If your Brother printer is in an error state, these could be the reasons behind the problem:
The printer is not set as the default printer
Printer displays offline errors
Spooler service printing error
Due to an outdated or faulty driver
However, these issues can be easily fixed by carefully following the troubleshooting steps given below.
1. Set your Brother printer as the default printer
If the printer is not set as the default printer, the sister printer may be in an error state.
Follow these steps to set the default settings:
First go to the Control Panel.
Then click on the “Device and Printer” option.
After that, select your Brother printer from the list of available printers and right click on it.
Then tap the “Set as default printer” option.
Finally, restart your printer and PC, the Brother printer error status will be resolved.
2. Disable the “Printer offline” and “Pause printer” options.
If both options are enabled in the setup option, the Brother printer will appear in an error state.
Here we will show you how to switch Brother printer from online mode to offline mode.
First, go to Windows search and type “run” to open the dialog.
Type control panel to open the window > click on Devices and Printers option.
Now right click on the printer and select the option “see what prints”. Then, at the top left, uncheck the two options: “Pause printing” and “Use printer offline”.
Finally, restart the printer to see if the error status issue is resolved. Otherwise, try the next method.
3. Set the type of startup of the spooler service: ‘Automatic’
If the print spooler service is not working properly, a Brother printer may be in an error state on a Windows PC or Mac.
However, this issue can be resolved by setting the print queue to automatic by following the steps below:
Go to the Run dialog, type services.msc and click OK.
Now, in the next window, point to the “print queue” and right click on it.
If the spooler is not running, click the “Start” or “Restart” option.
After that, go to the print queue again and right-click on it > select Properties
And set startup type > Automatic and click “OK” and click “Apply”.
Now the error status issue will be resolved and the printer will return to normal printing.
4. Delete spooled files and restart
Proceed as follows to delete the print queue:
First, stop the print spooler service by following the steps above in the previous section.
Then open the Run dialog, type C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers and click OK.
Select and delete all files in the Printers folder.
Then log back into the print spooler service and right click on the “Restart” option.
Finally, restart your printer and PC to see if the Brother printer error status issue is resolved.
5. Update the faulty or outdated printer driver
Follow the steps below to update the driver:
Open the Run dialog from Windows search and type “devmgmt.msc” and press “OK” to open Device Manager. Go to the device manager tool and tap on the “Show” option. Then click on the “Show hidden devices” option at the top.
Then click “Print Queue” to expand the list and right-click your Brother printer, select the “Update driver” option and select “Search automatically” to update the driver software.
After the driver is updated, restart your PC to check whether the problem is resolved or not.
6. Check your Brother printer and reconnect it to your wireless network.
Due to weak network and bad connection issues, your Brother printer may show an error status.
Then you need to check the wireless connection again or read here how to connect a Brother printer to a WiFi network.
Last words:
You can follow the steps above to eliminate the reason why my Brother printer has an error status issue. For further clarification or assistance, you can contact us via chat or email.