iPhone has no sound after dropping in water /toilet/ wet.
One of the worst possible feeling you can have as an iPhone owner is dropping it in water. This can include puddles, pools, cups, the ocean, washing machine and more frequently the toilet. Because we all know going to the toilet without your iPhone turns out to be the difference between life and death.
What to do if you have dropped your iPhone in water? So if you have dropped you iPhone in one of the above areas then there may be some temporary issues. The first issue you may encounter is that your iPhone will have no sound or the speaker will stop working.
This is not specific to certain iPhones, it will plague all devices including iPhone 3G/ iPhone 4/ 4S / iPhone 5/ 5S / 5C and the new iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 7, 8 and iPhone X. Even though all these devices are engineered to such minute detail, when you drop one in water it can be a loosing battle unless you have an awesome case.
One thing important which applies to all these steps and solutions is as soon as you get your iPhone out of the water turn it off straight away! No checking messages or Facebook, it needs to be turned of as soon as possible as it will ruin the electrical hardware while wet.
iPhone has no sound after dropping in water /toilet/ wet – Fixes
Step 1
This one comes as no surprise but it is the most successful step and is the thing thing you should try. So insure your iPhone is turned off, also remove any case or bumper that is on the iPhone. This is done as it may slow down the process as water can still be trapped in the crevices.
Also once that is done put the iPhone on a paper towel or a extremely dry towel and pat down the iPhone to remove any wetness that still may be lingering. Another step to remember is to remove the sim card.
So with the resealable bag put the iPhone in there with the rice and seal. Then you want to find a cool dry place like a cupboard or pantry.
Ideally you want to leave it in there for 20-30 hours to maximise the potential of the moisture being absorbed from the rice. If you cant afford that much times 5-10 hours should suffice but you many not get the full potential from the rice.
Step 2
If you absolutely cant get your hands on some rice then this step is the next best thing. Firstly you want to follow the same instructions above as to remove the case, pat down the iPhone with a paper towel and remove the sim card. And also the q tip method to remove any more moisture in the headphone jock or docking station.
So for this step you want to wrap your iPhone up in a paper towel, you only need about 1 or 2. Place the iPhone on the paper towel and roll it up so the iPhone is fully covered.
You can also follow the steps in this video that provide alternative solutions for iPhones with moisture and sound problems. Watch the below videos for more steps and tutorials on how to fix this issue.
Once you have done this search out a dry and warm place, ideally the best spot for this would be a hot water cupboard. But if not a pantry or sealed shelf should be ok.
With this step your going to want to leave it in there for at least 2-3 days as it will take longer to soak up the moisture. If you do get your hands on some rice within that time then you can transfer the iPhone to rice and follow step 1.
Step 3
If none of the above steps work after leaving the iPhone in rice for over 24 hours there are some follow up solutions and fixes you can try to also eliminate any excess moisture or water from the iPhone. By using a hairdryer on the low heat setting, hover it above the speaker area and also the headphone jack port.
Keep the hairdryer a fair distance from the iPhone to keep it from overheating. You can repeat this step several times to ensure that any moisture is evaporated by the hairdryer. Be sure that your iPhone is turned off when doing this step.
Step 4
Another way to remove any water is by inserting the end cotton wool buds into the docking/ charging area and also the headphone jack area. Before inserting the cotton wool buds, you can twist the cotton slightly on the ends so it fits better into the cavities of the iPhone.
Use a bit of force when cleaning the charging area, this will also remove or dislodge any dirt or grime that may have accumulated.
Step 5
As an alternative to using rice you can use Silica gel packs which you’ll most probably find in your latest pair of trainers. Try find as many as possible then put them into a container with the iPhone turned off and wait at least 24 hours before turning the iPhone back on.
Step 6
If worse comes to worse and you can’t find rice, paper towels, gel packs or cotton buds, a last resort is to put your iPhone in the sun. While this is not an ideal situation, it is better than nothing. The only thing is that you will hope it will be sunny.
Step 7
Similar to the above hairdryer step, another method is to use a heat gun or fan. Just note that a heat gun is A LOT more powerful than a hairdryer, so be extra careful if you do this step and try and your own risk!
Step 8
If worse comes to worse it may be best to speak to your mobile phone provider for support. Depending on if you opted for insurance for your device, you may be able to claim a new iPhone if its beyond repair.
Some providers will replace your device or will have an excess deepening on what insurance you chose. Also if you don’t mind waiting you can give Apple support a call if your iPhone is still under warranty.
