Before you begin. This procedure is general reference information, not professional advice. Equipment varies by manufacturer, model, and year. Always follow the documentation supplied with your equipment — where it differs from this page, follow the manufacturer. Verify that you have the tools, the working conditions, and the ability to do this task safely. If anything is unclear, if the equipment is damaged, or if the task exceeds your experience, stop and use a qualified professional. You are responsible for your own safety and for the outcome. This site accepts no liability for any loss, damage, or injury arising from the use of this information.
Specifications marked unverified could not be traced to a manufacturer source. Do not rely on them — obtain the value from your equipment documentation.
Summary
The rice thing is wrong, and it is not this page saying so — it is Apple, in its own support documentation, in a list headed with things not to do. Apple's stated reason is not that rice fails to absorb water. It is that small particles of rice get into the phone and damage it. So the folk remedy does not merely waste a day of drying time you could have spent doing something that works; it introduces a second problem on top of the first one.
What replaces it is unglamorous and specific. Get the cable out, get the excess liquid out by tapping the phone with the connector pointing down, and then leave it somewhere dry with air moving over it. Apple publishes two intervals for what happens next: wait at least 30 minutes before you try charging at all, and if the phone still reports liquid, give it up to a day, because full drying can take 24 hours. The reason the waiting matters is corrosion — Apple states that charging through a wet connector can corrode the pins on the connector or the cable, and that the damage can be permanent. The alert is not the phone being fussy. It is the phone refusing to destroy itself.
Two things this page will not do. It will not print the location of the liquid contact indicator for your model, because Apple publishes that only as a per-model drawing and there is no text version to quote; you get sent to Apple's own table instead. And where Apple and Samsung give flatly opposite instructions — they do, on whether a cotton bud belongs anywhere near the port — it names both and sends you to your own manufacturer rather than inventing a compromise neither company published.
Safety
DO NOT PUT THE PHONE IN RICE.
Apple states that small particles of rice can get into the phone and damage it. Rice does not dry a phone.
Necessary equipment
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Dry lint-free cloth | Samsung gives a dry cloth to remove the liquid from the outside of the phone. |
| A dry area with moving air | Apple gives a dry area with some airflow. Google gives a flat surface at room temperature. |
| Bright light and a magnifying glass | Apple gives a lighted magnifying glass to read the liquid contact indicator. |
| Wireless charger | Apple states that a wireless charger works if the back of the phone is dry. |
Do these steps immediately
Estimated 4 min
- Disconnect the cable from the phone.<1mReport a problem with step 1, Do these steps immediately
- Apple gives this step first.
- Disconnect the other end of the cable from the adapter.<1mReport a problem with step 2, Do these steps immediately
- The cable can hold liquid at each end.
DO NOT USE A PHONE THAT IS SWOLLEN OR TOO HOT.
Samsung gives an examination for these conditions. Speak to a service centre before you use the phone again.
- If the phone went into water, set the phone to off.<1mReport a problem with step 3, Do these steps immediately
- Samsung gives this step first for a phone that went into water.
- Google gives the same step for a wet port.
- Samsung states that moisture in the phone can corrode the mainboard.
- Remove the case, the SIM card and the memory card.2mReport a problem with step 4, Do these steps immediately
- Samsung gives the removal of these parts before you dry the phone.
- Dry the outside of the phone with a dry cloth.2mReport a problem with step 5, Do these steps immediately
- Samsung gives a dry towel or a clean cloth for this step.
- Do not put the cloth into the port.
Dry the phone
Estimated 2 min
Source: If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
Source: If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
DO NOT USE HEAT OR COMPRESSED AIR TO DRY THE PHONE.
Apple prohibits an external heat source and compressed air. Samsung prohibits a hair dryer and hot air.
- Hold the phone with the connector down.<1mReport a problem with step 1, Dry the phone
- Apple gives this direction to remove the liquid that stays in the connector.
- Tap the phone gently against your hand.<1mReport a problem with step 2, Dry the phone
- Apple and Google both give this method.
- Use a gentle tap. A hard tap can damage the phone.
- Put the phone in a dry area with moving air.1mReport a problem with step 3, Dry the phone
- Apple gives a dry area with some airflow.
- Samsung gives a well-ventilated area or the shade, with cool air from a fan.
- Keep the phone at room temperature.<1mReport a problem with step 4, Dry the phone
- Google gives a flat surface at room temperature.
- Do not put the phone in sunlight.
- Do not put the phone near a radiator.
