Skip to main content

The larger version of Samsung's flagship phone. Released March 2018.

114 Questions View all

How to stop the annoying moisture detected at the USB charging port.

Help! I have a three weeks old Galaxy S9+ and the notification of moisture detected at the USB charging port is keeping me from charging my phone and keeps alerting about the moisture. I live in Michigan so it’s not overly humid. This past weekend, it was rainy and humid and the darn phone wouldn’t let me plug in the fast charger. I didn’t have my wireless charger with me.

Is there something wrong with the phone? Should I return it to Best Buy and ask for an exchange or refund? Help I am conflicted. (By the way I switched from an iPhone 8 for a change of pace.)

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Score 55
67 Comments

Hello all ...I recently had the problem start at work sitting on my wireless desk charger. Got the moisture symbol and when I got home the constant noise. Tried lots of cables, turning off, etc. No joy. So I tried device maintenance in setting, meaning all the battery and other junk, turned off all background programs. I then took a small peice of tissue, thin tshirt material over the charging port and plugged in my charger, cleaned my charging port. This cleaned off small amounts of dirt/debris and the moisture symbol and noise went away. We shall see if this lasts. So far so good over night.

by

Hello everyone. This problem started to happen to me after i immersed my phone in salty water....into the sea. Nothing worked but AFTER I WASHED THE CHARGING PORT WITH NORMAL WATER ( thinking like washing the salt away) everything worked fine

by

My S9 is a week old and my phone is on 0% and I keep getting the same message about the moisture.

My phone is 100% dry …… any ideas ?

by

For now, try charging your phone wirelessly. I have found that it is often an issue with the charge port itself. If you replace the charge port it will fix the issue.

by

i had same problem. phone was completely dry and used new cord i just bought. it kept doing it even when powered off. but i turned plug over and it started charging, powered on and working now

by

Show 62 more comments

Add a comment

15 Answers

Chosen Solution

Hey guys had this problem myself and after months of playing around with it I found a solution.

  1. Buy a wireless charger and get enough charge on it to atleast be able to get into settings (2-3% would be enough)
  2. GO into settings and into battery usage
  3. Scroll down to ‘Recent Battery Usage’ and find the app ‘Android System’
  4. Tap on that and then tap on ‘Force Stop’. It had a warning that doing that could cause system problems but all it did was take away the ‘Detecting Moisture’ notification and I was able to charge again.

If you can get passed that I recommend getting a new cable, I went and bought a better one after fixing it and things were sorted. Good luck

Was this answer helpful?

Score 105

102 Comments:

This worked for my s7.. thanks alot!

by

I have been having issues with my GS9+ saying this for almost a freaking week now! Started with the last system update. It was charging on a cord and got to 97% and then woke me up with the stupid beeping from the warning! It was NOT actual moisture. This is such a life saver! Thank you!

by

thanks so much. worked on my s10+

by

Did not work for me. All these hacks I tried work for half a day or so then it's back to the same annoying problem. Galaxy S8.

by

DOESN'T WORK. It only gets rid of the warning icon BUT IT DOESN'T GET RID OF THE ACTUAL MOISTURE DETECTION and rhe phone still doesn't charge.

by

Show 97 more comments

Add a comment

There is actually an easy workaround to that error! Just turn your phone off, connect the charger, and then power the phone on. It shouldn’t give you that error when you do that.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 40

26 Comments:

Is the phone defective or is this just a quirk of the Galaxy S9+? Should I return it to the store for an exchange?

by

That’s just a quirk of that phone, especially since you live in an area that’s humid.

by

I've had this issue several times also. Turning off phone does not work. I needed to dry port with hair dryer, AND store overnight in a sealed tupperware filled with rice. You're right, very annoying.

by

Some of these posts are funny you shouldn't have this issue at all! I am on hollidays in the phillipines a very humid enviroment i am here for 5 weeks the only thing i can do to get past it is disconnect the charger reboot then when the samsung sign has scrawled across the screen in full insert the charger that works for me i have tryed rice hairdryer that didnt help me i will be blasting my provider when i get home hope this works for you!

by

Thank u so much it really worked and I'm so happy rn I thought my phone was about to stop working

by

Show 21 more comments

Add a comment

Use Android System Recovery Option to bypass Moisture detected at 0% charge.

When phone is at 0% and it shuts down, the moisture detected error doesn’t let the phone charge even if left plugged in for hours. The screen shows 0% always.

However, the phone charges if it can be turned on till home screen. So I tried a method and it worked for me:

1. Let the charger be plugged in the phone.

2.  Press & hold these buttons together: power + volume up + Bixby

3. Android logo will be displayed. Installing system update will show.

4. Press the volume down key several times to enter android system recovery option screen.

5. When you arrive at recovery option screen, Leave it as it is for 10 to 15 minutes. The phone will charge to 5 to 10%.

6. Select "reboot system now" (use volume up/down button|) and press the power button.

The phone will restart and you will see the full screen and charge %.

