If you own a Samsung Galaxy S or Note Series device and are getting the ‘moisture detected in USB port‘ error, you can fix it easily. Almost all high-end Samsung smartphones come with an IP68 rating. Moisture detection sensor on such devices is a safeguard to protect them against short-circuiting. In case you are getting the ‘Moisture detected in charging port’ message on your phone, there are a bunch of quick and easy fixes you can try to make it go away. You can even disable the moisture-detected feature on Samsung devices via battery settings.
Apart from performing manual diagnostics of your Samsung Galaxy device, you can get key info about it using these Samsung secret codes.
Below is a list of all Samsung smartphones and tablet devices that are backed by the rating of IP68. It means that these devices can withstand dust, and are resistant to water submersion up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.
- Samsung Galaxy S series: Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9 Plus, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus, Galaxy S20 Ultra, Galaxy Galaxy S21+, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S22, Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy A series: Galaxy A03 Core, Galaxy A12, Galaxy A22, Galaxy A22 5G, Galaxy A22, Galaxy A30, Galaxy A32, Galaxy A50, Galaxy A52, Galaxy A52s 5G, Galaxy A70, Galaxy A72, Galaxy A8, Galaxy A8 Plus, Galaxy A80
- Samsung Galaxy Note series: Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Note 10, Note 10 Plus, Galaxy Note10+ 5G, Galaxy Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
- Samsung Galaxy Tab series: Galaxy Tab A, Galaxy Tab Active 2, Galaxy Tab Active Pro, Galaxy Tab S7+ (LTE), Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (Wi-Fi), Galaxy Tab S6 (LTE)
- Samsung Galaxy Flip & Fold series: Galaxy Z Flip 3, Galaxy Z Fold 3
Note: Samsung Galaxy S10 5G has an IP69 rating while the first Galaxy Fold and Z Flip have no IP rating.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were the first Samsung phones featuring IP68 rating. I have owned the Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8 Plus, Galaxy S9 Plus, Galaxy S10 in the past, and am currently using the Galaxy S21 Ultra. I was bugged by the moisture-detected warning on all the above phones. Depending on your device model, you may get one of the following messages.
Moisture detected in USB port. Remove the cable immediately from the phone and make sure both cable and USB port is completely dry.
Moisture has been detected. Unplug the charger and wait until both the charger and USB port are dry.
Moisture has been detected in your charger/USB port. Make sure it’s dry before charging your phone. It may take some time to dry completely.
On newer Samsung phones such as Galaxy S20, S22, and S23, you’ll also find some tips to fix the ‘Moisture has been detected‘ issue. As long as your phone detects moisture, you’ll see a water drop icon in the status bar and a notification from Android System.
Warning: Don’t use charging/USB port
We’ve detected moisture or foreign material in your charging/USB port.
Don’t use chargering/USB port Galaxy S22
Editor’s Pick: 4 Ways to Check the Manufacturing Date of Samsung Devices
Is Moisture Detection on Samsung Phones a Bug?
If your Samsung phone is rated with Ingress Protection or IP68, it means that the OEM has made use of adhesives, gaskets, and seals to make sure moisture or water drops don’t go inside the device. Even the speakers in such devices are fitted with mesh grilles.
Now, we all know about the dangerous enmity between water and electricity. If the charging port on your Samsung Galaxy device is wet or humid, it might cause a short circuit, damage the device and make it unfunctional.
The moisture detection message on Samsung Galaxy devices is not actually an error or bug but a safety measure to protect your device. The moisture detection sensor intelligently stops the device from charging automatically as soon as it detects moisture in the charging port or the USB cable.
Water residue in Samsung Galaxy USB C port
If you are getting the “Moisture has been detected” warning, it doesn’t mean that your Samsung phone was in direct contact with water. Most of the time, the charging error might be caused by a very humid atmosphere and sweating, especially if you live in a hot and humid area. The presence of dirt in the USB port of your Samsung device might also cause charging issues. Many users have reported getting the moisture-detected warning when the charging port gets dirty.
If you are having problems with charging your Samsung Galaxy smartphone or tablet, it may be due to one of the following reasons:
- The charging port is wet or it has moisture residuals.
- Dust particles have built up inside the USB port.
- The charging port has been damaged due to corrosion, and careless usage.
- You have used incompatible charging accessories.
