You just finished swimming or washing your hands, and now your Apple Watch sounds muffled. The screen shows a water droplet icon, and you’re locked out. Don’t panic. This is actually a built-in safety feature doing its job.
Getting water out of your Apple Watch is surprisingly simple once you know the right steps. The water lock feature protects your screen from accidental touches when wet, but more importantly, it includes a clever ejection system that physically pushes water out of the speaker grilles. Let me walk you through exactly how this works.
Understanding Apple Watch Water Lock Feature
Before we dive into ejecting water, it helps to understand what’s happening. When you enable Water Lock mode, your Apple Watch does two things simultaneously. First, it disables the touchscreen to prevent false inputs from water droplets. Second, it prepares the speaker system for water ejection once you’re ready.
The water lock icon looks like a blue water droplet. You’ll typically see this appear automatically when starting a swimming workout, but you can also activate it manually. Many people don’t realize this feature exists until they accidentally trigger it, which can be confusing at first.
Here’s something interesting about the design: Apple engineers specifically tuned the speaker system to vibrate at frequencies that expel water. When activated, your watch produces a series of tones that sound almost musical. These aren’t random sounds but carefully calibrated frequencies that create enough vibration to force water droplets out through the speaker ports.
How to Eject Water from Apple Watch: The 3-Step Process
Now let’s get to the practical part. Removing water from your Apple watch takes about 10 seconds total. The process is the same whether you have an Apple Watch Series 3, Series 4, Series 5, SE, Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, Series 9, or the latest Ultra models.
Step 1: Locate the Digital Crown
The Digital Crown is the circular dial on the right side of your watch face. It’s the primary control mechanism you’ve been using to scroll through menus. When your watch is in water lock mode, this crown becomes your key to freedom.
Step 2: Turn the Digital Crown Continuously
Start rotating the Digital Crown away from your body in a smooth, continuous motion. You don’t need to press it, just turn it. Keep rotating until you see the words “UNLOCKED” appear on your screen. This typically takes 3 to 5 full rotations.
Step 3: Listen for the Ejection Sound
Once unlocked, your Apple Watch immediately begins ejecting water. You’ll hear a series of beeping tones that sound like musical notes. These tones last about 3 seconds. During this time, you might actually see tiny water droplets being pushed out of the speaker grilles on the left side of your watch.
The beauty of this system is its simplicity. You don’t need to access any menus or remember complicated button combinations. Turn digital crown to unlock and eject water—that’s literally all there is to it.
When Should You Use Water Eject Function
Knowing when to activate water ejection matters as much as knowing how. You should eject water from your Apple Watch after any activity that gets the device wet. This includes obvious scenarios like swimming, surfing, or water sports, but also less obvious situations.
Washing dishes often splashes enough water to trigger concerns. Taking a shower with your watch on (which is safe for the device) definitely requires water ejection afterward. Even sweaty workouts can sometimes introduce enough moisture to benefit from the process.
However, there’s a common misconception worth addressing. You don’t need to eject water every single time your watch gets slightly damp. A few rain drops or brief hand washing probably won’t affect functionality. The ejecting water apple watch feature is most critical after prolonged exposure or full submersion.
One interesting use case involves hot tubs and saunas. While Apple Watch can handle water, extreme temperature changes can cause condensation inside the device. Some users report using the water eject function after these activities helps clear internal moisture, though this isn’t officially documented by Apple.
Troubleshooting Common Water Eject Issues
Sometimes the standard process doesn’t work perfectly. Let’s address the most frequent problems people encounter with apple watch water ejection.
The watch won’t unlock: If turning the Digital Crown doesn’t unlock your device, make sure you’re rotating it far enough. Some people stop too soon. Keep turning until you clearly see “UNLOCKED” on the screen. If this still doesn’t work, try pressing the side button to wake the screen first, then turn the crown.
No sound during ejection: This concerns many users, but it’s usually not a problem. The ejection tones are fairly quiet. If you’re in a noisy environment, you might not hear them. Look closely at the speaker grilles instead—you should see water droplets being expelled even without audible sound.
Water remains after ejection: The ejection process removes most water but not necessarily all of it. It’s completely normal to see some moisture remaining around the speaker area. Simply wipe this away with a dry cloth. The critical part is clearing water from inside the speaker chamber, which the automated process handles.
Muffled sound persists: If your Apple Watch still sounds muffled after water ejection, try running the process again. You can manually enable water lock mode by swiping up from the watch face to access Control Center, then tapping the water droplet icon. This lets you repeat the ejection sequence. Give it 2 or 3 tries with vigorous Digital Crown turning.
What’s counterintuitive is that sometimes waiting helps too. If you’ve ejected water but still notice issues, simply wearing the watch normally for an hour allows body heat to evaporate remaining moisture. The device continues working during this time—you’re just waiting for optimal speaker performance to return.
Activating Water Lock Before Swimming
Prevention works better than cure. While we’ve focused on how to eject water on Apple Watch, let’s talk about activating Water Lock beforehand.
