Brother printers can be an excellent choice when you are looking for a reliable and versatile printer as it provides the best features within budget. However, even after being of exceptional quality, Brother Printers are not free from issues.
Those who don’t deal with printers daily may find it overwhelming to handle so many cables and printer settings and this can be one of the reasons your brother printer is not connecting to PC or you are not able to do it in the right manner.
It may also happen that your printer is not reading your computer and you don’t know why; the simple answer is the connection has not been established correctly. So for a layman from a non-tech background, this guide will prove handy to troubleshoot the problem that is not letting your Brother printer connect to your computer.
What Brother Printer is not Connecting?
Brother printer won’t connect for a number of reasons such as:
- Hardware problem
- Printer driver is obsolete
- USB connectivity is poor
- Unwanted changes in the printer settings
Steps to Fix If Brother Printer is not Connecting to Computer
- Check the Status of Brother Printer
You should always start by checking the status of your Brother Printer whether it is on or not. Also, ensure that the LCD display of the printer is not showing any error. If you are getting an error, you can go to the ‘Troubleshooting’ section of Brother’s website to find the apt solution. This step will identify the reason due to which your printer is not connecting.
- Check if your Brother Printer is Connected
If you have connected your printer but aren’t sure of if it is connected or not, you need to ensure that if your Brother printer is properly connected or not as follows:
- Disconnect and reconnect the USB cable on both the ends; then disconnect your Brother Printer and computer and after some time connect them again. If you are also using a USB hub, take it out, and directly connect your printer to the computer.
- The USB cable that you are using for the connection must fulfill the following specifications:
- twisted pair cable
- shielded
- not more than 6 feet (2 meters)
- After that, confirm that the cable is properly attached in the USB port on the printer and not in the Network port or any other USB port.
- Verify the Printer Driver Settings
On your computer or laptop, go to the printer folder using the given instructions:
| Windows 2000 | Start > Settings > Printers |
| Windows XP | Start > Printers and Faxes |
| Windows Vista | Start > Printers |
| Windows 7 | Start > Devices and Printers |
| Windows 8/10 | Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers |
| Mac OS X | System Preferences > Print & Fax, Print & Scan or Printers & Scanners |
After opening the printer folder, check the following things:
- In the printer’s list, check if your Brother printer is there. If not, it means the issue is with the printer driver.
- Also, check if your Brother printer has been set as Default.
- Ensure that the printer has not been paused or set to use offline.
- Delete all the print jobs as follows:
- Right-click on your Brother Printer and the click on ‘See what’s printing’.
- Go to Printer > Cancel All Documents > Yes
- Make sure that you have selected the correct port for your printer.
If the printer driver settings will not be set correctly, your Brother printer will not connect and print properly.
- Additional Troubleshooting
If your Brother printer is still not connecting to the computer, try the following things:
- Make sure your Brother Printer is not in the sleep mode.
- Also, ensure that your printer is not facing any error like paper jam error or low ink/toner error.
- If there is a copy of your Brother Printer showing in the devices and printers menu, delete that can then set the required printer as default.
- Also, ensure that you have installed the correct printer driver for your Brother Printer model and it is a genuine one. In case, it has gone outdated, look for the latest update on the manufacturer’s website.