Don’t Miss: Download Samsung Firmware File to Flash in Odin
Fixing Moisture Detected Error on Samsung
So, what do you do when your phone says moisture has been detected? Below, are some easy fixes to get rid of the annoying moisture-detected warning notification if your Samsung phone has recently been exposed to moisture.
- Use a soft dry cloth to gently wipe your Samsung phone and shake it while keeping the charging port down. Then place it in the open air or under the ceiling fan for some time so that the moisture evaporates.
- 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.
- You can also try to rinse the charging port with distilled water, alcohol, or petrol and then wipe it using paper towel strips.
- Get an alcohol swab and insert it inside the charging port and move around it and leave your phone for some minutes to let it dry.
- If you got a hairdryer, use it to blow mildly hot air at slow or moderate speed into the USB port from different angles for a couple of minutes to ensure that moisture dries up.
- Blow compressed air at low pressure into the USB port.
- We are all aware of the hygroscopic qualities of rice. Rice grains absorb RH (relative humidity). If you are getting moisture-detected error on your Samsung device, 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 due to moisture detection. 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.
- Silica gel is considered a better moisture absorbent than rice. You can also try putting your phone in a jar with Silica gel for optimal results.
- If you are still getting moisture-detected warning, you should try tweezers. 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.
- Sign out of your Samsung account: Well, I haven’t tried this tip personally, but one of my friends claimed that he was able to get rid of the moisture-detected error on his Galaxy S10 simply by signing out of his Samsung account. Check out the screenshots attached below to learn the steps o sign out of your Samsung Account on your Galaxy device.
Galaxy S21 sign-out of Samsung account
- Wipe Cache partition: Before you get to the next tip, you should also try wiping the cache partition on your Samsung device via Recovery Mode.
- Boot into the Safe Mode: Safe Mode is a diagnostic tool for Android devices. If you noticed that you started getting the “Moisture has been detected” warning right after installing an app, this tip might help you. A rouge 3rd-party app might trigger serious problems including the moisture bug. Reboot your Samsung device into the Safe Mode and plug in the charging cable. If you no longer get the moisture detected error, it means the real culprit is some recently installed app. You can uninstall the suspicious apps one by one in Safe Mode and fix the charging issue.
What to do if the Charging Port is Damaged?
If you think that the charging port of your Galaxy device is bone dry and clean, there may be some hardware-related issue either with the USB port, moisture detection sensor, or the USB Type C charging pin.
- First of all, try using a different USB C Type C cable to charge your phone. Doing so will rule out the possibility of a damaged USB port. If the moisture-detected bug has disappeared, it’s time to get a new charging cable.
- To fix the damaged charging port, you’ll need to visit the nearest Samsung Care. However, there are still some other workarounds mentioned below that you must try first.
Read Also: How to Check the Activation Date of a Samsung Phone or Tablet
How to Disable Moisture Detected Error
If the moisture-detected warning message won’t go away even after cleaning and wiping the USB port, and you are still unable to charge your Samsung device, try the following things.
- Use a Wireless charger: Get a wireless charger so that your Samsung device does not run out of battery until the moisture has been detected issue persists.
- Turn off the device: Power off your Samsung phone and plug in the charging pin. Your device will start charging.
- Force stop Android System: Open device Settings and type ‘Android System‘ in the search box. Tap on Android System to open the app info page and then tap on the Force stop option. Now, try charging the device.
- Disable Fast Charging: Disabling fast charging can make the moisture-detected warning on your Samsung Galaxy device go away. The steps to reach the setting differs 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> Device care > Battery > Charging and disable Fast charging.
Disable Fast charging on Samsung devices
I hope that the fixes described above would have helped you get rid of the moisture detected error on your Samsung device. However, if are getting the issue even after trying everything, contacting Samsung support or visiting the service center is your last resort as there may be some hardware-related problem at play.
Read Next: 30 Best Dark Themes for Samsung One UI
Awesome Info! Thank you very much. Even Samsung Support didn’t tell me even half of these options. They have very poor Support, imo, & apparently. I’ve Bookmarked this page for future reference, as needed. Again, thank you for being so thorough.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your appreciation. I am glad that the workarounds to fic the moisture detected error on Samsung devices helped you fix the issue. Keep visiting!
The combination of signing out of my samsung account, and force quitting Android System
worked :-]
already tried wiping the data, and shutdown charging, but the problem persisted.
Thanks for your kindly provided information.