Before jumping in the pool or ocean, swipe up from your watch face. This opens Control Center, where you’ll see various quick-access icons. Look for the water droplet symbol and tap it. Your screen immediately displays a large water droplet icon, indicating Water Lock is active.
Most swimming workouts automatically enable this feature, but manual activation gives you control. It’s particularly useful for activities like kayaking, paddleboarding, or beach volleyball where you might not start an official swimming workout but still expect water exposure.
Here’s a practical tip: make activating Water Lock a habit before any water activity. Think of it like putting on sunscreen—easy to forget but worth remembering. The 3-second activation process prevents the frustration of dealing with accidental screen taps while wet.
Some people ask whether leaving Water Lock on all day causes problems. It doesn’t harm the device, but you’ll need to unlock it every time you want to use the touchscreen. This becomes tedious quickly, so it’s best reserved for actual water activities.
Maintaining Your Apple Watch After Water Exposure
Beyond the immediate apple watch ejecting water process, proper maintenance extends your device’s longevity. Water resistance doesn’t mean waterproof, and the seals protecting your watch gradually degrade over time.
After swimming in chlorinated pools, rinse your Apple Watch with fresh water. Chlorine and pool chemicals can deteriorate the water-resistant seals faster than pure water. Ocean swimming requires the same care—salt crystals are particularly abrasive. A quick 30-second rinse under a gentle stream prevents long-term damage.
Drying matters more than most people realize. After ejecting water, gently pat your watch dry with a soft, lint-free cloth. Pay special attention to the area around the Digital Crown and the speaker grilles. These spots trap moisture and benefit from manual drying.
Never use compressed air, hair dryers, or heat sources to dry your Apple Watch. High-pressure air can force water deeper into the device, while heat damages internal components and accelerates seal degradation. Room temperature air drying combined with gentle cloth wiping works perfectly.
The watch band requires attention too. Water trapped under the band against your skin promotes bacterial growth and skin irritation. After water activities, remove your band completely and let both the watch and band dry separately. This simple habit prevents many common issues.
Does Water Lock Protect Against All Water Damage
Let’s address a critical misconception. Water Lock mode and the eject water apple watch function help manage water exposure, but they don’t make your watch invincible. Understanding the limitations keeps your expectations realistic.
Apple Watch water resistance varies by model. Series 2 and later have a water resistance rating of 50 meters under ISO standard 22810:2010. This sounds impressive, but it comes with caveats. The rating applies to shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. It doesn’t cover high-velocity water activities.
Waterskiing, jet skiing, and cliff diving expose your watch to water pressure beyond the rated specifications. The sudden impact of hitting water at speed creates pressure spikes that can compromise seals. Similarly, hot water activities like saunas and hot showers expose the device to steam and temperature extremes that affect water resistance.
What’s particularly important to understand is that water resistance decreases over time. Daily wear causes micro-abrasions to seals. Dropping your watch can create invisible damage to the case seal. Even normal aging degrades the adhesive compounds that create water-tight barriers.
Apple doesn’t offer a service to restore water resistance. If you’re concerned about seal integrity after significant wear, it’s worth considering a waterproof case for serious water activities. These accessories provide an extra protective layer while still allowing normal watch functionality.
Alternative Methods People Try (And Why You Shouldn’t)
Online forums contain countless suggestions for ejecting water from apple watch beyond the official method. Most of these range from ineffective to potentially harmful.
Some people recommend tapping the watch against their palm to shake water loose. While this might dislodge visible surface water, it does nothing for water trapped inside the speaker chamber—the actual problem area. Worse, repeated impact risks damaging internal components or cracking the display.
Others suggest using rice or silica gel packets to absorb moisture. This common smartphone repair myth doesn’t work for Apple Watch. The device’s water-resistant seals prevent rice or desiccants from accessing internal moisture. You’re basically just wasting time while hoping the natural evaporation you’d get anyway does the work.
I’ve seen recommendations to place the watch in front of a fan or use a vacuum cleaner. Neither approach offers advantages over the built-in ejection system. The engineered vibration frequencies of the water eject function target speaker membrane resonance specifically—random airflow cannot replicate this precision.
The most dangerous suggestion involves disassembling the watch to manually dry components. This immediately voids your warranty, requires specialized tools, and almost certainly causes more problems than it solves. Modern electronics are complex, and the Apple Watch’s compact design makes reassembly nearly impossible without proper training.
Stick with the official method. Turn digital crown to unlock and eject water. It’s simple, safe, and effective because Apple engineers designed it specifically for this purpose.
Understanding the Science Behind Water Ejection
The technology powering apple watch water ejection is genuinely clever. It’s worth understanding how it works, even if you’re not particularly technical.
Your Apple Watch speaker contains a flexible membrane that vibrates to produce sound. During water ejection, the device plays tones at specific frequencies that cause maximum membrane displacement. This creates powerful vibrations that physically push water droplets out of the speaker housing.
The process uses principles of acoustic resonance. Every speaker has natural frequencies where it vibrates most efficiently. Apple’s engineers mapped these frequencies and created a tone sequence that maximizes water displacement while minimizing potential speaker damage from over-vibration.
