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Can I recover data from water damaged Mac not turning on?

The MacBook Pro I own is dead. It won't even turn on, to be precise. This is key, because the majority of conversations on this subject center on machines that turn on but don't fully boot up. If that machine won't power on, can I still get files from it? If yes, how can I do it? There is no problem with the hard drive. I spilled coffee and damaged the area around the start-up button, which is why Apple claims the machine won't start. To the best of my knowledge, everything else on the machine is operating perfectly.

Best Answered by

Amanda Wong

Answered on Tuesday, August 27, 2024

To access the data stored on the drive on a Mac not turning on, you can physically take it out of your Mac and mount it on another Mac.

Mac not turning on and Mac not booting up are totally two different scenarios, the solutions for MacBook won't boot up are not helpful for a dead Mac, which is the state when you press the power button on your Mac but it doesn't respond.

Removing the drive inside of your Mac is a dangerous and intricate procedure. You should get professional assistance to ensure the protection of your data. It is necessary to take off the internal hard drive from the Mac logic board, place it in an enclosure, and then link the removed drive to another Mac via a cable.

Not all Macs, meanwhile, have detachable internal hard drives. Things get complicated for a Mac that uses new technologies, such as onboard SSD, Apple T2 Security encryption, and Apple silicons.