From there on you can keep charging without the annoying message.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 15

9 Comments:

ty, i try it and it worked

by

Thia did not work

by

It worked like a dream after this good advice. Greatly appreciated tech guru

by

I can bypass the issue by plugging in the charger while it is booting up. Regardless Samsung needs to fix this issue. I am afraid if I send in my device they will tell me I am at fault even though I know my tablet never came into contact with water....

by

Thank you very much, worked for me :)

by

Show 4 more comments

Add a comment

You could have dirty contacts in the charging port. I work in a very dusty paper mill and I'll get a moisture warning when the charging port gets dirty. Use 90% isopropyl alcohol or electronic parts cleaner and a toothbrush to clean the port. Then blow it out with canned air if you can.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 14

6 Comments:

Thank you very much Daniel it works out perfectly for me and save my day. Marry christmas.

by

worked for me, I put a teeny bit of cotton wool on a cocktail stick and dipped it in isopropyl alcohol, it got rid of the message in just a few seconds.

by

Cleaned port with fine brush, rested phone on table on angle facing up, plugged in hairdryer on mid heat , approx 30cm away, let it run for 20 min.problem disapeared.

Firstly though I went into settings .device apps,usb settings then clear cache, to make sure it was not phone.,it wasn't,t, it was minute moisture as phone was in my pocket , probably upside down, and I got wet walking in

by

Thanks very much it worked magic

by

Hmmm the problem kept coming again and again ooo even cleaning the port with alcohol/spirit

by

Show 1 more comment

Add a comment

I found a easy solution to this.

First go into safe mode and find out if its a hardware or software problem. Restart phone, press both volume and power buttons while its restarting to get there. While in safe mode try the charger. If you get the same $@$* its the hardware, so theres some kind of moisture dmg. Follow the drying instructions.

If it goes away then its something in the software or operating system. Luckily i found a quick easy fix. Boot phone normally and just goto setting and use the device maintenance option. This should fix the problems if its a usb cache or memory error.

If problem persists you might have to wipe the storage/disc partition or try clearing cache manually. The details for this you can find easily with a google search. Just type (phone model here) wipe partition OR wipe cache

Allright, hope this helps guys.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 8

3 Comments:

Rebooting in safe mode and charging is working for my Samsung Galaxy TabA. Thank you. Let me see if this comes again!!

by

Ι've had the same problem with my samsung galaxy s7 edge. It's supposed to be waterproof, so last night when I had a beach party and my phone slipped off my hand and got dirt all over it, I put it's charging port into the sea. I didn't really think of it until I came home and the detector kept going off. I didn't do anything then, but today, I rinsed it off with clean water and used a toothbrush and a swab to clean the dirt off. I used a blow dryer to its lowest level and blow dried the water off. The problem was solved.

by

Was having this issue after a recent Android update. Clearing the cache for the Android System fixed it. Go to Settings > Apps. Tap the ..., Choose show system apps. Tap Android System, then tap Storage > Clear Cache.

by

Add a comment

On a Galaxy S8 I tried all the ideas presented in this thread but nothing worked. Finally the only method I found was to power-off the phone, then power-on without the charging cable connected (it does not start otherwise), then immediately after the logo is shown on the screen, plug the charging cable. There is no more moisture error after that and I could get normal charging (fast charging is not working in this way for some reason). Removing the cable and plugging it back in gives the same moisture error so for a recharge I need to start over with the power-off -> power-on cycle.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 3

4 Comments:

This works, thanks man you just saved me a board replacement

by

That didn't work for me, but getting the phone into safe mode worked. Then I could plug it in to charge. To do that, turn off the phone. After a 20 second break, you press both the volume up and power on buttons at the same time till the Android sign appears. Then with one finger still holding down the power button, you press the volume down button several times, and the phone will say safe mode. Then you can charge it with no message.

by

Thanks a mill worked like a charm.

So happy it was one of the simpler solutions that worked.

by

Almost! Try Colins Roberts' fix below and you may not need to do this every time you plug in.

by

Add a comment

I tried the following:

Turn off the phone

Hold Power Button + Volume Down button until the android icon shows

Then put power cable back in (still holding the buttons)

Wait about 5 seconds then release the Power & Volume down button

Battery is now charging in fast mode

Found this solution on another forum - hope it works for you

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1

2 Comments:

This is a known software issue, no fix as of 9/7/2022.

