Skip to content
Fix iPhone Speaker

AirPods water eject

Same 165 Hz tone, played through the AirPod so its driver pushes the water out. Change the three settings below first or the tone will never reach it.

0% Ready

AirPods connected, out of your ears, mesh facing down. Volume to maximum.

  1. 1. Settings first. Headphone Safety off, Automatic Ear Detection off, volume to max.
  2. 2. Mesh facing down. Hold the wet AirPod over a paper towel; the stem can point anywhere.
  3. 3. Run 45 s, repeat. Then turn both settings back on before wearing them.

Before you start: take the AirPods out of your ears and keep them out for the whole run. The steps below turn off the volume limit — this is loud on purpose.

The AirPods method, step by step

  1. Turn off Headphone Safety. Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Headphone Safety → Reduce Loud Audio off. This cap would otherwise halve the push.
  2. Turn off Automatic Ear Detection. Settings → Bluetooth → tap (i) beside your AirPods → Automatic Ear Detection off. Otherwise playback pauses the moment the AirPod leaves your ear.
  3. Volume to maximum. With the AirPods connected, press volume-up until the bar is full.
  4. Hold the wet AirPod mesh-down over a paper towel. Only the speaker mesh matters; the stem can point anywhere.
  5. Press Start. 45 seconds. Run it two or three times if the first run still sounds muffled.
  6. Undo steps 1 and 2. Turn Headphone Safety and Automatic Ear Detection back on before you put the AirPods back in your ears. Skipping this is how people end up with a very loud surprise.

After the tone

  • Leave them out of the case for 24–48 hours.
  • Silica gel in a sealed bag speeds it up; rice does not.
  • Test both sides with a song. A high-pitched hiss or one quiet side after two days means the driver, not the water, is the problem.

Android earbuds and Galaxy Buds: same idea. Disable any “wear detection” and volume-limit setting in the buds’ app, then follow the same steps.

Questions people ask

Can I play the water eject sound through my AirPods?
Yes, and it works the same way as on a phone speaker — the AirPod driver vibrates and pushes water out of its mesh. The catch is that iPhone protects your ears: Headphone Safety caps the volume and Automatic Ear Detection pauses playback the moment you take them out. Both have to be off for the run, and back on afterwards.
Why does the sound stop when I take the AirPod out of my ear?
Automatic Ear Detection. Turn it off in Settings → Bluetooth → (i) next to your AirPods → Automatic Ear Detection. Turn it back on when you are done.
My AirPods went through the washing machine. Will this fix them?
It clears water from the speaker mesh, which fixes the “muffled and quiet” symptom. It does not undo corrosion. Run the tone, then leave them out of the case for 24 to 48 hours. If one side stays quiet or crackly after that, the driver is damaged.
Should I put wet AirPods back in the case?
No. The case seals them in with the moisture and can short the charging contacts. Dry them out of the case, mesh facing down on a paper towel, for at least a day.
Does rice help?
No. Rice does not dry electronics faster than open air, and starch dust gets into the mesh. Silica gel packets in a sealed container do help.