cups (about 750g) instant rice or cat litter
Desiccant pack (optional)

Steps

Quick action to minimize the effect of water

Dry the phone

Advice

Warning

Things you need

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