Summary
You’ve probably heard the advice that you can fix a wet phone by putting it in a bag of rice. However, putting it in rice is usually not the best action to take. Here’s what you actually should do if your phone accidentally takes a bath.
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It’s something that might be straight out of your nightmares. Your phone slips out of your hand and lands in a bowl of water. If you follow popular advice, you’ll get your phone out and stick it in a bowl of rice. However, that’s usually not the best action to take. Here’s what you should do instead.
For Personal Tech Media, this is Two Minute Tech. I’m Jim Herman.
When your phone takes an unexpected bath, putting it in rice usually causes more problems than it solves. Rice typically doesn’t dry your phone any faster than letting it air dry. But small pieces of rice or dust can get into the phone ports, which can cause further issues.
So if your phone gets wet, what should you do instead?
First, realize that this will be a slow process. You will likely be without your phone for a few days while you try to dry it out.
Second, turn your phone off as soon as possible. Shutting it off stops power from flowing through the device and potentially through the water. If your phone has a removable battery, pull the battery out as well.
Third, if you have a phone case, take your phone out of the case. Open anything you can easily open on the phone to allow as much air inside as possible.
Fourth, let your phone air dry. If you have a small fan, setting your phone in front of the fan can help speed up the process. The Silica gel packs often added to packages to attract moisture can also help speed it up.
Let the phone sit for 24 to 48 hours or a little bit less if you use the fan and the gel packs. Then, turn the phone back on and see if it still works.