What makes this implementation special is its efficiency. Traditional waterproofing relies on gaskets and seals to prevent water entry. Apple Watch uses these too, but adds the active expulsion system as a second line of defense. Even if water penetrates the speaker grilles—which is inevitable since speakers need openings to function—the ejection system clears it before damage occurs.
The audible tones you hear aren’t just functional; they’re also feedback. They confirm the system is working and indicate when ejection completes. Some users find the sounds oddly satisfying, almost like a tiny musical performance from their wrist.
Water Eject on Different Apple Watch Models
The core process for how to eject water on apple watch remains consistent across models, but there are subtle differences worth noting.
Apple Watch Series 2 introduced water resistance and the ejection feature. Series 3 through Series 6 all use essentially identical systems. The speaker design varies slightly between models, affecting ejection efficiency marginally, but users won’t notice practical differences.
Apple Watch SE incorporates the same water ejection technology as the mainline series. Despite being a budget model, Apple didn’t compromise on water resistance features. The SE handles water ejection identically to the Series models released alongside it.
Apple Watch Ultra represents a significant upgrade in water resistance, rated for 100 meters and designed for recreational scuba diving. However, it uses the same water ejection mechanism as other models. The improved rating comes from enhanced seals and case construction, not a different speaker system.
The Ultra’s larger speaker does eject water slightly more forcefully due to its bigger membrane, but the process remains the same: turn the Digital Crown to unlock and activate ejection. Location of the crown and speaker hasn’t changed, so muscle memory transfers perfectly if you upgrade models.
Interestingly, even the original Apple Watch Series 1 had a Digital Crown unlocking mechanism, though it lacked water resistance and ejection features. This consistent interface design means anyone familiar with basic Apple Watch operation can handle water ejection without learning new controls.
Integrating Water Eject Into Your Routine
Making apple watch water ejection a habit rather than an emergency response improves your experience. Here’s how to build it into regular routines.
After every swim session, eject water before removing your watch. This timing matters because the speaker grilles remain positioned optimally while the watch is on your wrist. Removing the watch first allows water to shift and potentially settle deeper into the speaker housing.
For frequent swimmers, consider ejecting water twice in succession. Run the standard process, then immediately reactivate Water Lock and eject again. This double-ejection technique removes stubborn water that the first cycle loosens but doesn’t fully expel.
If you shower with your Apple Watch, eject water as the final step before leaving the bathroom. The humid environment actually helps by preventing rapid evaporation that can leave mineral deposits. Ejecting while humidity remains high clears water more effectively.
Beach days require attention to sand and debris. Before ejecting water after ocean swimming, rinse the watch thoroughly with fresh water. Ejecting while sand particles remain around the speaker can force debris into the grilles, creating blockages that affect sound quality.
Create a mental checklist: swim, rinse, eject, dry. This four-step routine takes under a minute but dramatically extends your watch’s lifespan and maintains optimal functionality. The consistency matters more than perfection—even remembering 80% of the time makes a significant difference.
FAQ About Apple Watch Water Ejection
How do I know if water ejection worked?
You’ll hear a series of tones lasting about 3 seconds, and you should see water droplets expelled from the speaker grilles. If your watch sounds normal during test playback afterward, ejection was successful.
Can I damage my Apple Watch by ejecting water too often?
No, the water ejection system is designed for repeated use. You can safely eject water multiple times per day without harming the speaker or other components.
What if I forgot to enable Water Lock before swimming?
Your watch will likely be fine. Simply eject water after swimming as you normally would. Water Lock prevents accidental screen taps but isn’t required for the ejection process to work.
Why doesn’t my Apple Watch automatically eject water?
Automatic ejection could occur at inconvenient times and disturb others with the sound. Manual activation gives you control over when and where the ejection happens.
Does water ejection drain battery significantly?
No, the process uses minimal power. The brief speaker activation consumes about as much energy as receiving a single notification alert.
Can I use water eject function with third-party bands?
Yes, the band type doesn’t affect water ejection functionality. However, some thick or fully enclosed bands may trap water against the watch back, requiring you to remove the band for complete drying.
How to Eject Water from Apple Watch (2025 Guide)
Conclusion
Mastering how to remove water from your Apple Watch takes just minutes to learn but provides years of benefit. The three-step process—turn the Digital Crown, watch for the unlock screen, and listen for ejection tones—becomes second nature quickly.
Remember that water lock and ejection features complement but don’t replace proper care. Rinse after swimming, dry thoroughly, and maintain realistic expectations about water resistance limitations. Your Apple Watch is remarkably capable in water, but it’s still an electronic device requiring thoughtful handling.
The next time you finish swimming or accidentally submerge your watch, you’ll know exactly what to do. Turn that Digital Crown confidently, enjoy the quirky ejection sounds, and get back to using your fully functional Apple Watch within seconds.
How to use Water Lock and eject water from your Apple Watch https://support.apple.com/en-us/108352
