In this article, we will discuss the reasons “Why my Brother Printer is not working”. And we will also give the solutions to these reasons.
Why My Brother Printer is not Working [Reasons & Solutions]
The following are reasons why your brother printer is not working and the corresponding solutions:
1. Your Brother Printer is not Powered.
As simple as this might seem, this might be the reason your Brother printer is not working.
The following could cause your Brother Printer not to be powered:
i. The printer is not plugged into the electric outlet.
Since it isn’t connected to the power, your printer will not work. The solution is to plug the printer’s power cable into the outlet.
ii. The power cable is not properly plugged into the outlet.
This is similar to “i” above, but the difference is that while it is plugged in, it is not properly done. Hence, you need to check the cable and push it properly into the outlet.
iii. The power cable might not be properly connected at the back of your Brother printer.
You might have disconnected the power cable from the back of your Printer without remembering. Or someone or something (maybe your kid, cat, or dog) disconnected it and you aren’t aware of this.
To correct this issue, simply connect the power cable to the printer. And make sure it is properly fixed.
iv. The power cable is damaged.
If you have fixed the above power supply issues, and are certain that you’ve done them well, then the problem might be that your power cable is damaged. The only solution is to get a replacement cable.
2. Your Brother Printer has Printing Errors
The following printing errors can stop your Brother printer from working:
i. A paper jam.
If this is displayed on your printer’s screen, carefully remove the paper jam. Check your user manual to see how to deal with this issue.
ii. Empty ink or toner.
If this is the case, simply refill/replace the ink or toner.
3. Your Brother Printer is Offline
When your Brother printer is in offline mode, it will stop printing. To correct this, simply change the printer status back to online mode.
How to Set Brother Printer to Online Mode
The following steps will guide you on how to set Brother Printer to online mode:
Step 1: Click the start button on your Windows computer.
Step 2: Go to the computer settings.
Step 3: Click “Devices”.
Step 4: Then click “Printers and Scanners”.
Step 5: Select your Brother Printer.
Step 6: Right-click on your Brother printer.
Step 7: Click “See what’s printing” once the dropdown menu appears.
Step 8: Click on “Printer”. It is located at the top left corner of your screen.
Step 9: Uncheck “Use Printer Offline” when the dropdown menu appears by clicking on the option.
Check out the video below…
4. Your Brother Printer isn’t Within Range of Your Wireless Router.
This is for those who make use of wireless network connections.
To solve this issue, make sure your printer is within range. Verify the coverage range of your router from your user manual. This will help you determine the position to place your printer.
5. Your Brother Printer isn’t Installed
This applies to both wireless connections as well as wired connections.
Installing your Brother Printer is all you need to do to correct this issue. And this article has detailed instructions on how to install Brother Printer.
If you use a Mac computer, the article link above will help you with the installation process. This will also help in correcting the printing problem with your Brother printer.
6. Your Brother Printer is not connected to the Right Port
Follow these steps to connect your Brother Printer to the right port:
Step 1: Click the start button on your Windows computer.
Step 2: Go to the computer settings.
Step 3: Click “Devices”.
Step 4: Then click “Printers and Scanners”.
Step 5: Click “Devices and Printers”.
Step 6: Select your Brother Printer from the printer list displayed.
Step 7: Right-click on your printer.
Step 8: Select “Properties” when the dropdown menu appears.
Step 9: Under the “General” tab, click on “Change Properties”.
Step 10: Then click on “Ports”.
Step 11: Click the port where your printer name is displayed.
Step 12: Click “Apply” to apply the changes made.
7. Your Brother Printer isn’t Your Default Printer
Although you get to choose what printer you want to print from before printing. However, making your Brother Printer your default printer can reduce the issue of your printer not working.
How to Set Brother Printer as Default Printer
The steps below will guide you on how to set Brother Printer as your default printer:
Step 1: Click the start button on your Windows computer.
Step 2: Go to the computer settings.
Step 3: Click “Devices”.
Step 4: Then click “Printers and Scanners”.
Step 5: Click on “Devices and Printers”.
Step 6: Right-click on your Printer.
Step 7: Click on “Set as Default Printer”.
8. Queued Print Documents
Lots of queued print documents might cause your Brother Printer not to print. Therefore, you need to clear such print clutter.
How to Cancel All Print Jobs on Your Brother Printer
Follow the steps below to cancel all print jobs on your Brother Printer:
Step 1: Right-click on your Brother Printer.
Step 2: Click “See what’s printing”.
Step 3: Click “Printer”.
Step 4: Click “Cancel All Documents”.
9. Outdated Printer Driver
If your Brother Printer driver is out-of-date, your printer might not work. You can solve this issue by downloading the new version via:
i. Downloaded utility driver.
