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Speaker cleaner: eject water from your phone speaker

Take headphones off, turn the volume up, hold the phone speaker-down and press Eject water. It plays a low 165 Hz tone for 30 seconds, which moves the speaker cone further than a high tone and can shake droplets out of the grille. Run it two or three times, then let the phone dry.

165 HzReady

The tone plays out through your speaker; there is no microphone and nothing is recorded. It is louder than the other tones on this site on purpose, so hold the phone away from your ear, and take headphones off before you start: this is for the phone's own speaker, not for earbuds.

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How to get water out of a phone speaker

  1. Take headphones and earbuds off: the tone has to come out of the phone's own speaker.
  2. On an iPhone, turn silent mode off. Safari plays web sounds through the ring/silent switch.
  3. If a case covers the speaker opening, take it off for a minute.
  4. Turn the volume all the way up and hold the phone with the speaker facing down.
  5. Press Eject water. Run it two or three times, and try Pulse mode once.
  6. Lay the phone speaker side down on a lint-free cloth and let it dry somewhere with some airflow.

Why a low tone, and why loud

A speaker makes sound by pushing a thin cone back and forth. To produce the same loudness at a lower pitch, the cone has to travel further on every cycle, so a low tone at high volume moves it about as far as the speaker allows. That motion, and the air it pushes through the grille, is what dislodges water sitting in front of the cone. 165 Hz is the tone the popular Water Eject shortcut plays, a community shortcut rather than an Apple feature. The same physics is why the bass test warns about sustained deep tones on big speakers.

What the phone makers say

Apple Watch has this built in: when you turn off Water Lock, the watch plays a series of tones to clear water left in its speaker. For iPhone, Apple does not offer or recommend a sound. Its advice is to tap the phone gently against your hand with the connector facing down, leave it somewhere dry with some airflow, and, for a muffled speaker, lay it speaker side down on a lint-free cloth to see whether water drips out. It says not to use a heat source or compressed air, not to put a cotton swab or paper towel into the port, and not to use rice. Google's advice for Pixel phones is the same in spirit: turn it off, dry it with a soft cloth and let it finish drying on a flat surface at room temperature. The tone here is a quick extra for the speaker grille, not a substitute for drying.

Dust, lint and pocket fluff

A tone does little for dust. For a speaker or receiver grille clogged with lint, Apple's advice is a small, non-metallic, soft-bristled brush that is clean and dry, brushed gently over the mesh, and no compressed air. If the sound is quiet rather than muffled, check the volume and the output device first with the sound test.

When it still sounds muffled

If two or three runs and a day of drying do not bring the sound back, water has probably reached somewhere no sound can clear, or the speaker itself is damaged. That needs a repair, so check your warranty or the manufacturer's service options. To compare left and right speakers on a phone or a laptop afterwards, use the left and right audio test.

Does a speaker cleaner sound really work?

Nobody has published a proper test of it on phones, so treat it as a quick extra rather than a fix. The idea is sound: a low tone makes the speaker cone move further than a high one, which can shake loose droplets sitting in the grille, and Apple Watch clears water from its own speaker the same way. What it cannot do is dry water that has got inside the phone, or repair a speaker that water has damaged.

What frequency gets water out of a speaker?

The widely shared Water Eject shortcut for iPhone, a community shortcut rather than an Apple feature, plays a low tone of about 165 Hz for 10 to 12 seconds, and that is the tone this page plays, for longer: low enough that the cone has to travel a long way on every cycle.

How many times should I run it?

Two or three runs of 30 seconds, with the speaker facing down so the water has somewhere to go. If the sound is still muffled after that, more runs will not help: stop and let the phone dry.

Will it damage my speaker?

A short tone is unlikely to: it is loud on purpose but stops after 30 seconds, and a phone plays alarms and ringtones at full volume every day. The real risks to a wet phone are heat and pressure, which is why Apple says not to use a heat source or compressed air, or to put a cotton swab or paper towel into the opening.

Does it work on Android and on laptops?

Yes. It is a tone played by the browser, so it works the same on any phone, tablet or laptop with a speaker. Nothing to install.

Can I use it on AirPods or earbuds?

It is not designed for them. Earbuds are too close to your ear for this level and too small to move water this way. Take them out, shake them gently, and let them dry in the open air.

Sources: Apple, Water Lock on Apple Watch; Apple, if you see a liquid-detection alert on iPhone; Apple, splash, water and dust resistance of iPhone; Apple, cleaning iPhone speakers and receivers; Google, if your Pixel phone gets wet; Livingetc and ShareShortcuts on the Water Eject shortcut; ProSoundWeb and Elliott Sound Products on cone excursion at low frequencies.