Brother printer is one of the most popular printers and known for its multifunctional features. But, it also has some technical glitches. Brother printer offline is one of the most common problems which are encountered by users on a daily basis. It appears as if the printer is working properly, but looks offline on your computer even though it is connected to the network.
This might occur especially if the printer is connected to the network which is not stable. Sometimes, if the printer driver is not updated, then you can see this problem on your Windows 10 system. You can also find this problem when the Windows Operating System gets outdated. Third party antivirus application can also be responsible for this problem.
If you are also searching for the solving process, then you are in the right place. Here, we are going to discuss various solutions to fix this problem.
Possible Solutions to Fix Brothers Printer Offline Problem
Sometimes, restarting the printer and system can resolve several problems on your computer. So, you need to restart the printer and system. After restarting, if the Brother printer offline problem still persists, then you can use another possible solution to fix this particular issue. In the section below, we are going to share some easy and helpful solutions that can help you to get rid of this problem with your computer.
Solution 1 – Settings as Default Printer
This is one of the simplest solutions for this problem is to change the Brother printer as the default printing device. The printer marked “Default Printer” is a printer where the computer automatically sends all its tasks without having to choose. The following steps will help you:
- At first, you should hold down the Windows Home key and press the S key together to launch the Search box. In the Search box, type “Control Panel”, and then press the Enter button.
- When the Control Panel window opens, you need to double-click on the “Devices and Printers” tab.
- In the “Devices and Printers” section, you can right-click on the Brother printer, and then choose “Set as default printer” button from the list.
- After doing this, you can simply restart the printer and then check if the Brother printer works perfectly without any problem.
Solution 2 – Check the Printer Connection
At first, you need to check whether the connection is properly connected or not. The Brother printer offline status indicates that the communication between the system and the printer via a network connection (wired and wireless) or a USB cable connection is incorrect.
So firstly, you should press the Power button to switch Off the printer, as well as, the system. Once it is Off, again you can press the Power button for both the devices to start them. After doing this you can check the connection. If you are using the USB cable, then the USB cable must be connected properly to the system and must be connected to a functioning USB port.
If the USB cable does not work properly, then you can use the Ethernet cable. This cable will definitely help you to fix this issue. After using the Ethernet cable, if the issue still appears then you can use the WiFi connection and then check if the problem is fixed or not.
Solution 3 – Update the Printer Driver
The faulty printer driver can cause the Brother printer offline on Windows 10. So, you must update the printer driver. To do so follow the steps:
- Firstly, press the Windows button and the R button to open the Run dialogue box.
- In the Run box, type “Device Manager” and then press the Enter button or click on the OK button.
- In the Device Manager window, you can navigate to the left side menu list and find the Brother Printer driver, right-click on it to open the list.
- From that list, you can see an option Update Software Driver, select it to update the printer driver.
- Once it is updated, you need to restart the system and then check if the printer shows up or not. After doing these steps if the problem still occurs, then you can move to the next solution mentioned below.
Solution 4 – Settings the IP Address
If you set the IP address wrong, then you may see the Brother printer keeps going offline. So, you should set the IP address correctly. To do that follow the directions which are mentioned below:
- First of all, you can double click on This PC to open this window. In this window, you can click on the Network section which is located on the left side menu list.
- In the Network section, you can double-click on the Brother printer. Now, you can see a web page that will open.
- On that web page, go to the Network tab, and select it. From that section, you can get all the information about the Brother printer. Copy that information.
- Next, you can press the Win + X keys to open the WinX menu list and then select the Control Panel application.
- In the Control Panel application, you can see the “Devices and Printers” section. When that section opens, you can select the “Add a printer” button.
- The device will detect the printer, then click on it and connect it to the system. If not, then click on the “printer that I want isn’t listed” button.
- After that, you need to click on the “Add a printer using TCP/IP address or hostname” button and then click on the Next button.
- In the Next window, you can put the IP address which you have already noted. Then, you can select the Next option. If the connection is properly connected, then you can see a list will appear.
- From that list, you can find the correct driver, select it or click on the Windows Update button. Now, the system will automatically add the printer.
Once you are done, check whether you can easily access the Brother printer.
Solution 5 – Turn Off the SNMP Settings
Similar to the other printers Brother Printers also use the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). There is a lot of evidence that excluding this protocol eliminates the problem. So, you have to turn it Off from the system. Follow these steps:
- You should right-click on the Windows button to open the WinX menu list. In that list, you can select the Control Panel application.
