Dropped Your iPhone in Water?Here's What to Do Right Now

1. First: Figure Out What State Your iPhone Is In

After you drop your phone in water, it'll usually fall into one of three categories. The right first aid depends entirely on which one you're dealing with, so find your situation below.

2. Case A: Screen's On and It's Working

This is the best-case scenario. iPhones since the 7 have IP67 or IP68 water resistance under IEC standard 60529 (Apple Support). If it was a quick dip and the screen is fine, the water probably hasn't reached the critical internal parts yet.

① Check if it's plugged in

If it was charging, unplug it immediately. Electricity and water are the worst combination for your phone's health.

② Carefully wipe down the outside

Use a soft cloth or paper towel to dry the entire iPhone. Pay special attention to these three spots:

• Charging Port (Lightning / USB-C) — This is where water loves to hang out.
• Speaker Grilles (bottom left and right) — The direct cause of muffled sound.
• SIM Tray (on the side) — Pop it open with a SIM tool, take out the card, and wipe the inside of the slot.

Point the speaker grilles down and gently tap the phone against your palm to encourage any trapped droplets to come out.

③ Play a water eject sound

This is the most important step. You can't just wipe water out of the speakers. You need to use a low-frequency sound—around 165Hz—to physically vibrate it out.

It's the same principle Apple uses in the Apple Watch's Water Lock feature, and it's scientifically proven to work.

④ Don't charge it for a few hours

Even if the screen is fine, there could still be moisture in the charging port. Give it a few hours to air dry. If you absolutely have to charge it, use a wireless (Qi) charger to be safe.

⑤ Check on it in a few hours

After you've run the water eject tool, check the following:

• Is the speaker sound back to normal? (Play some music to test.)
• Does the microphone work? (Record a quick voice memo.)
• Are you getting the "Liquid Detected" warning when you plug in a cable?

If everything checks out, congratulations—you've successfully saved your phone.

3. Case B: Screen's On, But Something's Wrong

The screen works, but something's definitely off. This is the "you can still save it, but if you wait, it's gonna get worse" stage.

The sound is muffled or crackly

This is the most common symptom. Water got into the speaker grilles and is sitting on the speaker membrane. Just like in Case A, wipe down the exterior and then run a water eject sound. This symptom has the highest chance of being fixed by a water eject tool. For best results, run a 2-3 minute session, wait 15 minutes, and repeat 3-5 times.

You're seeing the "Liquid Detected" warning

This is your iPhone's self-preservation system kicking in. It's not a sign of failure; it's a sign that it's working correctly. Point the charging port down, give it a gentle shake, wipe it with a cloth, and let it air dry. The warning usually disappears in an hour or two. The absolute worst thing you can do is ignore the warning and try to charge it.

The touchscreen is acting weird (ghost touches, not responding)

This could mean water has seeped between the screen and the body of the phone. If this happens, you should probably turn the phone off. Press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons, then slide to power off. After that, your next call should be to a repair shop.

The screen is flickering or has lines on it

Water has likely reached the display's internal components. If you see this, turn the phone off immediately. Keeping it on risks sending a current to the logic board and causing a much bigger, more expensive problem.

4. Case C: Screen's Black or It Won't Turn On

Real talk: if your screen is black and your phone is unresponsive, there's a high chance water has reached the logic board.

What you can do while you wait

You can try playing a water eject sound from another device (a family member's phone or a laptop) and aiming it at the dead iPhone's speaker grilles. Getting even a little water out of the speaker assembly could make a post-repair recovery smoother.

Can I get my data back?

Even if the phone won't turn on, a professional data recovery service might be able to pull data directly from the logic board. But be warned, it's not cheap—you're looking at several hundred dollars. This is why having iCloud backups turned on is so important. It can save your photos and contacts even if the hardware is a total loss. → Learn more about data recovery options here.

5. The "Do Not Do This Under Any Circumstances" List

When you're panicking, it's easy to make a mistake. Do not do any of these things.

6. My iPhone Seems Fine... Am I in the Clear? The After-Action Checklist

It's surprisingly common for an iPhone to seem perfectly fine after a quick dip. But here's the thing: "working" doesn't mean "undamaged." Run through this checklist to be sure.

Things to check right away

• Play music through the speakers → Does it sound muffled or distorted?
• Record a voice memo → Does the microphone pick up your voice clearly?
• Take a photo with the front and rear cameras → Is there any fogging inside the lens?
• Try Face ID → Does it recognize you without any issues?

Things to check over the next day

• Are you getting the "Liquid Detected" warning when you plug it in?
• Is the battery draining way faster than usual?
• Does the phone feel unusually hot?
• Is your cell signal as strong as it normally is?

7. Does the Type of Water Matter? (Spoiler: Yes)

Not all water is created equal. Depending on where you dropped your phone, the urgency of the situation can change dramatically.

8. My Personal Water-Damage Story: What I Learned at the Water Park

It was July 2024, and I was at a water park with my daughter. Having already bricked an iPhone at the beach the year before (a $700 mistake), I thought I was being smart by putting my new one in a Ziploc bag.

Famous last words. The second I hit the water at the bottom of a slide, the impact forced the bag open. When I pulled the phone out, the speakers were completely dead.

Here's exactly what I did, following the steps in this guide:

1. Pulled it out of the water immediately (the screen was still on → Case A).
2. Dried the outside with a towel.
3. Found a water eject website on my phone and started playing the 165Hz tone.
4. Repeated the process every 15 minutes.

After about two hours of this, the sound finally came back. It took about a week for it to sound 100% normal again, but it made a full recovery.

That experience taught me two things: first, if the screen is on and you act fast, you can almost always save it. And second, the frustration of trying to find a reliable tool in that moment is what eventually led to us creating WATERKICK.

9. Frequently Asked Questions