My phone fell in water and is dead. Are my photos gone?

What arrived at the lab

The phone arrived from Michigan after a drop into a sink of water. The reported symptom was water immersion followed by a dead phone, so we handled it as a board-level recovery case from the moment the box was opened. We photographed and logged the device at intake, then kept the work focused on whether the original board could be brought back far enough for the data to become readable.

Bench work on the water damaged phone

We opened the phone on the bench, inspected the board under the scope, and tested the power path before applying any cleaning. Phones that arrive like this usually need liquid damage cleanup first, then controlled board-level testing, because corrosion and shorted lines can keep the device from reaching a bootable state.

For modern phones, the storage is encrypted and paired to the original board. Recovery meant repairing this board until it could boot and present the owner’s data normally. We never bypass or crack passcodes. If a passcode is required, the owner’s passcode is what unlocks the phone. Once the device was stable enough to access the data, we copied the recovered files to healthy storage and verified the contents before return.

What data recovered meant

The outcome was data recovered. In practice, that meant the phone’s accessible photos, messages, and other user data were copied off and checked before anything was sent back. The recovered files were prepared for return to the customer along with the original device.

If yours looks like this

If your phone fell in water and went dead, do not keep charging it, heating it, or trying power cycles. Power can make liquid damage worse. Leave it off, keep it uncharged, and send it in for board-level inspection. Our 100 diagnostic is applied toward the recovery and answers what is recoverable before any decision.