Resolve Brother Printer Driver Unavailable Error on Windows

Why This Error Occurs

It can be annoying to get the “Driver Unavailable” error on your Brother printer, especially if you need to print right away. This error typically appears because the printer driver is out of date, missing, or corrupt or, because Windows can't recognize the printer properly. Thankfully, having a problem with your printer driver is a pretty easy fix.

Start by checking your printer connection. Make sure the USB cable is continuous or the Wi-Fi is not interrupted, and verify that your printer is on. After that, you will need to update or reinstall your printer driver. To reinstall or uninstall the printer driver, you want to go to the Settings page and click the Devices icon, then select the Printers & scanners section. Find your Brother printer, and uninstall it. After uninstalling, go to the Brother official website, search for the driver for your printer that is compatible with the version of Windows you are using, and download it. Reinstalling the driver usually fixes it.

Another option is to use Windows Update to automatically find and install drivers that your printer needs. To launch Windows Update, go to Settings, Update & Security, Windows Update, and download any available updates that may align with your computer's update coding. If that option doesn't work, head back to the list of printers in Devices, then right-click the printer under Printers or Other devices to verify if it allows you to update the driver from the context menu.

In some cases, using the Full Driver & Software package from Brother’s website is going to work better than the basic driver. Lastly, confirm you are using the correct port, and that the printer you are working with is marked as the default printer, especially if it is not in rotation if you are doing print jobs frequently.

Finally, it is good practice to check the updates regularly.