How to Troubleshoot Brother Printer Problems on a Windows PC

 The paper-free office isn't here yet for a lot of us, and Brother Printers are an everyday thing. If your Brother Printer doesn't work properly on the Windows PC, here are some basic brother printer troubleshooting strategies to fix the issue.

The first step is the most simple. Check that your Brother Printer is plugged in, switched on and is connected to the computer (or your Wi-Fi connection for connected to a wireless Brother Printer). It may sound obvious however, sometimes we fail to look for the basic things prior to examining the more complicated ones.

Check the Paper

The first step is to ensure that the Brother Printer's in a operating condition. Make sure that the Brother Printer is loaded with paper loaded even if it's not printing. If you've loaded paper however, you might need to align the paper in order that the Brother Printer can work. Examine the inside of the Brother Printer to ensure that there isn't a jammed paper that is that is preventing the Brother Printer from functioning. If it's jammed the possibility of jamming, you'll need to manually take out the jammed paper and then clear the area.

Check the Ink or Toner

It's true that you'll require sufficient toner (if the Brother Printer is an inkjet) as well as toner (if it's laser Brother Printer) before printing. Even if you're printing in black-and white certain Brother Printers inkjet may not print until you replenish their color ink.

To test the ink levels of your Brother Printer on Windows Open your Brother Printers, Devices and Brother Printers window within Windows. This can be done by accessing the Control Panel and clicking "View devices and Brother Printers" under Hardware and Sound. You can select a Brother Printer , by clicking it and viewing the details in the lower part of the page or by right-clicking an individual Brother Printer, click "Properties", and look for the levels of toner or ink.

A lot of Brother Printers provide this kind of information. However, there are some that do not and it is dependent on the Brother Printer and the drivers. It is also possible to see this information displayed on the Brother Printer's own when it is equipped with built-in status displays.

Check the Print Queue Dialog

Issues with printing can be due to problems that are related to Windows. To make sure nothing is wrong, try opening the dialog for printing in Windows. You can access the Brother Printer's queue by clicking the Brother Printer's name within the Devices & Brother Printers window and choosing "See what's printing". If you notice an older file that won't print without error, click the document and delete it. If a printing job is suspended then you can start it again by clicking here.

Also, go to on the "Brother Printer" menu here and confirm you are able to confirm that "Use Brother Printer offline" isn't disabled. When this setting is selected take out the checkmark and disable it.

Install, Update, or Reinstall Your Brother Printer Drivers

You might require installing, updating or reinstall your driver for your Brother Printer if it's not functioning correctly. Brother Printers should in theory "just work" and have their drivers installed automatically by Windows however, this may not always work. To get this done, go to the official website of your Brother Printer's manufacturer and download their driver application and then launch the installer for your driver. It will guide you through the process of installing driver for your Brother Printer and will detect your Brother Printer.

Use the Brother Printer's Diagnostics

There may be a need to use the diagnostic function to clean the Brother Printer's heads and nozzles, or even realign the nozzles. This feature will be available placed in a slightly different spot on each Brother Printer, based on the software used by the Brother Printer. In Windows you can open the Devices and Brother Printers window, click on the Brother Printer's icon, right-click it, and choose "Properties", and examine the options available to determine the options available to the specific Brother Printer. These options are offered by your Brother Printer driver however, you might discover them elsewhere like, for instance, within a Brother Printer configuration tool found in the Start menu.

This could help solve issues that result from poor printing quality, as well.

Set Your Default Brother Printer

Windows 10's "November update" changed the way Brother Printers default work on Windows. In default, whenever you print from an Brother Printer Windows makes it the default Brother Printer. This is not ideal should you want to remove one Brother Printer to be your default Brother Printer, but occasionally print to a different Brother Printer.

To turn this off option, you must open the Settings app by clicking on The Start menu the Start screen, click "Devices", select "Brother Printers & scanners" then remove"Let Windows manage my default Brother Printer" option "Let Windows manage my default Brother Printer" option.

Then, you can choose your default Brother Printer by pressing it in the window and selecting "Set as default". It is also possible to right-click a Brother Printer from the Devices and Brother Printers window and choose "Set as Default Brother Printer".

If your Brother Printer is equipped with an actual control panel with buttons there's a chance that you'll need to hit the "OK" button one or more times in order to see an error message. Certain Brother Printers won't print until you click "OK" and verify you've observed a status message. The control panel could provide a more thorough error messages that can guide you to the correct direction and provide you with something to look for if the Brother Printer isn't functioning in a proper manner.

Many things could happen to the Brother Printer, and some Brother Printers, particularly older models -- could show unclear errors. If your Brother Printer displays an error message, but you're not certain what the message means it's best to search the internet for the specific error message.