Why Is Brother Printer Offline and How to Bring it Online

One of the most common technical bugs that trouble printer users are their devices going offline. The same is true for Brother printers as well. It’s not strange to find people asking for a solution to their Brother printer offline problem. This problem indicates many minor and major issues. For instance, your printer can go offline because of a paper jam or low ink cartridge. It is also possible that your device is not linked with the network or has faults in its drivers. So, you must not overlook any of these reasons while troubleshooting. Read the different solutions in this article and try to fix the problem using them.

Fixing the Brother Printer Offline Problem

When this technical glitch arises, you must check everything inside and outside your device. Here are some key fixes that have always proved useful for users.

1. Turn off SNMP

SNMP stands for the Simple Network Management Protocol. This protocol gathers data and configures network devices such as printers. When you have it enabled, you are more likely to face Brother printer offline Windows 10. Here is how you can disable it.

• Hit the Windows and R key and open Control Panel.
• Here, look below the ‘Hardware and Sound’ section.
• Choose the ‘View devices and printers’ option.
• Find your printer and right-tap on it.
• Choose the ‘Printer Properties option.
• Find the port to which your printer is linked to.
• Choose it and tap ‘Configure port.’
• When you come to the port configuring settings, un-tick the ‘SNMP Status Enabled option.
• Tap ‘OK’ to save changes and close the window.
• Now, use your printer and see if you still face the offline error.

 

2. Use the troubleshooter

You can use the troubleshooter in your Windows 10 to resolve this problem. To use this tool, follow these points.

• Tap the ‘Start’ button on your Windows 10 system and input ‘Printers and Scanners’ in the search bar.
• You’ll see the ‘Printer Settings’ screen opening.
• Tap your printer model.
• Next, click the ‘Manage’ button beside the open queue.
• Now, tap ‘Run the troubleshooter.’
• The troubleshooter will start detecting the error. After a few seconds, you’ll see the error being displayed.
• On this window, tap ‘Next’ to allow the problem to be fixed.
• Lastly, exit the troubleshooter and print a test document.

 

3. Fix Brother printer offline but still connected to Wi-Fi

Many users complain of their Brother printer showing offline even if it’s connected to the wireless network. To fix this issue, you must first check if there are any errors and then follow these troubleshooting steps.

• Firstly, power your printer and see whether it’s in sleep mode.
• Now, inspect the power supply. It’s possible that you have a power supply issue that is causing your
• Brother printer to show an offline status.
• There must be no paper jam or low ink messages.
• Set up the wireless router or access point properly.
• Turn on your Brother machine and place it nearer to the router.
• Choose the ‘Setup Wizard’ and click ‘OK.’
• Choose your network and hit ‘OK.’
• Now enter your password and hit ‘OK.’

 

4. Reinstall the Brother printer drivers

Corrupt or outdated drivers are a major cause of this problem. You’ll notice that the Brother printer keeps going offline and is unable to connect to the network because of obsolete drivers. So, reinstall them using the following points.

• Write ‘devmgmt.msc’ in the ‘Run’ box and hit ‘Enter.’
• Now expand the ‘Imaging Devices’ category and find your printer.
• Uninstall the device.
• Choose the ‘Delete Drivers’ option when asked for it.
• Now download the drivers and utility software from the official website of Brother printer.
• Restart your router and computer and check if the offline issue is still there.

 

5. Update drivers if you haven’t already.

Your Brother printer driver should be up-to-date. It will prevent Brother printer offline and similar technical glitches. To update it, go through these points.

• Launch the ‘Device Manager’ on your computer.
• To view the devices in your system, choose the ‘Printer’ category.
• Now, right-tap on it to update it.
• After that, choose the ‘Search automatically for drivers’ option.
• Now, choose the ‘Update driver option and adhere to the instructions you see on your screen to finish the process.

 

6. Allow your printer to come online.

The Brother printer will keep going offline if you’ve configured it to be so. To get out of this scenario, you must set it online. Follow these points to unpause your printer and bring it back online.

• Go to ‘Control Panel’ and open ‘Devices and Printers.’
• Right-tap on your Brother printer and choose ‘See what’s printing.’
• Tap’ Printer’ on the window that appears on the screen and choose the ‘Open as Administrator’ option.
• Now, tap ‘Printer’ once more.
• Do you notice that the options’ Use printer offline’ and ‘Pause printing’ is checked? If so, un-check them by removing the checkmark.
• Now, exit the window and see if the printer has come back online.

 

7. Fix the offline problem in wireless printer

Finding a wireless Brother printer showing offline is also a common occurrence. Here are some simple ways to fix this issue.

• Connect your PC and Brother printer to the same network.
• Conduct a power cycle. It means switching off and restarting your printing device.
• After the printer is switched off, unfasten its cords. While you fasten it, press and hold the power button.
• Now turn on the printing device.
• Ensure that your printer model is set as the default printer.
• Re-add your printer.
• Head over to the start button, followed by ‘Settings’ and then ‘Devices.’
• Hit the ‘Add a printer option and add your printing device by following the on-screen directions.

 

Wrapping up

The Brother printer offline issue indicates that the link between your PC and the printing device is compromised. As can be gleaned, there are multiple reasons for this to happen. So, implement all these resolutions and see what works. You can also speak with Brother printer professionals of a printer technical support service to resolve the issue speedily.