Dropped AirPods in Water (What to Do)

As an owner of AirPods, I know first-hand how frustrating it can be when you accidentally drop them in water. When this happened to me, I was desperate to find a way to save my beloved AirPods. After doing some research and testing, I’m here to share what I’ve learned and the solutions I discovered. In this blog post, I’ll be discussing what to do if you find yourself in the same situation and have dropped your AirPods in water.

To dry out your AirPods, you can try leaving them out in the air, placing them inside a bowl of uncooked rice, covering them with silica gel, putting them next to activated charcoal packets, or using sound waves to expel water from inside the earbuds.

Topic	Description
Air Dry	Leave AirPods and charging case on a lint-free cloth upside down for 5+ hours.
Uncooked Rice	Place AirPods in a bowl of uncooked rice for a few days.
Silica Gel	Place AirPods with silica gel packets in a bowl for a few days.
Activated Charcoal	Place AirPods next to activated charcoal packets for at least 8 hours.
Sound Waves	Use the Water Eject shortcut on iPhone to expel water using sound waves; repeat as needed.
Apple Warranty	Standard Apple warranty doesn’t cover water damage; repairs may be available for an extra fee.
Waterproof AirPods?	AirPods are not waterproof; AirPods Pro and 3rd-gen AirPods are water-resistant with an IPX4 rating.

Table of Contents

What to Do if Your AirPods Get Wet

If you drop your AirPods in water by accident, the very first thing you should do is dry them. Don’t try to use the AirPods or place them in the charging box unless they’re completely dry.

So how do you dry wet AirPods? The following methods can help you with this task:

1. Air Dry

This technique doesn’t call for much other than a dry, lint-free cloth. Here’s what you need to do:

Grab a clean, dry microfiber cloth.

Wipe the AirPods thoroughly and wipe the charging case as well.
Let the AirPods and the charging case sit on the cloth, making sure the items are upside down. For the earbuds, this means the part that faces your ears is facing the cloth, while the charging case is open and placed with the empty compartment facing the cloth.
Allow the AirPods to dry for a minimum of 5 hours. This can take longer if your earbuds were submerged in water for over 10 seconds.

2. Uncooked Rice

Drying electronic devices using uncooked rice is a very common solution that works a lot of the time. People mainly try this method on phones, but it can work on wet AirPods too.

What you need to do is grab a bowl, place both earbuds in it, and add enough uncooked white rice to cover them.

From this point, all you should do is wait for the rice to suck out the water from the AirPods. This can take a few days.

3. Silica Gel

Another solution you can try to dry your AirPods after dropping them in water is silica gel.

Silica gel is a desiccant, which is a substance used to absorb moisture and keep products dry. Simply grab a few packets of silica gel (you can buy them or collect them from boxes of new electronics or shoes) and place them with the AirPods in a bowl.

Similar to the uncooked rice method, you need to wait for a few days before taking out the earbuds and testing them.

4. Activated Charcoal Packets

If you don’t have rice or silica gel, you can use activated charcoal packets to help you dry out your wet AirPods.

Activated charcoal is a strong absorbent of odors, which is its main use, but it’s also effective against moisture. Place a couple of packets next to your AirPods and wait for at least 8 hours before testing them.

5. Sound Waves

Last but not least, you can resort to sound waves to push water out from inside the AirPods. If you own an Apple Watch, you may be familiar with a similar feature that it uses to expel water when it gets inside.

Here’s how you can do it:

First, place the AirPods on a clean, microfiber cloth.
Connect your AirPods to your iPhone if they’re not already.

Next, turn the volume to the maximum level but don’t put the earbuds in your ears.
Then, download the Shortcuts app on the phone.
Cover the sensors on your both earbuds.

Open the Water Eject shortcut and activate it from your iPhone. You should notice some vibrations from your AirPods and water slowly coming out.
Repeat the last step as many times as needed.

Is Water Damage Covered by Apple Warranty?

The standard Apple warranty you get with AirPods doesn’t cover water damage.

If your earbuds are damaged from being dropped in water and you try to bring them to the store to claim a warranty, the support team will tell you they aren’t covered. But they may be able to fix them for an extra fee.

Are AirPods Waterproof?

No, none of the Apple Airpods or AirPods Pro are waterproof.

AirPods Pro and 3rd-generation AirPods are resistant to water and sweat with a rating of IPX4. The 1st and 2nd generations of AirPods aren’t water-resistant.

Wrap Up

As you can tell, there are multiple solutions you can try to dry your earbuds if you dropped AirPods in water. You may use any one of the methods explained above or combine them to increase the chances of success.