Turn it off and stop pressing the sticky keys. Coffee with milk and sugar dries under the keys and cannot be cleaned out one key at a time. If keys stay stuck or dead, the keyboard has to be replaced.
What should I do right now?
Do these four things in order.
- Hold the power button until the screen goes black.
- Pull out the charger and anything else that is plugged in.
- Wipe the keyboard with a towel. Do not pull the keys off.
- Leave it off and book it in.
Why do the keys stop working days later?
The drink dries slowly under the keys. In the job below the keyboard worked on the first day. Over the next two days the keys went sticky and needed a harder press. Then the Space, E, R and T keys stopped working properly. By day six the keyboard was hard to use at all.
Can sticky keys be cleaned?
Not in a way that lasts, once the drink is under the keyboard. In the job below, the milk and sugar had dried around the key parts and under the whole keyboard. Cleaning each key would not have reached it.
Why is the trackpad playing up too?
The same spill can reach the trackpad cable. In the job below the trackpad sometimes missed clicks. The trackpad itself was fine. Its cable had dried coffee on the contacts, and cleaning them fixed it.
What does a real keyboard repair look like?
This is a job I did on a MacBook Pro from Carlingford.
| Model | MacBook Pro 13-inch (A1989, 2019) |
| What happened | About half a cup of cappuccino, with full cream milk and one sugar, went across the middle of the keyboard. The owner wiped it and kept working. |
| What went wrong | Sticky keys within two days. Then the Space, E, R and T keys stopped working properly, and the trackpad missed clicks. It came in about six days after the spill. |
| What I found | Dried coffee under the keyboard and around the trackpad cable. A little corrosion on the keyboard plug. The logic board was not damaged. |
| What I did | Fitted a new keyboard and top case. Cleaned the trackpad, its cable and the keyboard plug. Moved all the other parts into the new top case. |
| Result | Every key works, and so does the trackpad. The files were all still there. |
| Time | 4 working days |
| Cost | $525 |
The top case is the upper shell of the MacBook that holds the keyboard. The logic board is the main circuit board that runs the Mac.
Why was the whole top case replaced?
On this model the keyboard is built into the top case, so the two come as one part. Everything else, such as the logic board, speakers and trackpad, is taken out and moved into the new one. That is why the job took four working days.
What does it cost to fix?
This job cost $525 in total. No $150 was added on top, because the owner went ahead. I charge $150 to open, clean and check a wet MacBook, and that comes off the repair if You go ahead. A keyboard or top case is $350 to $550, and You get the price before any work starts.
Apple charges A$429 for liquid damage if You have AppleCare+. Without it, Apple gives a price only after it has looked at the Mac.
What should I not do?
- Do not pull keys off to clean under them.
- Do not keep typing on it. In the job above, more keys failed as the week went on.
- Do not put it in rice. Apple says small grains can get inside the Mac.
When should I get help?
Get help the same day if You can. The Mac in the job above waited six days. Its logic board was still fine, but the keyboard could not be saved.
See prices and more real repairs on the MacBook water damage repair page.
Give me a call or send a few photos of what happened … happy to have a look!!