10. Brother Printer Needs to be Reset
If none of the above solutions work, then you have to factory reset your printer. This should be the final resort when all else fails.
Consult your Brother Printer user manual for how to go about this. Since this process varies from model to model.
Brother Printer Black Ink not Working [Reasons]
If the black ink is not working then you won’t be able to print in black.
The following are reasons your Brother Printer black ink is not working:
i. The tape on the black ink cartridge is not properly removed.
The solution is to remove the tape completely.
ii. You are using a generic cartridge with low quality.
It is recommended you use only Brother Ink cartridges or those supported by Brother Printers. The use of a generic cartridge can cause your printer not to work. It can also cause further damage in the long run.
iii. The ink cartridge installed is dried.
A warm place can cause the ink in the cartridge to dry up. Therefore, do not place your Brother in warm places.
iv. Printer is rarely used.
If the printer is not used often, the ink might dry. This, in turn, will block the print nozzles.
If your Brother Printer yellow ink is not working, or any of your other color ink cartridges, you can also use the recommendations above.
How to Fix Brother Printer Touch Screen not Working
If your Brother Printer Touch screen is not working, then it needs to be calibrated.
You will need a stylus for the calibration process which is the best tool for the job. However, if you don’t have a stylus, you could use a pencil that has a dull tip. Or a wooden or plastic object that has a dull tip.
Avoid using metal objects as they can cause damage to the screen.
Follow the steps below to calibrate your Brother Printer’s Touchscreen:
Step 1: Locate the “Fax” icon on your printer’s LCD and press it. The LED icons on your Brother Printer’s touch panel will be displayed.
Step 2: Find the “Home” icon on the printer’s touch panel and press it down for about 7 to 10 seconds. Do that until the Serial number, ROM Version and Print Page appear on the display.
Step 3: Press down the “Print Page” option for about 2 seconds.
This action will cause a numerical chart to appear on the screen.
Step 4: Using this chart, press “*”, “0”, and “#”. Make sure it is done in that sequence.
This will cause the screen to show “0 Maintenance”. You can find it in the upper left corner of the screen.
In case the numbers do not appear, locate the double arrow key and press it. This will display the number keys.
Step 5: Next, press numbers “7” and “8”. This will cause the screen to display white dots that are numbered from 1 to 5.
Step 6: Using the tool you got earlier, press the dots carefully starting from number 1. When you press it correctly, the dot and the number will disappear from the screen. Then continue this from number 2 till you get to number 5.
Step 7: Once you are done with step 6, the “OK” or “Error” will be displayed in the upper left corner of the screen.
If you got “OK” on the screen, you will be taken back to “Maintenance” before returning to “Home”.
If you got “Error” on the screen, you will be taken to the numbered dots. Then repeat step 6 until you get “OK”.
If you keep getting “Error”, then you need to contact Brother.
Step 8: Test your printer’s touchscreen by pressing several options on the screen. You can also try whatever you were doing before you discovered that the touch screen wasn’t working.
Watch the video below…
To read more awesome articles, click any of the links below…
How to Set Up Home Printer WiFi — 4 Easy-to-Follow Steps
Brother Printer WiFi Setup [How to Connect, Issues and Solutions]
How to Clean Your Brother Printer [Quick Guide]
How to Install Brother Printer [Quick Guide]
How to Fix Scanner on Brother Printer Not Working
If the scanner on your Brother Printer is not working, do the following to resolve this issue:
1. Make Sure the Printer is Powered
Use the steps we discussed earlier to help restore power to your Brother printer.
2. Confirm that all Connections are properly done
Check the cable connections if you use wired connections. If your use wireless connections, make sure the connection is intact.
3. Verify if the Scanner Driver is installed on Your Computer
Follow these steps to verify if your scanner driver is installed:
Step 1: Click “Start” on your computer
Step 2: Click on “Control Panel”.
Step 3: Type “Scanner” in the search box.
Step 4: Click on “View Scanners and Cameras”.
Step 5: Check for your Brother Printer Scanner’s icon.
Step 6: If you can’t find it, then you need to install it.
Step 7: Visit the Brother website here to download the driver. Make sure you download “Full Driver & Software Package”. Then follow the given instructions.
4. Set Your Brother Printer’s IP Address on the Scanner’s Driver
Before you can do this, you will need to obtain the IP address first. You can only get it from a printed network configuration list.
How to Get IP Address on Your Brother Printer
Follow the steps below to get the IP address on Your Brother Printer:
Step 1: Press the “Menu” button on your printer.
Step 2: Choose “Print Reports”.
Step 3: Choose either “Black (Mono) Start” or “Color Start” or “Start”.