I use compressed air, aka “duster”. Half the time it works right away, and the other half it works eventually, as in after 1 or 2 hours pass from the time I air-dried it. It has always eventually gone away, so don’t panic. I suspect that a lot of the time people just aren’t waiting long enough, because they want it to work NOW, lol.
If I force stop android system, will it erase all the data on my tablet?
No, it won’t.
If your phone dies while it detects moisture in the charging port, restart it after the port is dry, then plug it in. The system needs to reset the sensor.
I have had my note 9 for 2 years and just in the last week had the moisture error. My phone has not been wet. I have had an otter box on it all the time. The only thing that worked for me was signing out of my samsung acccount. US Cellular told me it was a manufacture issue that started with the note 8. I just paid this phone off and was not looking to replace it anytime soon! i hope this fix lasts a while!
Removing the account and stopping the Android system actually works for My Samsung Galaxy Note 9 finally happy after. Thanks!
Happy to know that it helped you fix the moisture error on your Galaxy Note 9.
Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately this article suggests a real moisture problem, which presumably is why Samsung created the moisture detection in the first place. Sadly, the error is bogus on my phone and seems to be the case for many others. As the error is sporadic, it is hard to know exactly where the error is, or coming from. However since it will charge reliably when the phone is powered off, it suggests some sensor or code error above the base code, with the error detection likely way to sensitive for the real world. It is also perhaps a reflection of really crappy connection on the USB-C connector. Since my phone was an early adopter of USB-C, I am tempted to replace the connector and see if this fixes it. Otherwise disabling the sensor seems appropriate. Either way, I am very disappointed in Samsung especially on a fairly expensive phone.
Hi Phred, the second half of the article focuses on fixing the moisture sensor’s bogus warnings. I tried to cover all aspects. I hope the tips helped you!
Moisture message didn’t go away after 6 months! Phone never went wet. Contact is perfectly clean and not damaged. Tried serveral chargers. Tried EVERYTHING mentioned on this page. Even did factory reset. After that I bought a NEW PHONE (same model) and moisture message appeared after 5 minutes AGAIN. Really: phone never went wet or in wet conditions. Model: Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G Modelnumber SM-N986B/DS.
None of this works on an S21 Ultra
This appeared on different versions of Samsung for me, my son and my gf within two days! May be a bug in an update. Anyway I tried to switch charger to a new Samsung, same error, then switched to a new Vevo charger directly after – problem gone!
I am afraid, this does NOT show how to DISABLE that feature.
You just posted and reported work arounds. My device is out of warrantee. I am not concerned of damage. There is NO moisture, and there is no debris. If the sensor is damaged, I really don’t care about the warnings or the feature. HOW DO YOU permanently DISABLE this detection device?
None of this worked. I can’t even get to Android system by searching in Settings. turning off the phone to charge doesn’t work either. it still gives me the moisture detected message. is there not just a way to disable the message and assume the risk?????
hi I’ve tried all possible way to get my phone dried but the moisture info keep displaying still the phone got off
i went to beach and some water splash in
what else can i do
Thank you, it was quite the bit of info. Many ways to fix the issue.
I used rice for 10mins then a hairdryer. Seems to be charging okay now.
Thank you!! I didn’t actually had any moisture inside, but using tweezers with tissue paper soaked in isopropyl alcohol to wipe the charging port/connector/pads inside (no dissasembly required) did the trick :))) it was probably little dirty with dust and sand.
Thanks for the appreciation. Glad to know you were able fix the moisture detection error on your Samsung phone.
I have another tip to add to the list. I found that I was getting the moisture charger error every time when I plugged in to charge off of my PC port while my PC was turned off. Drove myself crazy for half an hour trying these tips before I finally just turned the PC on and voila the error was gone. Thanks for the help though.
Hi there.
I have tried all of these fixes and some of them worked temporarily but I still keep getting the warning message almost every time I try to charge. My issue only started after the latest update. The port is not wet at all and I am starting to think that this must be a bug in the update. Its very frustrating as when the phone does eventually accept the charger it only charges at the normal speed and won’t fast charge. Is there any way of completely disabling the sensor?
Tried all the advises online … didn’t help. Went to a repair store, turns out it’s cos of using the macbook charger, tried out two different other charger at the store and it’s now charging without problems and the sign is gone!
The use of an incompatible charger or charging pin might damage the charging port.