Dropped Your Phone in Water? What to Do Right Now (and Why Not to Use Rice)

Toilet, pool, coffee, the kid’s bath. We’ve all been there. Most phones from the last few years are water resistant, so a quick dunk is usually survivable. What you do in the first hour matters most, and these steps come straight from Apple’s and Samsung’s own instructions.

1. Get it out and unplug everything

Grab it fast and pull any cable, charger or accessory. Charging a wet phone can corrode the pins in the port and kill it for good.

2. Galaxy? Turn it off

Samsung says to power off a wet Galaxy right away. Hold Side key + Volume down, then tap Power off. Pull the case and the SIM tray if it’s easy.

Apple doesn’t ask you to turn off an iPhone, but it does say wait until it’s dry before you open the SIM tray.

3. Rinse it if it wasn’t clean water

Soda, coffee, beach water, pool water? Give the wet area a quick rinse with clean tap water. Sounds backwards, but sugar and salt drying inside the ports do more damage than plain water.

4. Dry the outside

Wipe it with a soft, lint-free cloth, like the one for your glasses. Then tap it gently against your hand with the charging port facing down to shake out the water hiding in there.

5. Let it air dry

Put it somewhere dry with some airflow. A fan blowing cool air at the charging port helps. Then be patient:

What not to do

• Rice. Apple flat out says don’t, because little rice bits can get inside and damage the phone. Sorry, grandma.
• Heat. No hair dryer, no oven, no sunny windowsill.
• Compressed air. Apple says skip it.
• Poking the port with cotton swabs or paper towels.

Speaker sounds muffled?

Water sitting in the speaker grille makes everything sound quiet or crackly until it dries out. Lay the phone speaker-side down on a lint-free cloth and let it drip. If it still sounds weird after a day, it might need a look.

When to get it checked

Book a repair if, after 24 hours, you notice:

• Fog or droplets inside the camera lens
• It won’t charge, or keeps showing the liquid alert with a dry cable
• Spots, lines or flicker on the screen
• It restarts on its own or gets hot

Samsung actually recommends getting a wet phone checked even if it seems fine, since corrosion can start inside even when everything looks normal.

Will warranty cover it?

Usually not. Water resistance wears down over time, Apple’s warranty doesn’t cover liquid damage, and Samsung’s standard warranty generally won’t either. Protection plans are a different story:

Yeah, those no-coverage prices are basically new-phone money. If you’re not covered, read our repair or replace guide before you pay anything.

Steps based on Apple and Samsung support guidance, checked October 2026. Repair prices are Apple’s US out-of-warranty prices.