Phones are built to shrug off a splash. Laptops are not. A keyboard is a grid of holes sitting directly above the battery, the main board and, on many models, the speakers. What you do in the first minute decides most of the outcome.
The first sixty seconds
- Unplug the charger from the laptop.
- Hold the power button until the laptop shuts off. Do not wait for a normal shutdown, and do not stop to save your work.
- Unplug everything else: USB drives, mouse, monitor cables.
- Turn it upside down. Open the lid as far as it goes and stand the laptop like a tent, keyboard facing down, on a towel. This drains liquid away from the main board and out through the keyboard.
- Blot, do not wipe. Press a dry cloth or paper towel against the keys and surfaces. Wiping pushes liquid into the gaps.
If the battery is removable, take it out. Most modern laptops have sealed batteries, in which case leave it alone.
Drying
Leave the laptop in the tent position in a room with good airflow. A fan blowing across it helps. Wait at least 24 hours for a small splash of water, and 48 hours or more for a larger spill.
- No hair dryer. Hot air warps keys and can push liquid deeper.
- No rice. Grains get under the keys. See why rice does not help.
- Do not power it on to check. This is how a wet laptop becomes a dead one.
If it was not plain water
Tea, coffee, juice and soft drinks leave sugar and acid behind. Even if the laptop works after drying, the residue makes keys stick and keeps corroding the board for weeks. After anything other than water, have the laptop opened and cleaned by a technician, even if it seems fine.
Turning it back on
After the wait, plug in the charger and power on. Check the keyboard, trackpad, screen and sound. If anything is wrong, such as dead keys, a flickering screen or a burning smell, switch it off again and take it for repair. Back up your files as soon as it boots.
Muffled or crackling laptop speakers
Laptop speakers often sit under a grille beside the keyboard or fire downward through slots in the base. If liquid reached them, sound will be dull or crackly once the laptop is running again.
- Make sure the laptop has fully dried and works normally first.
- Set the volume to about 70 to 80%. Laptop speakers are larger than phone speakers and do not need 100%.
- Open the water eject tool in your browser and run Standard mode for 60 seconds.
- If the speakers face down, lift the laptop slightly so the slots are clear. If they face up, tilt the laptop so the grille points sideways and down.
- Repeat once or twice.
The tone works the same way as on a phone: it moves the speaker cone hard enough to shake droplets off. If the crackle remains after a day or two, the speaker cone has probably been damaged by the liquid and needs replacing.
A note on warranty
Laptop makers, including Apple, do not cover liquid damage under the standard warranty, and laptops contain liquid indicators just as phones do. Accidental damage plans usually do cover it. Be honest with the repair shop about what was spilled. It changes how they treat the machine.