Windows laptop liquid damage
The most important thing is what you do not do. Keep it off, keep it unplugged, and get it assessed today. A laptop keyboard funnels liquid straight down onto the board, so what looks like a small spill on the outside is rarely small inside.
Do not charge it. That is what kills liquid damaged boards.
Power it off and leave it off. Water plus power is what turns a saveable board into a dead one, and every attempt to switch it on to see if it still works is another chance to short something.
Do not plug it in to test it. Not a cable, not a wireless pad. Apple's own instruction is to unplug both ends and not reconnect until the device is completely dry, which can take up to 24 hours.
Do not use rice. Apple says it directly: do not put your iPhone in a bag of rice, because rice particles can damage it. Rice cannot pull water out of a sealed device anyway, it just burns the hours that decide whether the board survives.
No hair dryer, no heat, no compressed air, and nothing poked into the ports. Heat drives moisture deeper and bakes the corrosion in.
Corrosion starts within hours and salt water and pool water are the worst. Getting it to a bench today is worth more than anything you can do at home.
Sources: Apple Support, liquid detection.
Do these checks, in this order
Each one rules something out. Work down the list and stop when something changes, because that is your answer.
Power it off and leave it off
Do this before anything else. Water plus electricity is what destroys boards.
NOWthe one that matters
Do not plug it in
No cable, no wireless pad, no computer. Testing it by charging it is the most common way a saveable device dies.
NO CABLEnot to test it
Skip the rice and the hair dryer
Apple says do not use rice, because rice particles can damage the device, and it does nothing to water sealed inside anyway. Heat is worse.
MYTHboth make it worse
Dry the outside and get it assessed today
Wipe it down, open the SIM tray if it has one, leave it somewhere with airflow. Corrosion starts within hours and salt or pool water is the worst kind.
TODAYthe clock is running
What your result means
Find the line that matches what happened. The right hand column is the honest answer, including when the answer is that nothing needs fixing.
Assessment and diagnosis are free, and you approve a fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it you pay nothing.
If the data matters more than the device, stop here.
Every extra power-on attempt spends some of what is left. On a failing drive or a damaged board, the retries themselves are what destroy recoverable files.
If there are photos, messages or work on it that are not backed up anywhere else, stop the DIY now and say so when you book. Recovery is a different job with different handling, and it goes first.
If the files matter more than the device
Tell us when you book and we treat it as a recovery job first, before anything that could overwrite what is there. For phones that is our phone data recovery service. For drives and laptops, Hard Drive Recovery handles the harder cases.
Now find out what it costs
Once you know which part is at fault, the price lookup gives you our fitted price for that repair on your exact model, with no form to fill in first.
Got wet on Windows laptop: questions
Should I put it in rice?
No. Apple states it directly: do not put your iPhone in a bag of rice, because small particles of rice can damage it. Rice cannot pull water out of a sealed device in any case, so all it does is burn the hours that decide whether the board survives. Keep it off, keep it unplugged, and get it to a bench.
Can I charge it to see if it still works?
No, and this is the single most damaging thing people do. Pushing current through wet connectors is how a device that could have been saved becomes one that cannot. Do not plug it in, do not put it on a wireless pad, and do not connect it to a computer until it has been assessed.
How long do I have?
Corrosion starts within hours, and salt water or pool water accelerates it badly. There is no exact deadline, but the odds get worse every day the liquid sits on the board. Same day is ideal. A device that arrives today is a very different job to one that arrives next week.
Same fault, different device
The checks change with the device. If you are here for something else, start from the fault diagnoser or the Windows laptop guide.
Still not sure? We will tell you for free.
Bring it in or tell us what it is doing. Diagnosis costs nothing, you get a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it you pay nothing.
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