Resetting “Toner Life End” Error Message on Brother Printers

Getting rid of the "Toner Life End" message

If you own a Brother MFC-7420N or MFC-7820N you have in all likelihood seen the message “Toner Life End” after installing a new toner cartridge. This message makes no sense at all for the simple reason that the toner cartridge you just put in is new so how can it be at it’s life’s end? We couldn’t find the fix in the manual which is kind of strange seeing as that is the first place you would think of looking. Well come to find out  resetting “Toner Life End” error message is really simple, here are the basic steps you need to take to rid yourself of this annoying message.

STEP 1 – Open the front cover of your Brother MFC-7820N or Brother MFC-7420 so you can access the toner cartridge. (In some cases, you will need to remove your toner cartridge now for the next steps to work.)

STEP 2 – While the front cover is open and the machine is on, push the button “Options”.

STEP 3 – Push “Start”

STEP 4 – Then Quickly type “1” and “0” (like your typing the number 10). If you don’t perform this step quick enough you will have to start from the beginning. Don’t ask why, we don’t know and could not find an answer to that question even from Brother. We think they just like aggravating people.

STEP 5 – Wait until the machine show’s the term “Accepted” in the window.

STEP 6 – There is no step 6, your TN-350 toner cartridge is now reset and you can now print to your heart’s content.

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If you think this post was helpful let us know, we love to hear from our readership.

UPDATE: We’ve expanded to several other models and toners made by Brother and how to reset those in the comments below. If this doesn’t fit your model, check out the comments, or leave a message and we’ll see if we can help.

 

Still getting the toner error? Replacing it may be the easiest solution!CTA-INK-TONER-Shopping-ButtonOnly

 

 

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41 thoughts on “Resetting “Toner Life End” Error Message on Brother Printers

  1. Please, please, please….The same error Toner life end to the brother dcp 7040 Help! I Replace it with a new an original one and doesn´t work…Hate Brother Company.

    1. The other main reason for a toner error light to persist is that the corona wire is dirty. This is located on the drum unit that the cartridges sits in. You’ll see a blue or green tab towards the end of the drum unit that goes into the printer first. Run that tab back and forth several times to clean the corona wire and then make sure the tab is back in its “home” position (arrows will line up on the the drum and tab). If you’ve already done that and the error persists, it’s usually because the corona wire is too dirty or worn, which replacing the drum unit will remedy. Our recommendation is to replace the drum approximately every 5th toner cartridge for best results.

      1. Many thanks Chris for this idea. After spending an hour hitting Options, then 10, etc without results, I found your idea and it worked great. Printer back in action. Will also replace drum next time, in addition to the toner.
        Thanks again.

    2. There is also the electrical tape/duct tape trick, also… On the right side of the toner cartridge, you’ll see a clear plastic plug over a hole (next to the “warranty void” sticker). Cover that hole with a piece of tape (must be dark and light-proof) and try the cartridge again 🙂

  2. Please help me, the same problem, the same mesage Toner Life End
    i replace it with a new and original toner TN 330 to a DCP Brother 7040 and doesn´t work, still the same mesage…Help me, i hate Brother Company

    1. Please help me, the same problem, the same mesage Toner Life End
      i replace it with a new and original toner TN 330 to a DCP Brother 7040 and doesn´t work, still the same mesage…

      1. The other main reason for a toner error light to persist is that the corona wire is dirty. This is located on the drum unit that the cartridges sits in. You’ll see a blue or green tab towards the end of the drum unit that goes into the printer first. Run that tab back and forth several times to clean the corona wire and then make sure the tab is back in its “home” position (arrows will line up on the the drum and tab). If you’ve already done that and the error persists, it’s usually because the corona wire is too dirty or worn, which replacing the drum unit will remedy. Our recommendation is to replace the drum approximately every 5th toner cartridge for best results.

