Users of Brother printers frequently say that the device stops printing and, sometimes, fails to produce high-quality printouts. As a result, we conducted research to determine the most prevalent issues and created this Brother printer troubleshooting guide to assist all users.
We’ll explain why your Brother printer produces poor-quality prints, why it won’t print black ink, what’s causing the printer status to be offline or paused, and more in this tutorial. We’ll also provide you with six well-researched solutions to these problems. In addition, you can get Brother printers problem solutions for Windows 7 and Windows 10.
Table of Contents
About the Brother Printer
Brother printers are among the world’s best printer brands. The services are satisfactory, which encourages users to select a printer that meets their needs. Printers differ in terms of configuration and size. A help team is also available to assist users.
Having problems with your brother’s printer? If you receive scrap from the printer and low visibility print from the printer, This could be because the cartridge was not properly installed. Use the newly configured printer instead of the old, configured printer.
Quick Printer Services technicians are the best in the United States at repairing Brother printer problems and errors. Here, our experts share their best troubleshooting advice that you can implement yourself:
Easy-Brother printer repair
If you can’t figure out what the error message or code on your broken Brother printer means, try this simple fix:
- Select Start > Control Panel > Control Panel Home (on the left) > System & Maintenance from the menu (on the top).
- Scroll down to Administrative Tools.
- Select Services, then scroll down to Print Spooler. Restart the Print Spooler by right-clicking it.
- Double-click on Print Spooler > choose Automatic as the “startup type” > apply > OK
- Try printing something.
Common Brother Printer Issues and Their Solutions
We have explained the most common problems with Brother printers as well as the possible causes of these problems.
- The Brother Printer is offline or paused.
If your Brother printer status is offline or paused, you will be unable to use the device. A faulty network connection is the most common cause of the Brother printer’s going offline. You can restore the device to normal printing mode by following the Brother printer troubleshooting procedure. It’s also worth noting that installing a faulty printer driver can render your printer inoperable. Fortunately, you can always reinstall the Brother printer driver to resolve this issue.
- Paper Jam in the Brother Printer
If you are getting unwanted impressions on your prints or the printing process is becoming obstructed, a paper jam could be the source of the problem. You can inspect the interiors of your Brother printer for jammed paper or scraps by opening it and removing the parts.
- Brother Printer Doesn’t Print Black
When your Brother printer stops printing black, you’ll need to troubleshoot it. This happens when the black cartridge runs out of ink or is completely empty. The Brother printer troubleshooting not printing black procedure can assist you in resolving this issue.
- The Brother Printer Will Not Scan
If your Brother printer won’t scan in Windows 10, there could be a problem with the scanner driver’s network settings. Other causes of this issue include an incorrect Brother printer IP address, a loose printer connection, or firewall settings that prevent the Brother printer from scanning.
5 Solutions for Brother Printer Troubleshooting
We hope that by now you have a better understanding of the various types of Brother printer problems and their potential causes. Let us now look at the Brother printer troubleshooting solutions to see if we can solve these issues.
Solution 1: Troubleshooting Brother Printers in Offline or Paused Mode
You can remove the offline status for Windows and Mac by using this Brother troubleshooting printer solution. Let’s start with the Windows procedure.
1.1 Solution Offline or Paused Status Brother Printer Troubleshooting for Windows
To resolve the error in Windows, follow the four-step detailed procedure outlined below.
- In Windows 8, navigate to “Control Panel” and select “Hardware and Sound.” You will find “Devices and Printers” under this option. Check to see if your device has a green tick. In Windows 7, select “Start” and then “Devices and Printers.” If you don’t see the tick on your device, right-click on its icon and choose “Set as default printer.”
- Right-click on your Brother printer’s icon again, select “See what’s printing,” and then select “Cancel all documents.” If the option is not available, select “Open as administrator” and click “Yes” after entering your password. Then choose “Cancel all documents.”
- Click on your device’s icon again, then select “See what’s printing,” “Printer,” and “Use printer offline.” If that option is not available, click “Open as administrator,” enter your password, and click “Ok.”
- If the status under “See what’s printing” is paused, click on it to resume. If the “Open as administrator” option is greyed out, you must enter your password.
In some cases, a duplicate of your Brother printer icon may appear in “Devices and Printers.” This usually occurs when the device’s USB port is changed or the printer driver is installed twice. As a result, it will be beneficial to look for a duplicate of the device icon and select the one that is functional.
