Skip to Content

How to Protect Your Laptop from Humidity?

How to Protect Your Laptop from Humidity?

Humidity is not good for your laptop (or any electronic device, that is) but sometimes we just have to use our laptops in a more humid environment. When we do so, additional protective measures have to be taken – and this is what we’re going to talk about in today’s article: how to protect our laptops from humidity.

But before learning how to protect our laptops from humidity, let’s see what “excessive humidity” is. According to the US Environment Protection Agency, air humidity above 50% is considered high.

Having in mind that in many places, the humidity of the air can easily get to 70% or even more, you definitely have to know how to protect your laptop in order to increase its life span.

Related: We’ve also talked about using a laptop in the pool – make sure to check out that article as well!

How to protect laptop from humidity and moisture

From simply letting your laptop adapt to the new temperature, to buying additional protection or not using your laptop in humid environments, you have various options to protect your laptop from humidity.

humidity

1. Let your laptop adapt

If you know that you will use your laptop in a humid environment, make sure to let it adapt first. Turn off your laptop and let it sit for at least one hour in the humid environment and allow it to adjust to the temperature.

Usually, it’s hot and humid when we’re talking about high humidity. If you come from a cool place like an air conditioned room, your laptop needs a while to adjust to the new temperature and humidity levels.

Also, try to use the laptop in a very humid environment for as little as possible, especially if it’s cold and humid. In this case, condensation can occur inside the laptop and cause problems, including a short circuit.

2. Invest in a laptop cooling pad

Especially useful for hot and humid climates, but also good if the weather is cold and humid, a cooling pad is placed under your laptop and has fans to keep the temperature low.

The fans will also help improve air circulation, therefore reducing the zonal humidity of the air and offering some protection against humidity.

You can check out this laptop cooling pad on Amazon (affiliate link) – it’s our top recommendation as it has three fans to help air circulate, keep your laptop’s temperatures low but also help keep it safe from the excessive humidity.

3. Use a water-resistant laptop bag or sleeve

We already talked about how important laptop cases are, but if you’re dealing with high humidity, they become even more valuable.

While it is true that this won’t allow you to also use your laptop, they are great for storage and carrying it around. You can opt for a larger waterproof laptop bag or a smaller waterproof laptop sleeve. Both will protect your device equally well against excessive humidty.

These are made from waterproof materials which won’t allow accidental spills to damage your laptop, but will also offer protection in a humid environment.

If you prefer a laptop bag, our recommended one is this one, while our favorite laptop sleeve is here (affiliate links).

4. Go to a less humid place

laptop in humid weather

We’re not recommending you to move to a different country or city, but going into a room that doesn’t have as much air humidity is recommended, if possible.

For example, a room where air conditioning is working would normally have a decent air humidity that will help your laptop. Cafes, pubs and bars can be such places – so you now have a valid excuse to spend more time there: for the sake and well being of your laptop!

5. Don’t use it!

This is definitely not an ideal way of protecting your laptop from humidity, but it is one that works.

If you know that you are going to be in a very humid environment, it’s best not to use your laptop. Keep it in a bag or sleeve (ideally one of the waterproof ones recommended above) and only use it when inside, in an area where the humidity is under control.

6. Prepare for the worst

If you live in a place where the humidity levels are generally high, or if you know you’ll be going to such an area in the future, it’s best to prepare for the worst.

This means backing up your important data: either to an external HDD or an SD card (depending on the amount of data that you want to save). Alternately, you can use some free cloud storage option to back up your data online.

It’s better to be prepared than sorry, so always take regular backups if you know that the air humidity levels can get high.

What to do if the laptop is not turning on because of high humidity?

how to protect laptop from humidity

In the very unlikely event that his actually happens and your laptop spent too much time in a humid environment, you can try the following things.

First, make sure to unplug your laptop from any electrical outlet. Otherwise, you risk a short circuit or even more serious damage, including to your health. Electricity and water – including extremely humid places – are not a good match!

Next, find a large plastic bag – ideally a ziploc bag where you laptop can fit in. Put your laptop in, together with 1-2 silica plastic bags and let it overnight.

The silica packets will suck in the additional moisture, but they need time for this.

Permanent damage might’ve been done if the laptop didn’t turn on, but you can try this method and hope for the best.

Conclusion

If the air is excessively humid, you don’t really have a ton of options when it comes to keeping your laptop protected, especially if you want to use it at the same time.

Your best options would be to use a cooling pad or get inside an air conditioned room to use your device. Alternately, for carrying it around or storage, a laptop bag that is water resistant becomes a must.