        There is also the electrical tape/duct tape trick, also… On the right side of the toner cartridge, you’ll see a clear plastic plug over a hole (next to the “warranty void” sticker). Cover that hole with a piece of tape (must be dark and light-proof) and try the cartridge again 🙂

  3. The other main reason for a toner error light to persist is that the corona wire is dirty. This is located on the drum unit that the cartridges sits in. You’ll see a blue or green tab towards the end of the drum unit that goes into the printer first. Run that tab back and forth several times to clean the corona wire and then make sure the tab is back in its “home” position (arrows will line up on the the drum and tab). If you’ve already done that and the error persists, it’s usually because the corona wire is too dirty or worn, which replacing the drum unit will remedy. Our recommendation is to replace the drum approximately every 5th toner cartridge for best results.

  4. There is also the electrical tape/duct tape trick, also… On the right side of the toner cartridge, you'll see a clear plastic plug over a hole (next to the "warranty void" sticker). Cover that hole with a piece of tape (must be dark and light-proof) and try the cartridge again 🙂

  5. FIXED!!! Thank You!
    I have MFC-7440N and It didn’t work using “options” I hit back and clear and OK on the central pad and 10 really fast til it said “accepted”. It took 4 or 5 tries. I’m not sure which combo worked in the end.
    Thanks again.

    1. They sure don’t make Brother’s user-friendly or very serviceable. They are good printers for most people’s needs, but things like this are why customers can’t stand their service. Glad this worked for you!

  6. I really don’t hate my printer. Brother is OK. but my older ink jets in college were the worst, clogging heads, ink lasting a week. It’s an expensive SCAM. I think epson has even been sued in class action over it. You’d think by now they could make a cheap, dependable, easy to use printer. Same for cars though I guess.

      1. I still have a DCP-7040 printer (it is now Jan, 2019), and needed your advice to get rid of the Toner End error, so it would run again. THANK YOU FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS!!! JIM

        1. Congratulations on keeping that running for this long 🙂 one of us here still has an HL-2140 in great shape after 14 years, they sure do last if you don’t overwork them

          This should work for the multifunctions that use the TN-330/360 toners like your DCP-7040:

          1. Open the front cover (where you install toner/drum)

          2. Press the “clear/back” button. Ignore the “replace drum?” message

          3. Press *00 – you should get a message that says “Accepted”

          4. Think about going for a walk, your toner is reset, and at this point you’re probably sick of researching how to reset it. Some fresh air will do you good 🙂

          Hopefully that works for you

  7. Thanks for posting this! Our printer gets a “Toner Life End” message at least a few times every month. We print out a lot of reports and documents, but going through the amount of ink we’ve been using seems rather unusual. It’s good to know that our office isn’t the only one that’s experiencing this. Hopefully these steps will help us end the “Toner Life End” error message on our printer. It’s a good thing that you pointed out to press 1 and 0 fast enough for the printer to accept it so that we won’t have to start over from the beginning. I’ll remember that while going through these steps.

  8. It’s good to know that there’s an easy way to reset the “Toner Life End” message on my printer. It’s been showing up on my printer, even after I changed my toner. It helps to know that I should type 1 and 0 quickly enough so that I won’t have to start from Step 1. That will help make the process much less frustrating. Thanks for the tips!

  9. Wish I had known about this a few days ago!! Could have saved myself $200! Had a MFC-8460N and I had one page left to print!!! It was an old printer, so I took this as an opportunity to upgrade!

  10. DCP 7010L
    It worked perfectly! It is the second time I reset my printer!
    Steps:
    1. OPTIONS
    2. START
    3. press UP ARROW until 10 appears on the screen (as if you would like print 10 copies)
    4. press SET button (message ACCEPTED appears on the screen).

  11. Thank you so much for this! I’ve heard that the “Toner Empty” code was designed to come on before the toner cartridge is actually empty. This worked for me! I just had to do it twice – it still gave me the same message the first time – even after “Accepted 10” appeared the first time.

  12. Thank you so much for this! I’ve heard that the “Toner Life End” code (and many similar codes) was designed to come on before the toner cartridge is actually empty (a way to increase sales of the toner cartridges themselves). This process worked for me! I just had to do it twice – it still gave me the same message the first time – even after “Accepted 10” appeared the first time.

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