Whether it is your phone, laptop, or any electronic device, the steps are almost always the same
Turn it off, let it dry, and bring it in for repairs
Step 1. Turn it off (if it's not already) and leave it off.
If you see, feel, or smell any heat, smoke, steam, bubbling, bulging, or melting, avoid handling the device. In this unlikely scenario, for your safety, it is best not to get near the device. Call an emergency service.
Unplug the power cable, then hold the power button for five to seven seconds until it’s off. Don’t waste the time, properly shutting down. If the device is left on, even for a few extra moments, it could cause a short circuit, leaving the components inside with permanent damage. The quicker you can turn off the machine, the better chance you have of saving it.
Remove any USB drives or dongles plugged into the device as well — you want to make sure nothing is trying to draw even a trickle of power from the system.
Once the device is off, and you’re sure the area is safe, you’re ready to do some clean-up.
Step 2. Turn It Upside Down and Let It Drain.
Take a dry cloth and wipe up any excess liquid from the laptop's surface — especially near where the spill happened, keyboard, vents, or ports — and open the lid (if it has one). For laptops, turn it upside down, put it over a towel or something absorbent, and let the water drain out of it.
Leave it for 4 to 24 hours if you can, that’s ideal. Even if it seems dry, parts can absorb a lot of water. So, when giving it time to dissipate liquid, the longer you can let it sit, the better. However, if you are near a repair shop the sooner you can bring the unit in to be assessed the better the chances that data can be saved.
Despite what you may have heard, open-air drying is best in these situations — Macs4u recommends against putting your device in a bowl of rice or using a hairdryer to attempt to dry the device quickly. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race.
Step 3. Bring it in for repairs as soon as possible.
At this point, you should bring the unit in for an assessment.
You may be tempted to power on the device, and it might even work normally (for a while). This is not recommended because if there is internal liquid damage or the unit is not completely dry this can cause a short circuit resulting in data loss, and/or permanent damage to the device.
The way we normally handle these types of jobs is we can book it in for an initial diagnosis and quote for repair. This way we can open it up and see how far the liquid has penetrated the laptop and quote for repairs if needed.
After a spill
Unfortunately, even after a repair or spill clean is complete, most liquid-damaged units are quite unpredictable, other faults may present themselves at any time, and we would be unable to guarantee how long a unit will remain useable. It is often best to keep a good backup of any data and start considering a replacement device for reliability.