Micropipette aspiration has been combined with a windowless hydrated sample environment for single-particle X-ray analysis. A water droplet serves as a ‘chamber’, covered by a mineral oil to prevent evaporation. In the droplet, particles can be aspirated and manipulated by one or two micropipettes. The system was evaluated on two undulator beamlines, using grains, giant lipid vesicles, colloids and macrophages as test objects. Holographic near-field images were recorded.