If you are using a Brother printer, it is possible that your printer cannot print and then you find that its status is offline. This is frustrating especially when you are trying to print something urgently needed.
Here is how to solve the Brother Printer Offline problem:
1) Set your printer as Default Printer
2) Unpause the printer and set it using online
1) Set your printer as Default Printer
If your brother printer is not set as Default Printer, the system will not choose the printer first when you try to print something.
a) Press Win + R keys. Type “control” and hit Enter.
b) In Control Panel, click on Devices and Printers.
c) Under Printers, right click on your Brother printing device and select Set as default printer.
d) Your printer is now set as Default Printer.
2) Unpause the printer and set its using online
Your printer will not function normally if you pause it or set it offline.
a) Open Devices and Printers in Control Panel (as steps a and b in method 1 shows).
b) Right-click on the Brother printer you are using and select See what’s printing.
c) On the window popping up, click on Printer, and then select Open As Administrator.
d) Click on Printer again. If you see Pause Printing and Use Printer Offline are ticked, untick these items.
e) Close the window and see if your printer is back online.
3) Cancel all printer jobs
Clearing all printer jobs can help you avoid being stuck in printing queue that prevent you from printing things.
a) Repeat steps a to c in method 2.
b) Click on Cancel All Documents.
c) Hit Yes to confirm your action.
d) Close the window and see if your printer gets back to normal.
4) Update printer firmware
Sometimes you need to update the firmware of your Brother printer in order to resolve some issues of your device.
a) Go to Brother official software download website. Search the product you are using.
b) On the Downloads page of your printing device, select the operating system version you are using and hit Search.
c) Scroll down to find Firmware section, and select Firmware Update Tool.
d) Hit Agree to the EULA and Download button at the bottom.
e) After the download is completed, open the file and follow its instruction to update the firmware of your printer.
5) Update printer driver
Outdated printer driver can cause many issues. You need to ensure the driver of your printer is the latest so your printer can function normally.
a) Open Devices and Printers in Control Panel (as method 1 shows).
b) Right-click on your Brother device and select Remove device. Then confirm your action by hitting Yes on the dialog popping up.
c) Go to Brother official software download website and search for the Downloads page of your device (as shown by steps a and b in method 4).
d) Select and download Full Driver & Software Package.
e) Open the file you have downloaded and follow the instruction to install the latest driver and software for your printer.
* In fact, having your drivers updated is one of the most useful ways to tackle computer issues. But as you can see updating drivers manually is a little bit tricky. If you want a far less troublesome method to update drivers, we recommend you to use Driver Easy. It can quickly scan out the problematic drivers and download the latest and credible version of drivers for you.
And its Pro version is a much more powerful driver management tool. You can update all of your drivers quickly and automatically with just a few clicks. Plus, you can use this tool to easily finish advanced driver manipulations such as driver backup and restore or reinstallation. This is the tool that can greatly improve your computer performance and considerably save your time and energy.
6) Check your printer
You also need to ensure your printer is powered on or waken from sleep mode when you see it is offline. In the meantime, check the LCD screen of your printer and see if it displays any error message that you can troubleshoot.
You can try restarting the printer and see if this fixes the problem. Or you can follow the instruction of the printer to reset it to factory settings.
If you encounter any problem that you cannot handle on your own, you may need to contact Brother support crew for further assistance.
