What the checkpoint does
A checkpoint matches you to your ID, X-rays your belongings and screens your body, and most delays at each stage are decided before you reach the bins. The rules here are the long-standing ones. The TSA adjusts them, and airports run different equipment, so read the agency's current guidance before a trip and follow the officers on the day. The shoe rule is a fair example: it was relaxed for most passengers in 2025, yet an officer can still ask for yours.
Liquids, precisely
The limit applies to the container and not to what is left in it, so a half-empty six-ounce bottle fails. The agency's test is simple: anything you can spill, spread, spray, pump or pour counts as a liquid, which sweeps in toothpaste, peanut butter and hummus. Medication, baby formula and breast milk are allowed in larger reasonable quantities, but you should take them out and tell the officer. Frozen items pass if they are frozen solid at screening. An empty water bottle goes through without comment.
The sequence in line
- Have your ID in your hand before you reach the podium, and your boarding pass ready in case the officer asks for it.
- Empty your pockets into your jacket or bag while you wait, including keys, coins, phone and wallet.
- In a standard lane, lay laptops and tablets in a bin by themselves with nothing on top, and set the liquids bag beside them.
- Take off your jacket and any bulky metal, and send your bag through lying flat.
- Stand in the scanner with your feet on the marks and your arms raised.
Lanes with newer scanners let electronics and liquids stay in the bag, and the signs will tell you so.
When you are pulled aside
A bag check usually means something dense blocked the image: a stack of books, a knot of chargers, a large block of food. Do not reach for the bag while the officer is searching it. If the body scanner flags you, expect a pat-down of that area, and know that you may ask for it to be done in private by an officer of your own gender. A forgotten pocket knife is surrendered, mailed home or walked back to the car, so check every pocket of a bag you also use for camping.
Note Children twelve and under and adults seventy-five and over get lighter screening, and travelers with medical devices or disabilities can call the TSA Cares helpline about seventy-two hours ahead to arrange assistance.