1.2 Solution : Offline or Paused Status Brother Printer Troubleshooting for Mac
This quick procedure has only four steps.
- The first step is to open the “Apple Menu,” then select “System Preferences,” and then tap on “Printers & Scanners.”
- In “Printers,” select your device and look for your printer driver beside “Kind.” If the “AirPrint” driver is selected, go to the “Apple Menu.” Select “Printers & Scanners” under “System Preferences” and hit the “+” button.
- Select your device from the list by clicking the “Default” icon. Under the “Use list,” select your “model name + CUPS.” Select “Add.”
- The paused or offline status will be removed, and your device will be ready to use again. Then, in the “Apple Menu,” select “Quit System Preferences.”
Note: If “model name + CUPS” is not available, we recommend that you install the most recent printer driver.
Solution No. 2 : Brother Printer Paper Jam Troubleshooting
- Now we’ll tell you how to solve the most common problem. Consider the four steps outlined below to clear the Brother printer paper jam.
- Unplug your device and, if necessary, disconnect the telephone line cord. Remove the paper tray. Locate and remove any jammed paper. Then, replace the tray on the device.
- Remove the scanner cover. Examine the print head’s position. If it’s in a corner, slowly bring it to the centre and check underneath for jammed paper. When you find the bits, remove them. Look for paper on the right and left sides as well. After that, close the scanner cover.
- Restart your Brother printer and reconnect the telephone line cord. The Brother printer paper jam issue will be resolved.
3rd solution : Troubleshooting: Brother Printer Not Printing Black
If your Brother printer stops printing black, you may have run out of ink, especially if you print frequently. However, if that is not the case, you can try the few steps outlined below.
- Check that the ink cartridge’s breather tape has been removed.
- The ink levels in the black cartridge may be low. We recommend that you replace it with a new one.
- Determine whether the black cartridge is of poor quality. If so, use the cartridge recommended in the Brother printer manual to replace it.
- If the printhead becomes clogged, consider cleaning it.
Solution 4: Troubleshooting Brother Printers on Windows 10
If you are a Windows 10 user having trouble printing or scanning with your Brother printer, we recommend that you clear the driver history, uninstall the Brother printer software, and then reinstall it. To perform this repair, simply follow the ten steps outlined below.
Note: If you have a USB cable connected to your Brother printer, unplug it.
- Open “Control Panel,” then “Hardware and Sound,” then “Devices and Printers.” Right-click the Brother printer icon and select “Remove Device.” To confirm, click “Yes.”
- After removing the device, left-click on another device. Then click on “Print server properties.” To view any entries for your device, go to the “Drivers” tab. Select the entries and, if necessary, delete them.
- Return to the “Control Panel.” Choose “Programs” and then “Programs and Features.” Select and remove the entries before restarting your system.
- Once the reboot is complete, navigate to the Brother Support Website and click on “Downloads.” In the search box, type in the model of your device. After selecting your operating system, click “Search.” If Windows 10 is not available, use Windows 8.1 instead.
- A page with your device’s model name will appear. On the page, look for “Utilities” and select “Uninstall Tool.” You will be prompted to accept the End-user License Agreement before the download can begin. Then, press “Run.” Browse to and save the file on “Desktop,” then select “Decompress.”
- Navigate to the new “remPnP” folder on the “Desktop” and double-click the “BrRemPnP.exe” file. When prompted to make changes to your system, click “Confirm.” Select the model of your device from the dropdown menu and press “Ok.”
- Return to the Brother Support Website to reinstall the Brother printer software. Tap “Downloads,” then type the printer model into the search box. Select an operating system. When Windows 10 is not available, choose Windows 8.1. Click “Search.”
- Select “Full Driver and Software Package” and accept the End-user License Agreement. Then click “Download,” followed by “Run.” Then the Brother printer software will start downloading. Following completion, select your language.
- After the installation is complete, restart your computer. After the reboot, reconnect the USB cable to your Brother printer and system.
- Finally, print a test page. The error should have been corrected by now.
Solution 5: Troubleshooting Brother Printers on Windows 7
If you are unable to print from your Brother printer on Windows 7, here is a procedure to reinstall the Brother printer driver as a quick fix.
Check out the 7 easy steps for this quick fix.
