How to fix Galaxy S9+ moisture detected error that won’t go away
One of the common errors for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ is moisture detected error. Normally, this error should only show up when the phone has been wet previously. In the case below, the error started popping up constantly after the phone has been accidentally dropped. Learn how to deal with the problem below.
Problem: How to deal with Galaxy S9+ moisture detected error that won’t go away
I dropped my phone yesterday from approximately 1 ft off the ground. It was a gentle drop and there was no water near it. It gave me the “moisture detected” message appeared on the screen. I shook it, used a blow dryer on low heat and restarted it about 8 times and the message wouldn’t go away. I let it set for about 20 minutes, tried again, and the message went away and it charged fine yesterday. It was fine all day today with no error message, but i accidentally let my phone die.
A full 24 hours after the “moisture detected” message went away, i plugged it in to charge it and it set off an alert to unplug my phone from the charger immediately. I have tried everything to dry out any possible moisture that could have gotten into the phone, or the charger itself. I even let the charger and phone set in uncooked white rice for several hours and then tried plugging it back in, and the message still immediately pops up.
I know there can’t be any moisture in the phone or the charger at this point, but my phone is completely dead and i don’t know what else to do. Please help!
I have the samsung Galaxy S9+. i have no idea what android version this phone is. I have had it for about a month and a half, have never dropped it before yesterday, never near any water, all of the updates are installed, and i have had a case and glass screen protector on it since i walked out of the store with it.
Solution: Moisture detected error normally shows up only when there’s water or presence of moisture in the charging port area. The error is both an indicator of water in the port and a warning to the user not to charge the device to prevent damage. It should go away after drying the phone.
There are cases though wherein moisture detected error may be triggered for some other reasons. In some cases, a Galaxy device may show up when there’s a tiny amount of water or wet particle in the charging port. Sometimes, a hardware malfunction or defect in the charging port can also trigger it causing it to appear at random, or constantly. In some rare situations, a software bug may also trigger moisture detected error.
If your phone was working normally before you accidentally dropped it, it’s possible that it may have suffered a hardware malfunction. To check, you want to factory reset the phone. This will ensure that you return all software settings to their defaults. If the error persists after the reset, you can assume that hardware malfunction is behind it.
Hard reset the device
Before you factory reset your Galaxy S9+ to clear possible software bug and to check for hardware malfunction, make sure to back your personal data up first. If you have a computer, you can try to use Samsung Smart Switch to create copies of your files to your PC. Once everything is set, follow the steps below to factory reset your device:
- Create a backup of your data.
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
- Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
What to do if Moisture detected error remains after factory reset
As mentioned above, moisture detected error can also be caused by bad hardware. In this particular case, the problem may be caused by a bad hardware damage after the accidental drop. Since the only way to know for sure if the phone’s charging port has been damaged is by letting a technician check the phone, we suggest that you bring your device to Samsung Service Center. There’s no better way to fix a hardware issue on Galaxy devices than by letting Samsung certified physically handle the situation.