Wait before you charge
Estimated 1 hr 33 min to 24 hr 33 min
Source: If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
Source: If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
DO NOT CHARGE THE PHONE WHILE THE CONNECTOR IS WET.
Apple states that the pins on the connector or the cable can corrode. This damage can be permanent.
- Wait a minimum of 30 minutes.30mReport a problem with step 1, Wait before you charge
- Apple publishes this interval before the first attempt to charge.
- Do a test of the charge after the 30 minutes.1mReport a problem with step 2, Wait before you charge
- Connect the cable.
- Look at the screen.
- If no alert shows, the connector is dry.
- If the alert shows again, put the phone back in the dry area.1hReport a problem with step 3, Wait before you charge
- Apple states that liquid stays in the connector or below the pins of the cable.
- Apple gives up to one day for this stage.
- Apple states that a connector can need 24 hours to become fully dry.
- You can do a test of the charge again at any time in this period.
- If you must charge the phone before the connector is dry, use a wireless charger.2mReport a problem with step 4, Wait before you charge
- Apple states that the back of the phone must be dry for a wireless charger.
- Apple also gives an emergency override for the liquid detection.
- Use the override only in an emergency.
Do a check of the liquid contact indicator
Estimated 7 min
Source: Water and other liquid damage to iPhone or iPod isn't covered by warranty · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
- If you have an iPhone, find your model in the Apple indicator table.3mReport a problem with step 1, Do a check of the liquid contact indicator
- Apple gives one location for each model, as an image.
- Some models sold in some countries have no indicator that you can see.
- Point a light at the indicator and examine its colour.2mReport a problem with step 2, Do a check of the liquid contact indicator
- Apple gives a lighted magnifying glass for this examination.
- Move the light or the phone to an angle that shows the indicator.
- Make a record of the colour and the date.2mReport a problem with step 3, Do a check of the liquid contact indicator
- An indicator that is white or silver shows no contact with water.
- An indicator that is fully red shows contact with water.
- Apple states that the warranty does not cover liquid damage.
Terminology
This page uses one term for each item and holds it throughout, as ASD-STE100 requires. Equipment sellers and other guides use the names below for the same parts.
- liquid contact indicator
- Also called: LCI, water damage indicator, water sticker, red dot in sim tray, moisture sensor
- liquid-detection alert
- Also called: charging not available, liquid detected in lightning connector, liquid detected in usb-c connector, liquid or debris in usb port, water drop icon, moisture detected
- connector
- Also called: charging port, charger port, usb c port, lightning port
- liquid exposure
- Also called: water damage, dropped my phone in water, phone got wet, dropped phone in toilet, spilled water on phone
When to use a professional
Stop if liquid went inside the phone. Apple states that you must get help from an Apple Authorized Service Provider or an Apple Store as soon as possible. Apple also states that the warranty does not cover liquid damage.
Stop if the phone went fully into water. Samsung states that moisture can stay in the phone after it dries. Samsung states that it is best not to power on the phone until a service centre examines it. Take the phone to a service centre as soon as possible.
Stop if the phone is swollen or too hot to hold. Samsung gives an examination for these conditions. Google states that you must use a different phone, tablet or computer to ask for support.
Stop if the port looks burned, melted or corroded. Google states that this damage needs a warranty claim or an authorized repair partner.
Stop if you are not sure about the indicator. Apple states that you must speak to Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider for an examination, even when the indicator is red.
Common questions
Does putting a wet phone in rice actually work?
Apple says not to do it, and gives a reason that has nothing to do with absorption: small particles of rice could get into your iPhone and damage it. So the rice is not a neutral option that merely fails — it adds a second problem to the one you already have. It also costs you the thing that genuinely helps, which is air moving over a phone with the connector pointed down, starting immediately. Neither Google nor Samsung recommends rice anywhere in their own drying instructions either; both publish air drying instead. If you have already done it, get the phone out, check the port for grains under a light, and follow the steps on this page.
How long do I have to wait before charging a phone that got wet?
Apple publishes two figures and they answer different questions. Wait at least 30 minutes before you try charging at all. If the alert comes back when you try, there is still liquid in the connector or under the pins of the cable, and you should leave the phone in a dry area with airflow for up to a day, because it can take up to 24 hours to dry fully. You are allowed to retry charging at any point during that period, so you are not committed to a full day of waiting. Do not force it through: Apple states that charging a wet connector can corrode the pins and cause permanent damage.
Apple says never put a cotton swab in the port and Samsung tells me to use a cotton bud. Which one is right?
