11 Tips to Fix Moisture Detected Error on Samsung Phones

Almost all high-end Samsung smartphones come with an IP68 rating. When a wet or humid charging port comes in contact with electricity, it might cause a short circuit, damage the device, and make it unusable. Moisture detection sensor on Samsung phones is a safeguard to protect them against short-circuiting. If you get the ‘moisture detected in charging/USB port’ warning, do not panic as it is only a temporary problem you can fix with the solutions provided in this article.

The moisture detection message on Samsung devices is not an error or bug but a safety measure to protect your device. You might have the warning due to one of the following reasons:

• The charging port is wet or it has moisture residuals.
• Dust or sand particles have built up inside the USB charging port.
• The charging port has been damaged due to corrosion, and careless usage.
• You have used incompatible charging accessories.

When your Samsung phone detects moisture, you’ll see a water drop icon in the status bar and a notification from the Android System.

Warning: Don’t use charging/USB port! We’ve detected moisture or foreign material in your charging/USB port.

Fixing Moisture Detected Warning on Samsung Devices

Below are some easy fixes to make the annoying moisture-detected warning go away if your Samsung phone has recently been exposed to water or a humid atmosphere.

Take a soft dry cloth and gently wipe your Samsung phone. Shake it while keeping the charging port down. Then place it in the open air or under the ceiling fan for some time so the moisture evaporates. If it doesn’t help, try the following tips.

1. Remove Moisture or Dust Particles from the USB Port

Start with the following tips to dry the moisture and clean the dust in the charging port. Drying out Samsung Galaxy devices completely might fix the charging issue. Even if it doesn’t, you must ensure your phone is dry before trying other solutions.

1. Take a plastic or rubber toothpick, wrap it with tissue paper or thin cotton cloth, and move it gently inside the USB port to wipe the moisture.
2. You can also try to rinse the charging port with distilled water, alcohol, or petrol and then wipe it using paper towel strips.
3. Get an alcohol swab, insert it inside the charging port, move around it, and leave your phone for some minutes to let it dry.
4. If you have a hairdryer, blow mildly hot air at slow or moderate speed into the USB port from different angles for a few minutes to ensure the moisture dries up.
5. Blow compressed air at low pressure into the USB port.
6. Get a set of tweezers and gently rub the plastic part that holds the charging contacts to remove any corrosion and dirt particles blocking device charging.
7. Use tweezers with tissue paper soaked in isopropyl alcohol to wipe the charging port.

2. Put Your Phone in a Bag of Rice Grains or Silica Gel

We are all aware of the hygroscopic qualities of rice. Rice grains absorb RH (relative humidity). If you are getting moisture-detected in the charging port, stuff your phone in a bag of dry rice and leave it there for an hour or so. The rice grains will suck all moisture from the device and you’ll get rid of the annoying charging problems.

If your phone got wet with seawater, do not place it in rice grains as salty water is sticky. You should rinse and wipe your Samsung phone first with clean and fresh water, and put your phone in a jar with Silica gel, considered a better moisture absorbent than rice.

3. Drain Your Phone’s Battery to Zero

If you are sure your Samsung phone is dry but can’t charge it due to the moisture issue, stop trying to charge it. Let your phone’s battery run down to zero. When the battery juice is completely drained, boot it up again and plug in the charging pin. This moisture detection fix has reportedly worked for many Samsung users.

4. Connect Your Samsung Phone to a Computer

If the moisture detection warning persists, try the following tip. Connect your Samsung phone to a laptop or desktop PC using a USB cable. Put your phone in data transfer mode. To do so, swipe down the status bar tap the Android System USB options tile, and switch to Transferring file / Android Auto. Your phone should start charging normally.

5. Sign out of Your Samsung Account

I haven’t tried this tip personally, but one of my friends claimed that he could get rid of the charging issue due to moisture detection on his Galaxy S23 simply by signing out of his Samsung account. To sign out of your Samsung Account on your Galaxy device, navigate to Settings > Accounts and Backup> Manage Accounts, tap your email ID, and select Remove.

6. Boot into the Safe Mode

Safe Mode on Android devices is a diagnostic tool for Android devices. If you noticed that you started getting the “Moisture has been detected in the charging port” warning right after installing a 3rd-party app, this tip might help you. A rouge app might trigger serious problems including the moisture bug. Reboot your Samsung device into Safe Mode using the following steps.

1. Press and hold the Power key to open the Power menu.
2. Touch and hold the Power off option until the Safe Mode icon appears.
3. Tap the Safe mode icon.

Your Samsung phone will reboot into Safe Mode. Now plug in the charging cable. If you no longer get the error in the USB port, it means the real culprit is some recently installed app. You can uninstall the suspicious apps in Safe Mode by going to Settings > Apps. To exit Safe mode, reboot your device.

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7. Disable Fast Charging

Disabling fast charging can make the moisture warning on your Samsung Galaxy device disappear. The steps to reach the setting differ depending on the software version.

• • Go to Settings> Device maintenance > Battery > 3-Dot icon > Advanced settings > Fast charging and turn it off.
  • Go to Settings> Battery > Charging settings and disable Fast charging.

Now, try charging your device. If the charging issue is fixed, restart your phone, and enable fast charging.

8. Wipe the Cache Partition

Another tip that has helped many people get rid of the moisture-detected issue of their Samsung phones, is clearing the cache partition. Boot your Samsung device into the Recovery Mode, highlight the Wipe cache partition option using the Volume Down key, and press the Power button to select it.

Choose Yes when prompted. When the cache partition is cleared, return to the main menu and select the Reboot system now option. Now, try to charge your phone to check if the error has disappeared.

9. Reset Device Settings

Resetting your phone’s Settings might also help you fix the charging issues caused by the “moisture has been detected” warning. Doing so will also clear the USB settings cache.

Navigate to Settings > General management > Reset and select the Reset all settings options.

10. Perform a Factory Reset

Resetting your phone will wipe all data and third-party apps. However, it might fix the charging issue as well. You can factory reset your Samsung device from device settings or via the Recovery Mode.

1. Go to Settings > General management > Reset > Factory data reset and tap the Reset button.
2. Boot your Samsung phone into the Recovery Mode, go to the Wipe data/factory reset option using the Volume Down key, press the Power button to select it, choose Yes, and reboot your phone.

11. Change Your USB Cable or Use a Wireless Charger

Are you sure your phone’s charging port is bone dry and clean? Could none of the solutions mentioned above fix the moisture detection warning? Either your USB cable or charging port is damaged or there is some issue with the charging port. There are several fixes to try if your Samsung phone doesn’t charge.

• Try using a different USB-C type cable to charge your phone. Doing so will rule out the possibility of a damaged charging pin. If the moisture-detected bug has disappeared, it’s time to get a new charging cable.
• Use a wireless charger so your phone doesn’t run out of juice.
• Finally, visit the nearest Samsung service center to get the charging port replaced.

The fixes described above should have fixed the moisture detected in the charging port error on your Samsung device. If nothing works, contacting Samsung support or visiting the service center is your last resort as some hardware-related problem may be at play.

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