If any of these steps have worked for you please share your experience or thoughts below on how you went around it. Also it is not recommend putting your iPhone in the freezer as its likely to destroy it.
Alwin says
Tnx for the topic, I dropped my Phone 6S in the toilet today too. grabbed it out within 2 seconds I think. But the sound was dead. OMG and I use the normal speakers so much listening to music…but
Immediately dried it, Used cuetips to dry the ports, used tissue with a toothpick to dry inside the small speaker holes (cautiously! and no pressure!!). And try to suck any most out, if possible. Than used the blow drier in low mode for 5 minutes (50C) to warm it all up and evaporate….YES! They are now up and running again.
Maybe it is a build in shortcut protection? That starts again after the moist is gone? Anyway, Im happy!
Wario says
THANK YOU SO MUCH ALWIN, I followed the steps you took and my phone’s sound works now.
olivia says
my phone got left out side for 3 hours in the rain and the sound is not working and says its always on headphones! i put it in rice and not I’m waiting…
Amelia choate says
Same the headphones are working fine but nothing suegested above is working help
Nashe says
Thanks my phone fell in water and just blow dry it on a very low heat for 10 mind my sound is back thanks
Amalia Quintanilla says
Guys! This happened to me today and I did exactly what you explained here and IT WORKED! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 😀
Jasmine Woods says
Thanks so much!! I blowdried it for 15 minutes & used q tips & it worked!!!
luigi911 says
Glad it helped!
Uriel Wah says
It was raining outside I always getting out the cab my phone was in my coat pocket which I thought it was I gotten up my phone felled in a puddle of water I hurry picked it up and taken the case off. I tried making a call I can hear my friend perfectly fine but she couldn’t hear me one bet.. so I immediately turnt my phone off & dried my phone with the blow dryer for 6mins. Guess what it’s working perfectly fine now! Thank god!
lee says
blow dried my phone for 15 minutes after my little brother spilled his drink all over it and the sound stopped working. it’s back to normal now, and the sound is perfect, thanks!!
Helle says
I dropped my phone in the bath and the speaker had stopped working. I have tried the hairdryer technique on my speaker three times and it worked wonderfully. I now have sound back and I am a happy camper. Thank you for the great advice, I’d be lost without my phone as it is work related.
Lena says
ITS NOT WORKING RIGHT NOW!!! I tried the rice and the blowdryer, and my headphones work fine, but just not the speaker part. What should I do?
Emma says
rice is stupid, the speakers are 2 small for the rice to dry them, try blow drying on low heat for five minutes (place it on a bench near the speaker
seruni a kirani says
oh my god. thank you you are a lifesaver. i dropped my phone on a soup while i was eating… i know weird. i tried your advice. i tried cleaning it first and then blow drying it, after that i let my phone rest on a container full of rice of course i didn’t forget to take of the case. it finally worked. thank you at first i thought i would die
Mina says
Followed your advise after my phone fell in the sink (I was washing dishes and listening to a podcast) and it worked! At first the speaker didn’t work and only said headphones when trying to lock and unlock the volume. I turned it off and cleaned the headphone port and dock out with a q tip and now it works! Thank you!
Satish says
I didn’t have a blow dryer. Just held it over the stove for 10 mins..and voila its working again 😃
becca says
alright look I was just trying to take a video of my cute aesthetic bath bomb and five minutes later I’m sitting in the floor with a hairdryer and a thing of Q-tips crying my eyes out and it’s been 20 minutes and still nothing somebody help a girl out here before my mom gets home and kills me
Annonymous says
IT WORKED THANK U SO MUCH
Kezia says
I was taking a bath and I took my phone to text my friend, somehow it slipped and fell into the bathtub, I freaked out and took it out quickly, the screen was still on, so I was relieved that my phone wasn’t damaged. 30 mins later, I wanted to listen to music without my headphones, and realized that the speakers weren’t working. I went on this website and tried the blow dryer advice, 5 mins later, the music started playing!
You’re a lifesaver, I’ll never take my phone for granted again.
luigi911 says
Glad to help 🙂
tribal says
blowdried it and works again!
oceanrunner says
omg I was running with my friends phone and dropped it in the ocean. I didn’t know that it wasn’t working till a day later. I did the blow dryer technique and it works now. Thank you so much!!!
Eia Cefre says
Did the hair dryer method. Didn’t work at first but I did it again and left it untouched overnight. The next morning, it’s perfectly working. Thanks!