- Once the Control Panel window opens, you can select the “Devices and Printers” tab.
- In that section, you can right-click on the Brother printer and then click on the Properties button. When the Properties window opens, you can move the cursor to the Ports tab, and then select the Configure Ports section.
- After that, you can unmark the SNMP Status Enabled button. Once you complete applying the steps, you need to select the OK button to save it. This will help to resolve the problem.
Solution 6 – Uninstall the Brother Printer Driver and Again Install It
This is an alternative solution that we have discussed to fix the Brother printer offline problem on your computer. Sometimes, by reinstalling the Brother printer you can resolve this issue immediately. Follow these steps given below:
- At first, you need to go to the Search Panel and type “Control Panel” and then press the Enter button.
- You can click on the “Devices and Printers” section from the Control Panel application. From that section, you can find the Brother printer, right-click on it to open the list.
- In that list, you can see an option “Remove the Driver”, select it. Once it is removed, you should download it from the Official website of Brother printer. So, you can go to the Official website and then find the latest version of the Brother printer driver.
- After that, you can click on the Download button. Once it finishes, install it. When you install this, you should follow the onscreen instructions to finish it.
Now, you must restart the printer and system and then check if the problem is still there or not.
Solution 7 – Check the Printings Status
When you see the Brother printer offline problem on your computer, you need to check whether the printing status is correct or not. Follow the directions:
- Firstly, you can press the Windows button and I key together to open the Settings window.
- In the Settings application, you can select the Devices tab.
- When the Devices section opens, select the “Devices and Printers” section.
- In that window, you need to right-click on the Brother printer and then select the “See What’s printing” button.
- After that, you can select the Printer button to open the list. In that list, you can see the “Pause Printing and Use printer offline” button, unmark them.
- After doing this, restart your Brother printer as well as the computer.
Solution 8 – Restart the Print Spooler Services
If the print spooler services are not running properly, then you can see this problem on the system. So, you need to restart the Print Spooler Services from the system. To restart it follow the directions:
- You need to launch the Run box by pressing the Windows button and R key together.
- In the Run box, type “services.msc” and then press the OK button or hit the Enter button.
- When the Services window opens, you can scroll down the page and locate the Print Spooler Service, right-click on it.
- After that, you can select the Start button and then click on the Restart button to start the service.
Solution 9 – Add a Second Printer
If the above-mentioned solutions did not work out, then you can use this solution to fix the Brother printer offline problem on your PC. To apply this solution follow the instructions:
- You can hold the Windows button and at the same time press the I key to launch the Settings application.
- When the Settings window opens, you can see the Devices tab, double-click on it. After that, you can select the “Devices and Printers” section.
- From that section, you need to right-click on the printer and then click on the Printer Properties option.
- When the Printer Properties section opens, move the mouse to the Ports tab and then click on the Add Port button.
- Next, you can click on the Standard TCP/IP Port and then click on the New Port button. Now, you can see a Wizard page will appear. Read this and then select the Next button.
- In the Next window, you can put the printer’s IP address and then select the Next option. Once it gets finished, restart the device.
Solution 10 – Remove the Security Software
Removing the security software it can also help you to eliminate the Brother printer offline issue. Follow the steps cited below:
- You can press the Windows button + S key together to open the Search Panel.
- When the Search box opens, type “Settings” and then hit the Enter key.
- In the Settings application, you can get the “Apps and Programs” section, select it.
- From the “Apps and Programs” tab, you will find the Security software and then select the Uninstall button to remove it.
Solution 11 – Install the Operating System
You should install the latest version of the Operating System and get this issue fixed that you have encountered on your computer. To install it, you need to go through the steps hereunder:
- You need to open the WinX menu list by right-clicking on the Windows logo on the screen. In that list, choose the Settings application.
- Once the Settings window opens, double-click on the “Update and Security” tab.
- In that section, you can navigate to the left-side menu list and select the Update tab.
- On the right side page, you can select the “Check for updates” button to find the update.
- If yes, then you will get a button Update, click on it to start the update process
- Once the task is done, the Windows system will automatically restart.
Hopefully, these solutions are enough, as we have discussed in the above section, to fix the Brother printer offline problem on the Windows 10 system.