Colour Toner Reset Brother TN-245/TN-241 (HL-3140/MFC-9330)

If your Brother keeps showing "Replace Toner" after you've changed the cartridge, it's because the internal counter hasn't been reset. The printer doesn't "weigh" the toner: it counts pages using a chip. With a compatible toner that comes with a new chip, in most cases it resets on its own as soon as you install it.

First things first: our toner already comes with the new chip

Before hunting for odd button sequences, change the cartridge. Our Compatible Brother TN245 TN241 Colour Toner · 2,500 pages comes with a factory-new reset chip. On the HL-3140CW, HL-3150CDW, HL-3170CDW, DCP-9020CDW, MFC-9140CDN, MFC-9330CDW and MFC-9340CDW, the counter usually resets to zero on its own when you close the cover. Often you don't have to do anything else.

It costs €9.98 and yields 2,500 ISO pages per colour: around 0.4 cents per page. If your machine is an HL-3150CDN or an MFC-9130CW, the Compatible Brother TN241 TN251 Colour Toner works just as well for €9.49. If the printer still complains even so, read on: we'll walk you through the manual reset without making anything up. There's more background in My printer doesn't recognise the compatible toner.

How do you install the toner step by step?

The process is the same across Brother's entire colour range. Take your time with the printer switched off and you can't go wrong:

• Switch the printer off and wait a couple of minutes for the fuser area to cool down.
• Open the front cover fully.
• Pull out the whole drum + toner assembly (it comes out like a tray).
• Push down the locking lever and separate the old toner from the drum.
• Unpack the new one, remove the protective tapes and shake it gently from side to side to distribute the powder.
• Fit it into the drum until you hear a "click".
• Reinsert the assembly into its slot and close the front cover.
• Switch the printer on.

If it's your first time doing this, the extended guide with photos is in How to install a toner step by step without damaging it.

What if it still says "Replace Toner"?

On most of these Brother colour machines the reset is automatic thanks to the new chip. When it isn't, the standard method for this family is done with the front cover open, entering a reset menu from the control panel. The printer detects that the cover is open and enables that option.

Here's the honest detail: the exact button sequence changes depending on the model. It's not the same on an HL-3140CW (a panel with few buttons) as on an MFC-9340CDW (with a numeric keypad and a screen). That's why we won't give you a "magic combination" as if it worked for all of them. The general logic documented by Brother for these machines is:

• Open the front cover (the machine responds to the cover, not to the cartridge).
• Access reset mode from the panel, using the arrow / OK / Cancel buttons depending on the model.
• Select the depleted colour and confirm.
• Close the cover: the counter for that colour returns to 100%.

If your particular model doesn't respond to this, write to us with the exact reference (it's on the label on the back) and we'll send you the correct sequence for that machine. There are detailed examples in "Replace Toner": resetting the Brother and HP counter and, for the newer mono range, in Brother TN-2510 Toner Reset.

When is the problem the drum and not the toner?

They are different parts and it's worth not confusing them. The toner is the powder (what you change often); the drum —the DR-241CL unit in this family— is the cylinder that transfers that powder onto the paper and lasts several toners. If the message says "Replace Drum" or "Drum: end soon", or if you see streaks and repeated dots every few centimetres, the problem isn't the toner.

In that case, resetting the toner counter fixes nothing: you need to act on the drum. You can see our Brother consumable options in Star Toner's best sellers or write to us and we'll confirm the exact part for your model before you buy anything.

What if I have an older Brother?

If your machine is from the 30x0 range (HL-3040CN, HL-3070CW, DCP-9010CN, MFC-9120CN or MFC-9320CW), it doesn't use TN-241/TN-245 but the previous series. For those models the correct cartridge is the Compatible Brother TN230 TN210 Colour Toner · 2,200 pages for €11.48. Same principle: new chip included and automatic reset in most cases. If you're unsure which one you need, check the label on your current cartridge or ask us.

Frequently asked questions