- Turn on your device and computer. Log in to your system as an administrator. Insert the CD that came with the operating system into the CD drive. If the language screen appears, select your language and then open “My Computer.” Click the “MFL-PRO” icon twice.
- Select “Advanced” from the CD-ROM main menu. Then select “Repair MFL-Pro Suite.” To turn off the machine and disconnect the USB cable, click “Yes.” Then, choose “Local Connection (USB)” and press “Next.”
- You will now be asked to connect the cable. Lift the printer’s scanner cover and lock it in the open position. Connect the USB cable to the USB port on your device. Insert the cable into the cable channel and out the back of the device. Close the scanner cover now.
- Start your printer by connecting the power cord, and the installation will continue. Allow some time for the installation to be completed. Make certain that none of the screens are cancelled during the process.
- When an “On-Line Registration” screen appears, follow the on-screen instructions before clicking “Next.” After the setup is finished, you can uncheck the option “Set as default printer” and click “Next.” Then uncheck the “Trial Photo Print” box.
- Select “Yes, I want to restart my computer right now” and click “Finish.” Your system will restart, and you will be required to log in as an administrator. The “Check for firmware updates” screen will then appear. Select the firmware update settings and then press “Ok.”
- The “Brother Product Research & Support Program” will now commence. Follow the on-screen instructions. After that, try printing. The problem should now be resolved.
Note : If you are still unable to print after completing this procedure, the USB cable may be faulty or incorrect. To resolve the issue, repeat the procedure with a different USB cable.
Brother Printer Troubleshooting & Model Compatibility
The Brother printer troubleshooting solutions provided in this blog can be used for the following Brother Multifunction Printer series:
| Brother MFC 8220 Printer | Brother MFC 8440 Printer | Brother MFC J200 Printer | Brother MFC J265W Printer | Brother MFC J280W Printer |
| Brother MFC J415W Printer | Brother MFC J430W Printer | Brother MFC J630W Printer | Brother MFC J470DW Printer | Brother MFC J480DW Printer |
| Brother MFC J5720DW Printer | Brother MFC J625DW Printer | Brother MFC J6520DW Printer | Brother MFC J6920DW Printer | Brother MFC J835DW Printer |
| Brother MFC L2700DW Printer | Brother MFC L2710DW Printer | Brother MFC L8600CDW Printer | Brother MFC L8850CDW Printer | Brother MFC 5460CN Printer |
| Brother MFC 5860CN Printer | Brother MFC 9120CN Printer | Brother MFC 9440CN Printer | Brother MFC 295CN Printer | Brother MFC 420CN Printer |
| Brother MFC 465CN Printer | Brother MFC 490CW Printer | Brother MFC 495CW Printer | Brother MFC 640CW Printer | Brother MFC 6490CW Printer |
| Brother MFC 7360N Printer | Brother MFC 7820N Printer | Brother MFC 7840W Printer | Brother MFC T800W Printer |
These solutions can also work for the Brother DCP Printers given below:
| Brother DCP 1000 Printer | Brother DCP 130C Printer | Brother DCP 350C Printer | Brother DCP J140W Printer |
| Brother DCP L2550DW Printer | Brother DCP T300 Printer | Brother DCP T500W Printer |
You can use these solutions to troubleshoot the Brother laser printer models mentioned in the table:
| Brother HL 2140 Printer | Brother HL 4070CDW Printer | Brother HL L8260CDW Printer | Brother HL 5340D Printer |
| Brother HL 2270DW Printer | Brother HL L2340DW Printer | Brother HL l2360DW Printer | Brother HL L2390DW Printer |
| Brother HL L6200DW Printer | Brother HL L2320D Printer | Brother HL 2170W Printer |
These solutions can be helpful for the following Brother Printer models too:
| Brother QL 570 Printer | Brother QL 710W Printer | Brother QL 820NWB Printer | Brother 490CW Printer |
| Brother 790CW Printer | Brother Printer 4040CN Printer | Brother 4100E Printer | Brother ADS 2200 Printer |
| Brother GT 381 Printer | Brother Innovis 4000D Printer | Brother J430W Printer | Brother LC61 Printer |
We hope that after reading this Brother printer troubleshooting guide, you’ve fixed your printer and started printing important documents. In addition to this informative piece, we have another useful blog with offline Brother printer solutions. Also, if you’re looking for more ways to fix Brother printer paper jams, check out our comprehensive guide.