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Feb 27, 2018 - These top-rated printers play nicely with Apple computers. Bottom Line: The Brother MFC-J6935DW can print, copy, scan, and fax at. Allow you to download Mac drivers during the installation process. Nearly all new network printers are Bonjour compatible, though very old routers may not support it.
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When your computer and printer are not connected and the printer is available on your company network or physically attached to your Mac, there are several troubleshooting steps to discover the reason the printer is offline.Once you have re-established a connection to your Mac and verified that the printer drivers and software have installed correctly, you can get back to printing customer invoices, documents for business meetings and notices for employees about important upcoming company events. When working to get your printer back online, start with a basic troubleshooting sequence and see if your printer comes back online after each step. If your printer remains offline, reset the printing system and add the printer again.
Basic Troubleshooting Sequence
1.
Check all of the cable connections between your printer and the network router or computer, depending on the method used to connect to the printer. Make sure none of the cables have come loose and the printer has been powered on.
2.
Check the printer tray for any paper jams. Make sure the printer has enough paper and the paper is aligned properly in the printer. If you see a 'Low Ink' message on the printer, replace the ink cartridges that are empty.
3.
![Brother Network Printer Driver For Mac Brother Network Printer Driver For Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125397246/115266917.jpg)
Click the 'Apple' menu and select 'Software Update' to install any available updates.
4.
Click the 'Apple' menu and select 'Restart' from the drop-down menu.
5.
Click 'System Preferences' in the Dock and select 'Print & Scan.' Double-click your printer from the Printer list if a yellow light appears next to the printer's name. Click 'Resume.'
6.
Open a document that you need to print and attempt to print the document by pressing 'Ctrl-P.' Select your printer by clicking the 'Change' button and choose your printer from the list. Click 'Print.'
![Brother Network Printer Driver For Mac Brother Network Printer Driver For Mac](https://brothercanadaen.custhelp.com/euf/assets/images/answers/images/Mac/AddPrinter.jpg)
Reset Printer System
1.
Click the 'Apple' menu and select 'System Preferences' from the drop-down menu.
3.
Press the 'Ctrl' key and right-click simultaneously in the Printer list. Select 'Reset Printing System.'
4.
Click the '+' button and select your printer if it appears, otherwise click 'Add Printer or Scanner.' Select your printer from list and click 'Add.' Wait for the printer to download and install and begin using your printer again.
Tip
- The most common issues that make a printer appear offline are old printer drivers, too many documents sent to the printer, network issues, loose cables, a paper jam or missing paper.
Warning
- Information in this article applies to computers running Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.
References (4)
About the Author
Avery Martin holds a Bachelor of Music in opera performance and a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian studies. As a professional writer, she has written for Education.com, Samsung and IBM. Martin contributed English translations for a collection of Japanese poems by Misuzu Kaneko. She has worked as an educator in Japan, and she runs a private voice studio out of her home. She writes about education, music and travel.
Cite this Article Choose Citation Style
Martin, Avery. 'How to Get My Printer Back on a Mac When It Is Offline.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/printer-back-mac-offline-57613.html. Accessed 05 June 2019.
Martin, Avery. (n.d.). How to Get My Printer Back on a Mac When It Is Offline. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/printer-back-mac-offline-57613.html
Martin, Avery. 'How to Get My Printer Back on a Mac When It Is Offline' accessed June 05, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/printer-back-mac-offline-57613.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.
We've all run into a printing problem at one time or another. Sometimes a document gets stuck in the queue and won't print, or your Mac can't find your printer on your network.
Usually one of these steps will get things running smoothly again:
- Make sure the printer is properly connected either directly to the Mac or to the same network the Mac is using
- Update the printer driver software
- Delete and re-add the printer using the Printers & Scanners preference pane
- Restart the wifi router and/or printer
But occasionally, these simple fixes are not enough. That's when you have to bring out the heavy-duty tools.
There's a hidden command in macOS that will reset the Mac's printing system. Using it will clear out your list of devices that can print, scan, or fax from the Printers & Scanners preference pane and also do a bunch of behind-the-scenes housekeeping, the details of which you don't really need to worry about.
Because it should be used as a last resort, you won't find the command to reset the printing system in any of the Mac's standard menus, which makes it harder to invoke accidentally. But it's simple to do if you know how.
How to reset the printing system on your Mac
- Click on the Apple menu icon.
- Click on System Preferences.
- Click Printers & Scanners.
- Right or control-click in the list of devices on the left side of the window.
- Click on Reset printing system....
- Click Reset when prompted to confirm that you want to reset your entire printing system.
- Enter the password for your administrative account if prompted.
- Click OK.When the reset process is complete, the list of printers and scanners will be empty. You'll then want to re-add your printer.
- Click the add button (it looks like a plus symbol).
- If the list of options appears, click on your printer to automatically add it to your system.
- If a window pops up instead, select your printer from the list of available options.
- Click on Add.
The Mac will create your printer and add it to your list.
And now you have a fresh new printer, ready to expend countless dollars of ink on your behalf.
Any questions?
Do you have any printing problems that none of these steps can solve? Let us know in the comments and we'll try to help you out.
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