Here’s What To Do After Your Phone Dropped In Water

Your phone can’t swim, and water damage can ruin it. Yet, you can still save your phone from drowning. Here’s what to do after your phone dropped in water.

Keyword(s): phone dropped in water

Check out these water-related phone statistics:

Over 100,000 smartphones meet a watery (or other liquid-y) demise every day.

Almost 20% of people will drop their phone in the toilet at some point.

Whatever the case situation, toilet imposed or otherwise, a lot of phone-related water damage clearly happens on a daily basis.

Now, the idea of someone dropping their phone in the loo is pretty funny (until it happens to you). But think about the practicality. That’s hundreds and thousands of unhappy people losing their treasured pictures, messages and contacts on the daily. Then there’s the hassle of getting a new phone, and so on and so forth.

Thankfully, all is not lost. A wet phone doesn’t necessarily equal a dead phone. But what do you do when the worst happens and your phone gets an unexpected bath?

Keep reading to find out what to do when your phone dropped in water.

Exactly What to Do if Your Phone Dropped in Water

Everyone knows that water and electronics don’t mix. Here are some essential steps to take for damage limitation and potential fix-age!

Get it Out ASAP

Your phone just fell in water.

You don’t have it covered by insurance. Panic ensues. You go to post what happened on Snapchat, then remember where your phone is. You panic some more. It’s natural, but make sure it doesn’t last too long! You need to act quickly!

This step is one of the most important ways to limit the damage done to your phone. Essentially, you have to get it out of the water as fast as possible. The longer the phone stays submerged, the more it will get damaged. That all adds up to less chance of fixing it.

It doesn’t matter where it is. Whether the phone is in the toilet, swimming pool, puddle, or glass of water, react as quickly as possible to get it out of there!  

Take it Apart

Well done, the phone is officially out of the water.

Try not to let your tears of fear and worry add to the already waterlogged electronics in front of you.

With step 1 complete, it’s time to take things apart. If you’re lucky your phone has a back you can remove without trouble. Do it now, and then remove the battery as you go. The battery is the life-source of your mobile. Taking it out and getting it dry is like giving someone CPR. There’s no guarantee it’ll work, but you sure as hell want to give it a try.

Alas, many modern phones don’t make it easy to dismantle. You might even need a special screwdriver to remove the back of an iPhone. Most people are unlikely to have these lying around.

If that’s the case for you, then head to the next step.

Turn it Off

Many people will tell you to turn the power off first (as soon as you’ve removed it from the water).

It’s a little context-dependent though. Just as a medical emergency is rarely simple, the health of a water-damaged mobile phone can vary by situation. It’s often about doing the best you can in a bad circumstance.

Where were we though? Let’s get back to the matter at hand.

Essentially, removing the battery held a double-advantage. You want to cut the power as soon as possible. This makes it less likely that your device will short circuit (which kills your phone outright). Taking the battery out is obviously one easy way of turning the phone off. Even better, you ensure the water doesn’t remain in this crucial area of the phone for too long either.

However, as we’ve seen, not everyone can get to their battery with ease. If that’s the case, then simply cut the power as soon as feasibly possible.

Your screen may have been off when it hit the water. Is it still off when you retrieve it? Tap the power button to see if it lights, then switch it off ASAP. If it stays dark, leave it that way.

Don’t Heat it Up!

What happens when you get wet normally?

More often than not you’ll apply heat to dry yourself, right? It’s just like washing your hands after visiting the bathroom and using the hand dryer afterward.

Surely the same logic applies to a wet phone? Wrong. No. Absolutely not. Abort. We repeat, abort.

Step away from the oven. Step back from the microwave. Put down the hairdryer. Definitely turn off your hair straighteners…

It will do no-one any good (especially your mobile). There are much better ways to go about things. Read on to learn what to do.

Get the Water Out

Heat, bad. Removing water, good.

With your phone apart or not, it’s time to set to work getting rid of the water in any way possible.

Use clean paper towels, or an ordinary towel, to wipe away the water. You could even use a vacuum cleaner to suck the water out. Likewise, compressed air may get rid of the water effectively too.

Just be careful not to push the water deeper into the device.

Dry it Out

With as much water removed as possible, it’s time to get it dry.

We’ve all heard about the old rice technique.

You get a bag of good old basmati (or long-grain, or short-grain rice…whatever your preference) fill up a bag, place your wet phone in amongst it, then leave it overnight (or over a couple of days) in an airing cupboard.

Wake up the next day and your mobile’s good as new. Correct?

No. Well…Not quite. The science is still unclear. There’s some anecdotal evidence to support this approach. By all means, give it a try. However, you might find that using silica gel, couscous, or instant-rice will absorb more water. And you probably need more of each than you think.  

Likewise, lacking access to any of it may not be the end of the world either. Some people find that simply placing the phone in open-air (possibly next to a fan) works just as well.

Time to Get Moving

There you have it: what to do if your phone dropped in water.

Essentially, stop reading and get moving! There’s no time to waste. From there, follow the steps we just discussed for the best chance of salvaging your device.

Good luck!

Do you have a habit of damaging your phones? You might want to consider protecting it with a warranty! Click here to get a quote today.