Spilling water or any other liquid on your laptop can be a stressful and frustrating experience. A malfunctioning or non-working keyboard makes using your laptop difficult or even impossible. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to try and revive your water-damaged laptop keyboard.
Assess the Damage
When liquid gets spilled on a laptop, it can damage several components, including the keyboard, trackpad, internal circuitry, and more. The first step is to quickly assess the extent of the damage.
- Does the laptop turn on at all? If not, the internal components may have short-circuited.
- Is the keyboard completely unresponsive or are only certain keys not working properly?
- Does the trackpad still work? Liquid may have seeped beneath it.
- Are you noticing any strangebehavior like repeated letters or numbers appearing on screen?
Pay attention to any external signs of liquid like moisture along the edges or underside of the laptop. The more components that are damaged, the lower the chance that simple home repairs will successfully revive the laptop.
Dry Out the Laptop
If the laptop is still partially or fully functional after a spill, the very first thing you should do is try to dry it out. This helps prevent any further moisture damage inside the machine. Follow these tips:
- Wipe away any pooled liquid on the laptop’s exterior with a dry towel.
- Tilt the laptop at an angle to let the liquid drain out through openings.
- Press down on the power button for 5-10 seconds to turn the laptop off if it is still on.
- Detach any connected peripherals like chargers, USB drives, or external keyboards.
- Remove the battery from the underside of the laptop if possible.
- Let the laptop sit upside down on a dry towel for at least 24-48 hours to air dry.
- Do NOT try to dry the laptop with an external heat source like a hairdryer which can damage the components.
The more moisture you can remove right away, the better chance your laptop has of coming back to life after water damage.
Clean Out Trapped Moisture
Even after thorough air drying, there may still be some trapped moisture inside the tight spaces of the laptop keyboard and other components. Here are some tips for cleaning that out:
- Use compressed air to spray the keyboard and gaps around the keys. This will displace any collected moisture.
- Use a small vacuum cleaner attachment to suck up moisture from openings.
- Swab the keyboard and trackpad area with cotton buds dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean corrosion.
- If possible, remove the keyboard for closer inspection. Look for moisture along the edges and on electronic components.
Take your time with this step and be very thorough to remove any remaining water that could cause issues. Let the laptop dry out again afterwards.
Inspect for Physical Damage
Liquid spills can physically damage electronic components like circuits, chips, and connections inside a laptop. Here’s what to look for:
- Corrosion – Green or white corrosion around circuits is a bad sign.
- Cracks – Small cracks in the circuit board from liquid seeping into tiny crevices.
- Burnt Smell – The water may have caused short-circuiting that burnt internal components.
- Sticky Residue – Sugary liquids especially can leave sticky buildup as they dry.
Carefully inspect the system to gauge the physical toll of the spill. The laptop keyboard may start working, but severe internal damage can lead to future issues.
Test the Laptop Keyboard
After thoroughly drying and cleaning your laptop, the moment of truth arrives. Turn on your laptop and test the keyboard functionality:
- Try typing on every key and make sure it inputs properly on screen.
- Check that commonly used keys like the spacebar, enter, and delete work correctly.
- Try keyboard shortcuts like copy/paste to ensure the key combinations register.
- If only certain keys are problematic, make a note of exactly which ones.
- See if issues like repeating letters are happening which point to problems.
Ideally, your perseverance has paid off and the keyboard now works again after drying out. But if issues still remain, don’t despair yet – there are still potential fixes.
Use Keyboard Troubleshooting
Many laptop keyboards can be repaired at home using some simple troubleshooting techniques like:
- Reseating cables – Remove the keyboard to unplug and reattach the connecting cable.
- Updating drivers – Install the latest keyboard drivers in case it’s a software issue.
- Tweezers – Carefully pry up stuck keys with tweezers to fix sticking.
- Compressed Air – Use compressed air to dislodge dirt or debris under keys.
- Isopropyl alcohol – Swab underneath keys to clean stuck contacts.
Spend some time trying these basic steps to see if they get your keyboard working again before attempting more complicated repairs.
Replace the Laptop Keyboard
If troubleshooting tactics don’t restore your water-damaged keyboard to fully working order, replacement may be necessary. Here are some tips on doing this:
- Search online for your exact laptop make and model number to find a replacement keyboard.
- Carefully remove the retaining screws and detach the defective keyboard.
- Follow installation guides to secure the new replacement keyboard.
- Reattach the battery and other connections that were removed.
- Turn the laptop on to verify the new keyboard works before reassembling the case.
Take precautions when removing and installing components to avoid damaging ribbon cables or connections. And be aware that replacing a very worn laptop may cost almost as much as a new model!
Use an External Keyboard
If your laptop keyboard is irreparable, an external USB or wireless keyboard can act as a replacement. This allows you to keep using the laptop without the cost of installation:
- Wired USB keyboards simply plug into an open USB port and require no setup.
- Wireless Bluetooth keyboards need to be paired and may need a dongle.
- Ergonomic keyboards provide more comfort if used for long periods.
- Small travel keyboards are very portable for use on-the-go.
For desktop use, an external keyboard is a simple and affordable solution. Just make sure you have external mouse as well since the laptop trackpad will be inaccessible with the lid closed.
Use an On-Screen Keyboard
Another way to get around a non-working laptop keyboard is using an on-screen virtual keyboard. Here’s how:
- Go into your laptop’s Ease of Access settings and enable the on-screen keyboard.
- Position the laptop so that the screen is easily visible.
- Close the defective physical keyboard to access the touchscreen.
- Bring up the on-screen keyboard and use the mouse or touchscreen to type.
- Consider propping up the laptop so you don’t have to lean over the screen.
On-screen keyboards work best for limited typing needs. Extensive typing can be uncomfortable with this approach. And some keyboard shortcuts may not be accessible.
Connect with Remote Desktop
If the laptop keyboard stops working but the machine is otherwise functional, remote access software provides complete functionality:
- Use a separate PC to install and run remote desktop software.
- On the damaged laptop, enable remote connectivity through settings.
- Connect to the laptop from the second PC via the remote app.
- This will display and control the laptop from the functioning PC.
- Use the working keyboard on the second computer to type.
Remote desktop gives you full access to the application, files, and capabilities of the water-damaged system from afar. Just ensure reliable Wi-Fi for smooth performance.
Conclusion
Spilling liquid on your laptop and having the keyboard malfunction or stop working completely can be a headache. But in many cases, there are DIY repair solutions that require only time and patience to get your keyboard fully functional again. Using the troubleshooting tips and keyboard alternatives in this article, you can get your laptop working again without costly professional repairs.
The most important steps are to immediately dry out the laptop, clean all residual moisture, and inspect for corrosion damage. Once the laptop is stable, reseating cables, tweezer cleaning, and replacing the keyboard are all options to try and restore keyboard function. External keyboards, on-screen typing, and remote desktop can act as effective workarounds if needed. With diligence and care, you can recover from a water-damaged laptop keyboard.