Before you drop off your Mac for repair: a ten-minute checklist

1. Back it up

A repair almost never touches your data, but a backup is the only thing that protects you whatever happens.

• Time Machine: connect an external drive, then System Settings → General → Time Machine → Add Backup Disk. Let the first backup finish.
• iCloud Drive: System Settings → your name → iCloud. Check Desktop and Documents are syncing and that the upload has finished.
• Screen broken? Plug in an external monitor or TV and back up from there.
• Mac will not start? Bring it in as it is. Do not keep trying to force it on, especially after a spill.

2. Make a test account

Some repairs need checking inside macOS afterwards — the keyboard, the camera, Wi-Fi. You do not have to hand over your own login for that. Make a separate account just for testing:

1. Open System Settings → Users & Groups → Add User.
2. Choose Standard, name it something like “Repair”, and give it a simple password.
3. Write that password on a note to hand over with the Mac. Delete the account when you get the Mac back.

Your files stay behind your own password, and the shop can still test everything it needs to.

3. Leave FileVault on

FileVault encrypts everything on your Mac’s drive. Leave it switched on: a hardware repair does not need it turned off, and it is the reason nobody can read your files without your password. (On MacBooks with Apple silicon or a T2 chip, storage is encrypted at the hardware level anyway.)

4. Ask about Find My

Apple asks you to turn off Find My before it repairs a device. Independent shops vary, and many hardware repairs do not need it switched off. Ask when you drop off rather than guessing — and if you do turn it off, remember to switch it back on when you collect the Mac.

5. Write down the symptoms

A few lines saves time on the bench and money on your bill:

• What happens, and when — on battery only, after waking from sleep, when the lid is at a certain angle.
• When it started, and anything that happened just before: a drop, a spill, a macOS update.
• What you have already tried.

6. What to bring

• The Mac and its charger. Testing with your own adapter rules out a whole class of faults straight away.
• The model number from the bottom case, if you did not call ahead with it. Our model number finder shows you where.
• A photo of the Mac on your phone, showing its condition when you handed it over. Any careful shop is happy for you to take one.

Get a written ticket with your name, the device, the fault and the agreed price before you leave the counter.

Dropping off a phone instead?

• iPhone: back up to iCloud (Settings → your name → iCloud → iCloud Backup) or to a computer.
• Samsung Galaxy: turn on Maintenance mode (Settings → Battery and device care → Maintenance mode). It hides your data without erasing it.
• Google Pixel: turn on Repair mode (Settings → System → Repair mode), which does the same.

More on each in our iPhone and Android phone repair pages.