Haider Ali says
Thanks! I was checking my notifications right after i showered and a drop of water accidentally fell on the speaker grill. No sound. I put it in the sun for 10 minutes then blowdried it for a while. Works again 😀
Chicken Little says
Soaked iPhone 6+’s full Recovery: Following its retrieval from a 30-min. oily, salt water soak (my ship’s engine room’s 2-feet deep bilges), I removed the phone’s cracked “drop-protection” case, wiped down the powered-off phone, & cautiously perched it on top of a warm (about 125F) boiler heater-blower fan casing for a slow overnight. I post-poned re-powering & testing the phone until the next morning.
Stephanie says
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH it used the hairdryer and it worked perfectly. You are a true lifesaver, never taking my phone to the bathroom again!!
gina says
My daughter dropped her ipod touch 6 generation in the toilet last night. It didn’t get submerged and only hit the water for a second and she grabbed it quickly. I dried it off and took the cover off and turned it off then put it in rice. I read to blow dry it, so I took it out of the rice and noticed the rice was stuck in the headphone jack and the charger port so had to get them out and then blow dried it for 20 minutes. Sound still didn’t work, but everything else works fine. I turned it off again and let it sit in a cool dark spot and checked it this morning and sound still isn’t working. Help daughter is hysterical!
Maenggay says
thanks for the blower my phone is now working now.. :
Eric says
Dropped just the bottom of my phone in the toilet. I tried a q tip and that did nothing, but the blow dryer worked. Thank you very much! 🙂
Chirag says
THANKS A TON TO THIS PAGE AND ALWIN!!
OMG!! It worked. I dropped iPhone 6s in toilet and took out within 2 sec. It was still ON and didn’t see any issues with screen. But I still cleaned it with tissue and dried it. But in few minutes i realized sound is not working. I tried calling some customer support number and can’t hear the voice but when i put on speaker i was clearly able to hear it. And I can’t hear any Youtube videos either!! Tried searching few things online but no help. Rebooted but no help. One page said push the TOP area of iphone (where camera and speaker is) but no help. Tried pushing top area harder but no help. One of the suggestions on some page was to put it in the rice bag so i did it. Meanwhile i started searching similar issue and found this page. So i took phone out of rice bowl (it was in rice bowl for 5 mins only) and I tried the very first suggestion (Alwin’s suggestion dated January 4, 2018 at 4:11 pm) and used toothpick and tissue to clean area. Small tissue was thin so it was tearing apart so I got 1 cotton bud, removed the cotton, wrapped on top of toothpick and started inserting it in all wholes at the bottom of the phone. After spending 2-3 minutes cleaning like this, i tried calling some customer support number and it was working like a charm. I can hear voice on speaker as well as when it’s not on speaker.
THANKS A TON TO THIS PAGE AND ALWIN!!
Jeremy Balisacan says
i just drop my phone today and followed the instruction of alwin. daebak the sounds turn back. thanks alwin.
milan says
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! MY SOUND WORKS
inspectortragic says
Rice worked! Left it in a bucket overnight now my sounds back! Thank you!!!
Felicity Jones says
I blow dried it twice for 10 minutes and it worked!!!!
giana says
I dropped my phone in the pool and it was there for 2-5 seconds and the screen was working fine and i put it in rice for a couple min but realized the speakers weren’t working so blow dried it and got the cotton off a cotton swab and put it in my headphone jack and now it’s working!! this hack really works so greatful!
Janet says
Dropped mine in the toilet. No blow dryer at work so I used the heater in my car on low. Already 93 degrees out but worth the 10 minutes!!!
Tim says
After drying it it didn’t work. I waited for like 3 hrs while still using the phone (Maybe not recommended). Try to be patient and wait for a while. You sound might just come up in no time.
Braxington says
OMG THANKS A MILLION, just about threw up after dropping my phone in the bath, listening to the 2017 marbleimpics with ironicaly waterproof earbuds when it abruptly fell in i freaked out but imeditly looked it up scrolled through the comments and used a dryer then the most goddly thing i culd think of played, Im the lyrcal mircal jessie james and i knew i was in clear thanks y’all hope you didnt drop your too!
Nikki says
AHHHH. I’ve tried all of these and it’s not working no matter what I do! I can’t find rice in my house and panic is setting in big time!!! HELP
Siping says
Yess!!! It worked I only used the hairdryer method!! It works! Its faster the the rice method.