They genuinely contradict each other, and this page does not pretend otherwise. Apple's liquid-detection article says not to insert a foreign object such as a cotton swab or a paper towel into the connector. Samsung's water-damage article says to be thorough drying the places water can enter, including the charging port, and to use a cotton bud to ensure complete moisture removal. A cotton bud and a cotton swab are the same thing. Both are current, first-party instructions from the company that built the device, so the right answer is whichever one made your phone — not an average of the two, which is advice nobody published.
Where is the water damage indicator on my phone?
If it is an iPhone, Apple publishes the location per model in a table, and this page deliberately does not reproduce it. The reason is concrete rather than cautious: Apple gives that location only as a drawing for each model, one image per row, with no text version anywhere on the page — so there is nothing to quote and copying the diagram is not something we do. Go to Apple's table, find your exact model, and read the drawing. Note also that several recent iPhone models sold in some countries are eSIM-only, have no SIM tray, and therefore have no externally visible indicator at all.
The phone seems completely fine after getting wet. Do I still need to do anything?
Yes, at least the drying and the indicator check. Corrosion is slow, so a phone that survives the first evening can still fail weeks later, and Samsung specifically warns that moisture may still be present after a period of drying. The indicator check is worth doing while the event is fresh because it affects what happens if you later need a repair — Apple states that liquid damage is not covered by the standard warranty. Make a note of the indicator colour and the date. If the phone went fully under water rather than being splashed, Samsung's advice is to leave it off and have a service centre look at it regardless of how well it seems to be working.
Can I use a hair dryer on a cool setting, or compressed air, to speed it up?
No, and this is one of the few points where Apple and Samsung agree completely. Apple says not to dry the iPhone using an external heat source or compressed air. Samsung says that trying to dry the device rapidly with a hair dryer or hot air may damage it. Compressed air in particular tends to drive liquid and debris further into the phone rather than out of it. What both companies do endorse is moving air at ordinary room temperature — Samsung explicitly allows cool air from a fan, and Apple asks for a dry area with some airflow. A fan pointed at the phone is fine; heat is not.
Related procedures
- How to get lint out of a phone charging port safely when it won't charge or the cable keeps falling out
- Is my phone charger safe to use? How to tell if a charging cable or wall charger is damaged, counterfeit or has been recalled
- How to wipe a phone before selling it or trading it in, without leaving it locked to your account
- How to check MacBook battery health and cycle count, and what the numbers mean
- How to find and record the model and serial number of every appliance in the house
Sources
Every specification on this page is traced to one of these sources. Tier 1 is a manufacturer document, a published standard, or a government safety authority. See Standards for the full tiering rule.
- Tier 1If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone
- Tier 1Water and other liquid damage to iPhone or iPod isn't covered by warranty
- Tier 1How to clean your Apple products
- Tier 1Fix "Unplug charger" or "Liquid or debris" message
- Tier 1I dropped my device in water
- Tier 1What to do when your Galaxy device has a problem with charging, powering on and off?
Revision history
Current version 1 · updated 2026-07-29 · next review due 2027-07-29
- v1 · 2026-07-29First draft. Built from Apple, Google and Samsung support documentation opened by direct HTTPS fetch on 2026-07-29: Apple 'If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone' (Apple Published Date October 30, 2024), 'Water and other liquid damage to iPhone or iPod isn't covered by warranty' (May 26, 2026) and 'How to clean your Apple products' (October 24, 2025); Google 'Fix Unplug charger or Liquid or debris message'; Samsung 'I dropped my device in water' and its Galaxy charging support article. The rice prohibition is attributed to Apple alone, because Apple is the only one of the three that names rice; Google and Samsung publish air drying without mentioning it, and no claim is made that they warn against it. Apple and Samsung publish opposite instructions on using a cotton bud in the connector; that is recorded as a conflict_note naming both and publishes as a consult-manufacturer instruction. The per-model liquid contact indicator location publishes as a consult-manufacturer instruction because Apple gives it only as a drawing, confirmed by parsing the table markup: every location cell is a single image with alt text and carries no text value.
Corrections to this page are listed in the public corrections log. Reports that are credible and not yet verified are listed in the public errata register, and an open one renders above the step it concerns.
Comments and corrections
Found an error? A correction with a manufacturer source is applied and logged publicly. You can also write to corrections@fixchecklist.com.
Every step above carries its own report control, which tags the report with that step so a correction reaches the right place. For anything about the procedure as a whole — the order of the sections, a step that is missing, something that did not match your equipment — use this: report something about this whole procedure.