Step 4: Press “Stop/Exit”
The above steps will print out your printer’s network configuration list with the IP address within.
The next thing to do is to set this IP address on your Scanner’s driver.
How to Set IP Address on Brother Printer Scanner’s Driver
The following steps will show you how to set the IP address on your Brother Printer scanner’s driver:
Step 1: Click “Start” on your computer
Step 2: Click on “Control Panel”.
Step 3: Type “Scanner” in the search box.
Step 4: Click on “View Scanners and Cameras”.
Step 5: Select your scanner.
Step 6: Click “Properties”.
Step 7: The User Account Control (UAC) screen will appear, and then click “Continue” if you are a guest user. If you are the admin, click “Yes”, then enter the admin password before you click “Yes” or “OK”.
Step 8: Click on “Network Setting”.
Step 9: Choose “Specify your machine by address”.
Step 10: Enter the printer’s IP address and click “OK”.
5. Verify Firewall Settings
Your computer firewalls could prevent your scanner from working. You might have to disable or adjust the settings to get your scanner working.
How to Disable Firewall
The following steps will guide you on how to disable your computer’s firewall settings:
Step 1: Click “Start”.
Step 2: Click “Control Panel”.
Step 3: Choose “System and Security”.
Step 4: Click on “Windows Firewall”.
Step 5: Choose “Network and Sharing Center”.
Step 6: Verify “Your Network Location”. You can find this under “View your active networks”.
Step 7: Return to “Control Panel”.
Step 8: Click on “Windows Firewall”.
Step 9: Choose “Turn Windows Firewall on or off”.
Step 10: Select “Turn off Windows Firewall for your network location”, and then click “OK”.
Remember to re-enable the firewall after your network operation.
How to Adjust Firewall Settings
The following steps will guide you on how to adjust the firewall settings on your computer to allow your scanner to start working:
Step 1: Click “Start”.
Step 2: Click “Control Panel”.
Step 3: Choose “System and Security”.
Step 4: Click on “Windows Firewall”.
Step 5: Choose “Network and Sharing Center”.
Step 6: Check the “Your network location” box. You can find this under “View your active networks”.
Step 7: Return to “Control Panel”.
Step 8: Click on “Windows Firewall”.
Step 10: Click on “Advanced Settings”.
Step 11: Choose “Inbound Rules”.
Step 12: Click on “New Rule…”
Step 13: Click on “Port”, and then click “Next”.
Step 14: Choose “UDP, Specific local ports”.
Step 15: Enter this number “54925” and then click “Next”.
Step 16: Select “Allow”, and then click “Next”.
Step 17: Check the box for the profile of “Your network location”, and then click “Next”.
Step 18: Enter a description of your choice in the name box, and then click “Finish”.
Ensure the new setting is applied before exiting.
If the scanner isn’t still working after the above, follow these next steps:
Step 1: Click “Start”.
Step 2: Click “Control Panel”.
Step 3: Choose “System and Security”.
Step 4: Click on “Windows Firewall”.
Step 5: Click “Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall”.
Step 6: Click on “Change settings”.
Step 7: Check the “file and printer sharing” box for your network location. Now click “OK” to complete the process.
Then scan a document again.
6. Confirm that the Control Center is working
To confirm if your control center is running, do the following:
Step 1: Click “Start”.
Step 2: Click on “All Apps”.
Step 3: Click on “Brother Utilities”.
Step 4: Choose “Control Center”.
How to Fix Brother Printer AirPrint Not Working
Do the following to resolve the issue of your Brother Printer AirPrint not working:
1. Verify Your Apple Device Settings
i. Make sure it is not on airplane mode. If it is, then turn off the airplane mode.
ii. Make sure the Wi-Fi connection is on. If it isn’t, turn it on. AirPrint does not work on cellular data, hence your Wi-Fi must be on if you want to use this feature.
2. Verify that Your Brother Printer is connected to the Wireless Network
Check out this article to learn how to set up and connect your Brother Printer to a wireless network.
3. Verify Your Wireless Router/Access Point Connection and Settings
i. Make sure your Brother printer is connected to the wireless network as your Apple device.
ii. Remove security functions on your wireless router/access point that could block the connection.
Some of these security functions include Privacy Separator and MAC address filtering. You will need to turn off these settings temporarily to enable the AirPrint connection.
iii. Make your wireless router/access point supports Bonjour communication. You can do this by checking your router manual or contacting your router manufacturer.
Conclusion – Why my Brother Printer is not working
“Why my Brother Printer is not working” ought not to be an issue for you after going through the detailed guide above.
However, if you do, you can contact Brother for further assistance.
And if you don’t get a fix after that, then you need a new Brother Printer like the one below.
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
