The song was released on July 22, 2016, as the lead single from their debut greatest hits album, Major Lazer Essentials.

The song also reached number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Brazil, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland; as well as the top 10 in Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Scotland, South Africa and Spain.

The day before Diplo arrived in New York City in May 2016, he was "more than a little surprised" when Justin Bieber sent a message on Twitter about the track, "Cold Water", asking when it would be coming out.

[4] You can tell if something’s authentic or not… I felt like [MØ] was so ambiguous, having grown up singing pop and punk… Her word choice and her metaphors are just so foreign from American songwriters who tend to overuse the same phrases.The song initially started a project, which eventually built to Major Lazer's fourth studio album's January 2017 release.

"[3] I had been trying to link with Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran for years to find the right song we could all work on together and the moment I heard this one, I knew that it was the one.

A low-quality version of the track leaked on Chinese radio station in July 2016, four days prior to its official release.

Diplo premiered the remix during Brunch Bounce at Elvis Guesthouse in New York City on July 22, 2016, the same day the original version was released.

The vocals span from E3 to G#5 in the song with a chord progression of F♯m – A – C♯m – D.[18] "Cold Water" received positive reviews from music critics.

[22] The New York Times's Jon Caramanica was less enthusiastic towards the song, writing: "Bieber's earlier collaborations with Diplo (and also Skrillex) worked because of the frisson of the young pop star getting tugged onto the producers’ turf.

But with 'Cold Water', Mr. Bieber's new collaboration with Diplo's Major Lazer project — which also includes an appearance by the singer MØ — the gravity pulls in the other direction."

The song went up and down in the top 5 back to number two, while The Chainsmokers' "Closer" featuring Halsey dethroned Sia's "Cheap Thrills".

The single opened at number one on Digital Songs with 169,000 downloads, becoming Major Lazer and MØ's first, and Bieber's fifth, leader on the chart and their biggest sales week to date.

[25] In the United Kingdom, "Cold Water" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, on the issue dated July 29, 2016, with 102,000 combined sales, which included 5.56 million streams and 47,000 downloads.