Dropping your phone in water can be stressful because you don’t know if your phone will live through the problem. If you submerge your phone in water, you know that you have a problem on your hands, but can it be saved?

Please continue reading to learn how to get water out of your phone. In addition, we will discuss common misconceptions and things you should avoid when removing water.

How to Tell When There is Water in Your Phone

You can find plenty of horror stories online about people dropping their phones into the water and never being able to use them again. This is especially horrifying if you don’t have phone insurance.

However, sometimes you’ll wonder if there’s water in your phone because you took a shower with it.

Sometimes, you’ll get lucky, and your phone’s interior will remain fine after showering. However, if you get water in your port, you must remove it.

If you have a modern phone, you can tell there’s water inside because your phone will notify you of the moisture.

You can also tell there’s water in your phone with an older model if you notice water trapped under your screen.

Steps to Get Water Out of Your Phone

Whether you accidentally get water in your port during a rainstorm or drop your phone in the pool, you can follow these steps to remove the water and protect your device.

  • Dry your phone off with a microfiber towel.Gently tap your phone on your hand with the charging port facing down to shake excess water out. You don’t want to tap on a hard surface and risk damaging your screen.After you shake out the excess water, you need to find a safe spot for your phone to dry.Lean the phone against something so the port faces down and has an easier time draining waterWait at least an hourCheck for damageIf your phone is water damage free, you can use it again. If there’s still water trapped in your phone, you may need to wait longer.

This is the best way to remove water from your phone safely. However many people will give you alternative ways, but most alternatives can hurt your phone more.

Don’t Plug in Your Phone!

You should never plug your phone into the wall if you have water damage.

Newer models of phones can be charged with a wireless charger instead.

Most cell phones won’t even allow you to charge your phone if it detects water inside the port.

Charging a phone with water inside can permanently damage your interior.

It could be tempting to charge your phone despite the damage risk when you have low battery life.

Using a wireless charger in this situation is safe, but don’t plug anything into your port.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Dry Your Phone With Rice

If you ask your friends how to get water out of your phone, they may suggest dunking it in white rice and letting it sit overnight.

However, there are better ways to go than this method.

The following are reasons you should avoid putting your phone in white rice.

  • Putting your phone in rice is not a good idea because you can get dirt trapped in your charging port. It’ll be hard to remove this debris, and it can interrupt your charging.The starch in the rice can increase your chances of damaging the interior permanently.Putting your phone in rice can be a big waste of time.

Even though the rice will help remove some moisture from your phone, it can worsen your damage.

Avoid Drying Your Phone with Heat

If you’re impatient, you may be tempted to use a hair dryer on your phone’s charging port.

However, this method can cause your cell phone to overheat.

If you have hard water in your home, it can also cause unwanted minerals to get trapped in your charging port.

These minerals will be extremely difficult to remove.

There’s a chance your phone will be fine when you use heat to dry it, but the chance isn’t very high.

It would be best to use a safer drying method.

You won’t have moisture trapped in your phone, but you can encounter worse technical problems using the hair dryer or heat method.

Final Thoughts

Removing water from your phone is easy, but there’s no way to guarantee you won’t receive damage.

Sometimes, the water damage is too great to fix, and you need to replace your device.

Newer cell phones are water resistant to an extent but not fully waterproof.

Avoid bringing your cell phone around water sources to keep it safe.

The best way to remove water from your phone is to allow the device to air dry and shake out excess water.