Brother Printer Ink & Toner Cartridges

The ink Brother printers use, is a specifically designed high quality ink or toner cartridges, and vary depending on your printer type and model:

 • For Brother inkjet printers, the ink cartridge cover is located on the front right-hand side. Pull open the ink cartridge cover to find out what Brother ink cartridge your printer uses.

 • For Brother laser printers, the toner cartridge cover is usually located on the front middle section. Pull open the cover and slide out the toner cartridge to find out what Brother toner cartridge your printer uses.

To check ink levels on a Brother printer follow one of the steps below:

Brother Status Monitor is the easiest way to check your Brother printer ink levels. On any Brother printer with LCD screen do the following:

 • Press Menu → Press Up or Down button until you find Ink Management screen → Press OK

 • Press Up or Down button until you find Ink Volume screen → Press OK

 • This should now display your Ink level.

Brother Status Monitor on Windows 10 and MacOS is another great and easy way to check your ink level:

 • Simply find the Status Monitor icon in the Windows 10 Systems Tray, double click and your ink level should be displayed.

 • On Mac, from System Preferences from the Apple Menu → Print & Fax, Print & Scan or Printers & Scanners, select your printer, → Click Open Print Queue, then click Printer Setup or Settings → Choose the Utility tab and click Open Printer Utility.

 • If your printer has a touchscreen, you can easily check from the control panel.

Your Brother printer ink runs out so quickly for a few reasons:

 • Most brand-new Brother printers come with starter Brother printer ink or toner cartridges which have lower yields than a standard cartridge.

 • You print large volumes but use standard yield ink or toner. Buy high-capacity Brother printer ink or toner cartridges.

 • You are printing all documents in normal mode which is using more Brother printer ink. Use draft mode for non-essential or not so important printouts.

To change ink on a Brother printer, follow the steps outlined below:

 • Open the ink cartridge cover, often located on the right-hand side of an inkjet printer.

 • Press the ink cartridge lock release lever and pull out the empty ink cartridge.

 • Replace the empty ink cartridge with the same colour or part number.

 • Remove any protective tapes or caps and check the arrow direction on the ink cartridge label for correct installation.

 • Lift the lock release lever and gently push until it clicks.

 • The printer should now start to check and confirm ink cartridge change.

Your Brother printer won’t recognise the ink cartridge for several reasons. Here is a checklist below to get you going when this happens:

 • If your printer has an LCD display, follow the guidance on screen.

 • Make sure you purchased the correct and genuine set of Brother ink cartridges for your printer.

 • Make sure the printer is powered on. This is very basic but often a missed step.

 • Remove the ink cartridge(s), power off the printer for 10 minutes and power it back on, allowing the printer to fully start up then re-install the ink cartridge(s).

 • If your Brother ink cartridge(s) is still not recognised after the checks above, contact the ink cartridge supplier for help.