How to Protect and Fix a Water Damaged MacBook – Do’s and Don’ts

November 4, 2022

Did you accidentally spill water on your MacBook? Don’t be surprised because you’re not the only one. Water-damaged MacBook is an extremely common situation than you think. And the good news is that it is fixable.

This article will teach you how to protect and fix a water-damaged MacBook. However, if the damage is severe, you might need to contact an expert and trustworthy repair shop.

Ways to Protect Your MacBook from Water Damage

The best cure is prevention. Therefore, it is suggested to prevent this accident, so there’s no need to look for fixes. You can do many things to safeguard your device from water spills. For example:

Lid Your Drink

The simplest precaution is to cover your water bottle or glass with a lid. So even if it tumbles, the water won’t spill out.

Keep Your MacBook Away from Water

Another great solution is to keep any water source away from your MacBook. Remember, water takes a few seconds to overcome a flat surface. So if you won’t keep a drink near the device, there will be time to save your MacBook from water damage, as you can pick it up instantly.

Contrarily, keeping your MacBook over a pile of a few magazines or books will keep the device above the surface. So, if the water spills, it won’t reach your laptop.

Use Protective Equipment

Many useful protective gears are available to save your MacBook from water damage. Things like silicone lids for your ports, keyboard covers, laptop sleeves, and screen guards can cease the water from spreading on the laptop in case you spill it over your device. Why so?

It is because all this protective equipment closes every possible entry point for water. And as a result, it protects your expensive MacBook from water damage repair.

Got A Water Damaged MacBook? Here’s What You Should Do?

There are three ways to fix a water-damaged MacBook, such as:

Unplug All the Connections

First, unplug all your MacBook’s connections, including the power adapter (if connected), scanner, printer, and mouse (all peripherals).

Note: If you own an older MacBook model like MacBook Pro 15” (2009), you should also remove the battery.

However, keep in mind that when unplugging connections, peripherals, or batteries, you should wear protective gear, such as rubber footwear and gloves.

Shutdown Your MacBook for At Least 2 Days

Another thing you should consider doing without a second thought is to shut down your MacBook immediately. Leave the laptop turned off for at least 2 days (48 hours) without turning on the device.

Suppose the device isn’t shutting down; press and hold your MacBook’s power button for about five seconds until it’s turned off. If the laptop is still running but unresponsive, the water has already damaged the keyboard. Therefore, you need to try another method.

Take tissues or paper to soak water from the screen, keyboard, and touchpad surface. Now, close the lid to activate your laptop’s hardware-level sleep sensor. Doing so will send a command from your MacBook’s logic board to disengage all the circuits, including the CPU and SSD drive.

Keep Your MacBook in a Tent Position (Only Non-Retina Models)

If the device has shut down, keep it in a tent-like position on a dry surface to let the water drain out of the system. But remember that this method only works on non-retina screen MacBook models, such as Pre-2013 MacBook Pro and Pre-2018 MacBook Air.

Things to Avoid When Dealing With Water Damaged MacBook

Don’t use a hairdryer to dry your MacBook
Don’t share a wet MacBook
Do not turn on your device

What to do if all things fail?

If none of the above methods works, you should contact a trustable repair shop to help fix the issue as soon as possible at affordable prices.