If you have spilled a drink on your laptop, then you are probably frantically reading this from a panic filled state. But don’t worry, it may not be as catastrophic as you might think. Whether you placed your drink down too close to your laptop or just had a clumsy moment, you are probably cursing yourself while trying to desperately think of a way to save your precious laptop and all the information it contains. It is important that you act quickly, so while you are reading this article, be sure to follow these steps along the way. Here is some helpful advice on what to do straight after spilling a drink on your laptop to limit the damage, as well as how to try and retrieve any at-risk information.
TURN THE LAPTOP OFF
Firstly, it is important that you don’t panic, so if you are panicking right now; calm down! You need to unplug your laptop from any power source straight away and then hold the power button down to ensure that the device is completely turned off. You shouldn’t waste precious time by trying to go through the shutdown procedure on the laptop. It is important that you turn the laptop off as soon the spillage occurs as otherwise it could cause a fatal short circuit, leaving your device damaged permanently.
REMOVE THE BATTERY
Now, the next step entirely depends on what sort of laptop you have. If possible, remove the battery from the laptop. While some devices allow you to easily remove the battery through a small latch, others require you to unscrew the back panel in order to access it. It is important that any source of power is removed from the laptop before you start the cleanup process, so be sure to remove any extra devices such as USB drives.
REMOVE EXCESS LIQUID
Once your laptop is shut down and removed from any form of power source, you should take a dry cloth and wipe away any liquid that remains on the device. Be sure to particularly focus on the ports and keyboard areas of the laptop. You should turn the laptop upside to drain any of the liquid that you can’t see. Ideally you should aim to leave it drying for around 24 hours as, even if it seems dry to you, it will likely still be damp in hidden areas.
START THE RECOVERY PROCESS
If you have followed the above instructions, but your laptop is beyond repair, then there are still ways that you can get back the information that is stored on your device. Industry leaders, such as Secure Data Recovery offer hard drive recovery services for laptops that have failed due to liquid damage. Spilling a drink on your laptop can easily feel like the end of the world, but by acting quickly and drafting in the help of a recovery service, it may not be as bad as you anticipated.
