Our internet-enabled devices are a lifeline to the wide world around us, so it’s always a little traumatic when they stop working. But if you’ve spilled some liquid on your laptop, there are a few potential fixes you could try.
Learning how to fix a water-damaged laptop doesn’t take hours, and several simple solutions could get your device up and work again. If your laptop has other types of damage, you can also troubleshoot those problems.
Before you dole out the cash to hire a repair technician, check out this guide!
How to Fix a Water Damaged Laptop
If you’ve accidentally spilled water on your laptop, the first thing you’ll want to do is assess the damage. For example, a little water spilled onto a closed laptop is no cause for panic. A paper towel wipe can do the trick.
But if you’ve spilled water onto your laptop screen, keyboard, or base, you’ll want to immediately power it off and disconnect it from its power source. From that point, you have a few options.
Screen-based spills are the simplest to handle, as most laptop screens are well secured and protected. If you immediately wipe up the liquid with a clean paper towel or cloth, your laptop may be perfectly fine.
But if you’ve spilled water onto your laptop keyboard or base, things can be a little trickier. The first thing you may want to do in this situation turns your laptop upside-down, letting the liquid drop to the floor.
After that, you can place your unclosed laptop into a large sack of rice, wet side facing down. The rice will absorb any excess moisture still lingering in your laptop, especially when left overnight.
When Rice Doesn’t Work
Sadly, the infamous rice trick may not work for everyone. After all, you can’t open a laptop like you might open a desktop tower. When water seeps deeply into a laptop, it can be a pain to remove.
That said, a waterlogged laptop isn’t necessarily a lost cause. You can try a few other tricks that may help suck away any remaining moisture.
Two of the best non-rice solutions to water-damaged laptops are:
- Placing your laptop near a dehumidifier
- Arranging your laptop so that the wet side faces down
A small-yet-powerful dehumidifier can remove any droplets of liquid still hanging around inside your laptop. But placing your laptop so that the wet side faces down could also help.
Combining these solutions might be your best bet, especially if you’ve spilled a large quantity of liquid on your laptop. Remember, you’ll need to leave your laptop to dry for at least 24 hours, preferably 72 hours.
If your laptop refuses to turn on after this point, or it’s showing signs of serious damage, it may be time to visit a local repair technician. Of course, you could also try a few other effective hacks and tricks.
Damaged Laptop Hacks
If your laptop is giving you headaches, you might feel like hanging your head and having a cry. But before you give up, it might be worthwhile to try some of the most common and effective laptop-fixing hacks.
For example, a laptop that refuses to turn on may need a replacement charging cable or battery. And if your laptop suddenly shuts down without warning, you may need to update your drivers.
Some of the simplest and most common laptop repairs include:
- Replacing the charger
- Buying a laptop fan or cooling pad
- Adjusting your PC’s power settings
- Updating your drivers
- Replacing your laptop screen
- Turning it off and on again
Of course, some types of damage can’t be solved with a simple product or download. Serious motherboard or hard drive issues are challenging to fix unless you have a computer engineering degree and plenty of time.
Still, you may be able to find the precise solution to your laptop problems by utilizing your preferred search engine. Simply type your laptop brand name and model type, followed by the problem, and submit!
In many cases, other folks have experienced the same kinds of problems. And they may have shared their repairs online, allowing others to follow suit.
For example, if your MacBook screen keeps flickering, you can visit https://setapp.com/ for a helpful troubleshooting guide. MacBook laptops can be particularly challenging to fix at home, but this guide is amazing.
But you may not need to learn how to repair a laptop to get your PC working once more. After all, experienced technicians are always ready to lend a professional hand.
What to Do if a Laptop Is Damaged
If your laptop is severely damaged, you can first try any number of DIY solutions to get it working again. But in some cases, there’s simply too much damage for the average person to deal with.
A laptop that’s been dropped onto a hard surface, submerged in liquid, or left in a hot environment might need more care than you’re able to give. In this case, you’ll need to contact a repair technician.
Fortunately, there are likely dozens (if not hundreds) of laptop repair specialists in your area. Finding one is often as simple as searching for one with your preferred search engine or asking friends and family.
Fix Your Broken Laptop Today
Now that you know how to fix a water-damaged laptop, you can seek out the best solutions to get your laptop working again. But, of course, if our DIY tips and tricks don’t work for you, professional assistance can help.
In addition to spilled drinks, laptops can suffer from cracked or flickering screens, sudden power failures, and charging problems. Fortunately, troubleshooting these issues only takes a few minutes.
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