This study assessed the factors affecting the performance of liquid-based samplers to recover viable infectious bioaerosols of Staphylococcus aureus based on cellular membrane integrity. By using propidium monoazide and qPCR, two widely-used samplers (all-glass impinger-30 (AGI-30) and BioSampler) filled with three collection fluids (deionized water (DW), Tween mixture (TM) and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)), were evaluated at five sampling times (3, 6, 15, 30 and 60 min). Effects of liquid refilling every 15 min during 60-min sampling were also studied. Irrespective of sampler type, PBS presented the lowest cell recovery, statistically different from DW (P < 0.05). Liquid replenishment improved S. aureus collection in DW by AGI-30 (P < 0.05) but showed no influences for BioSampler with DW or TM. Comparable cell recoveries were revealed among five sampling times when sampling by BioSampler with DW (P > 0.05). In contrast, samplings for 15 min or greater resulted in decreased cell recoveries in PBS or TM by both samplers compared to 3-min sampling. Overall, BioSampler collected viable S. aureus greater than AGI-30 (P < 0.001). In particular, BioSampler with DW presented great cell recoveries independent of effects of sampling time and liquid refilling, supporting it as an appropriate sampling method for retrieving viable S. aureus.