Assuming zero moisture exposure, shut phone down, plug charger in, reboot phone. It takes a minute but error will clear. This has saved my S9 every time. I have noticed if my charger is plugged in but not charging, it throws this error. Confirmed nothing wrong with charging cord. If phone battery is dead you will need to charge wirelessly to around 10% before attempting reboot. Also if phone is HOT allow to cool a bit first.

by

Colin Roberts, you nailed it. I had a Note 10 and an S21 BOTH not charging wired. Your fix corrected BOTH. I tried everything short of a factory rest on these. Thanks for posting

by

Add a comment

I am a electronic technician and Java Software Programmer with 24 years, so I attempted all suggestions in here and did even many other "tricks" but NOTHING worked. I am convinced it was NOT a HARDWARE problem. So I suspected it was a software issue, a misbehaving app? virus? OS/firmware corrupted? or something like that so..... I reset to factory reset and now all is working fine. Unfortunatedly, I lost many files but restore about 80% succesfully thanks to two things:

#1. Google acccount backup in the cloud AND #2. I setup a SAMSUNG account with SAMSUNG backup and I restore many files but not all of them. I should had added my download folder to the Google Drive auto backup but I never set that up! In any case the phone works perfectly fine now, which confirms beyond any doubt that it was NOT a hardware problem but a SOFTWARE issue.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1

1 Comment:

This is a known software issue, no fix as of 9/7/2022.

Assuming zero moisture exposure, shut phone down, plug charger in, reboot phone. It takes a minute but error will clear. This has saved my S9 every time. I have noticed if my charger is plugged in but not charging, it throws this error. Confirmed nothing wrong with charging cord. If phone battery is dead you will need to charge wirelessly to around 10% before attempting reboot. Also if phone is HOT allow to cool a bit first.

by

Add a comment

I experienced the moisture indicator problem on my customer's Note 10 Plus. She was positive that it had not been exposed to moisture. I tried all of the non-invasive methods mentioned in previous posts, with no benefit. Through process of elimination, I concluded that there was a failure of the moisture sensor on the charging port board. So I replaced it, making sure to perfectly match the model number on the board with that of the phone. (This is extremely important as a slight mismatch will result in the device going into a semi-airplane mode.) Problem resolved. In this instance the issue was physical, not a defect in Samsung's programming or software.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1
Add a comment

s9: after a couple weeks of wireless charging i gave up on this and got an s22. since all was lost i decided to leave it connected regardless of the warning. with the phone powered off it showed a warning icon but didn't beep or anything, and seemed to be charging. after a while charging and unplug+plug again eventually the warning sign went away, now it seems to be happily charging.
Turned the phone back on and now its charging and not complaining. Let's see how long this lasts!

I don't suggest doing this unless you're out of options. If it's actually wet and you ignore it it may damage the phone (mine was definitely not wet, possibly was damaged but doesn't seem like it).

Unfortunately it's too late to return the new phone. I don't think s9->s22 is worth the cost delta.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

This is a known software issue, no fix as of 9/7/2022.

Assuming zero moisture exposure, shut phone down, plug charger in, reboot phone. It takes a minute but error will clear. This has saved my S9 every time. I have noticed if my charger is plugged in but not charging, it throws this error. Confirmed nothing wrong with charging cord. If phone battery is dead you will need to charge wirelessly to around 10% before attempting reboot. Also if phone is HOT allow to cool a bit first.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

Tried some of the methods mentioned and could not get it to work. However , what got the job done was going into usb settings and force stop it.

To enter usb settings,

  • Go to settings
  • Go to apps
  • Go to filter and sort icon and activate the show system apps
  • Either scroll down and find usb settings or search it using filter at the top
  • Press on the force stop at the bottom

I hope this may help you in facing the same problem. If the same problem happens again, i will try to find a way and will post it here again.


Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

Had this issue for over 24hrs and the solution that worked for me is as follows:

1. If your phone hasn't died yet, switch off your phone.

2. Obtain a can of Abro Circuit Cleaner. (should be available at your local hardware store)

3. Spray once directly into the charging port.

4. Use something thin like a sim card tray key to guide a dry, static free cloth into the spaces between the charging pin to remove any excess Circuit Cleaner.

OR

Use a can of compressed air to blow out any excess Circuit Cleaner.

5. The notification should be removed and charging resumed as usual.

I hope this helps!

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

I had this issue on a Samsung A52s 5G phone and even after doing all of the things here, plus those of other sites, the problem remained. What worked for me was using an alcohol wipe/pad on the phone charging port and then going to my car and blowing the AC air into the port to dry it out properly. This fixed the problem for me.

I am pretty careful with my phone so know it was was never immersed in any fluid so assume it must be from the high humidity as I live in Indonesia.

Hope this can help someone as it took me a while to get rid of the annoying tone assosiated with the fault.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

just plug the charger in the socket for two minutes and then connect the phone to charger

best solution :)

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

Add your answer

Fred Regan will be eternally grateful.
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 862

Past 7 Days: 5,932

Past 30 Days: 26,589

All Time: 1,393,372