"Replace toner": resetting the Brother and HP counter

You fit a new cartridge, or a compatible one that just arrived, and the printer throws the same sign at you: "Replace toner," "Change toner" or "Toner low." The first reaction is to assume the cartridge is faulty. It almost never is. What you're seeing isn't triggered by a lack of powder, but by an internal counter and a chip that have decided, all on their own, that the service life is over. Here's the reset guide machine by machine —Brother, HP and Samsung— to get printing again and to finally understand what that message means.

Key takeaways
- The message is thrown by a page counter calibrated to 5% coverage, not a real powder sensor: it can cut off with 40-50% of toner still inside (Toner Master, 2025).
- Brother HL series with TN-2310/2320: press Go 7 times with the message on screen. Modern HL-L23XX: Go 9 times after the special startup.
- HP isn't a trick: it's an official setting under Supplies > Very Low Behavior > Continue (HP Support, 2024).
- Refilling a cartridge without changing the chip won't clear the message (Ahorraentinta, 2024).
- The reset is temporary: when print comes out light, blurry or streaky, the cartridge really is empty.

Why does the printer say "replace toner" if I just fitted a new one?

Because your printer doesn't measure the powder left inside. It uses a page counter that resets to zero when you install a cartridge and estimates it's empty after a fixed number of copies, calculated at the industry-standard 5% coverage. That's why it can ask you to replace the toner when there's still 40-50% of powder inside (Toner Master, 2025).

The toner counter is an internal log of printed pages, not a physical gauge. It counts sheets and compares them against a reference value (for example, 3,000 on a TN-2420); on reaching the cap, it shows "replace toner" regardless of how much real powder is left.

That this isn't paranoia is confirmed by the manufacturer itself. HP literally writes that with "Cartridge Low" you don't need to replace the cartridge yet ("The toner cartridge does not need to be replaced now") and recommends continuing to print, redistributing the toner by rocking the cartridge from side to side, until quality is no longer acceptable (HP Support, 2024). In other words: the brand that sells you the message admits the message arrives early.

Citable capsule: The printer doesn't have a sensor that measures the toner powder. It estimates consumption with a page counter at 5% coverage, a generic industry value. On documents with little text, that calculation errs in your favor: HP acknowledges that with the "Cartridge Low" message there's no need to replace the cartridge yet (HP Support, 2024).

If your problem isn't the message but that the machine flat out won't accept the cartridge, that's a different scenario: we cover it in what to do when the printer doesn't recognize the compatible toner.

Is the toner the same as the drum? Don't confuse the error

No, and confusing them is the #1 error you report to us. The toner cartridge holds the powder that fuses onto the paper; its messages are "Replace Toner," "Toner Low" or "Toner Empty." The drum unit is the photosensitive roller that transfers that powder; its messages are "Replace Drum," "Drum End Soon" or "Drum Error," and it has its own reset procedure, completely different from the toner.

The drum (imaging unit or drum unit) is a separate part that lasts several cartridges —usually between 12,000 and 15,000 pages on the mono Brother machines. If you apply the toner reset to a drum message, nothing useful will happen: you're resetting the wrong counter.

The rule is simple: read the exact word on the panel before touching anything. If it says "toner," follow this guide. If it says "drum," the reset is different. You have the full difference, with symptoms and service life of each part, in toner vs drum: what each one is and when to change it.

How do you reset the toner counter on a Brother?

It depends on the series, but they're all done from the panel in under a minute, without opening the printer except on the MFC-L27XX. On the HL series with TN-2310/2320, you press the green Go button 7 times with the "replace toner" message on screen; on the DCP and MFC it's done via the menu (INKtintaytoner, 2024). Here's each case.

Classic Brother HL series (TN-2310 / TN-2320)

Models HL-L2300D, L2320D, L2340DW, L2360DW, L2365DW and L2380DW. With the "replace toner" message on screen:

1. Press the green "Go" button 7 times in a row.
2. The screen will show "accepted" or return to "Ready."
3. Print a test page.

Modern Brother HL-L23XX (startup + Go x9)

Models like the latest-batch HL-L2300D or HL-L2350DW. Here the reset is at startup:

1. With the printer on and the cover closed, turn it off.
2. Hold down "Go" while turning it back on, until the three LEDs (toner, drum and error) light up (15-20 s). Release.
3. Press "Go" 9 times (Toner Master, 2025).

Brother DCP and MFC (menu path)

Models DCP-L2500D/L2520DW/L2540DN and MFC-L2700DW/L2710DW/L2720DW/L2740DW/L2750DW. With a menu screen:

1. Menu > General Setup.

2. Change/Replace Toner > Continue.

3. OK > Stop/Exit.

Brother MFC-L27XX (hidden reset menu)

If the path above doesn't appear, the MFC-L27XX series has a hidden service menu:

1. Open the front cover.
2. With the cover open, press "Stop/Exit" + "Clear" together for ~1 second.
3. Press "Clear" again to open the Reset Menu.
4. Choose K.TNR-HC (black high-capacity toner) and confirm with the up arrow.

At Star Toner we test our own compatible Brother cartridges before selling them, and one thing we always see: on the classic HL machines the "Go x7" only works if the message is already on screen; if you try it before it appears, it doesn't count. And on the MFC-L27XX, the open-cover combo has to be done with the cover genuinely open, not ajar, or the printer ignores the press.

If you've never changed the cartridge, first run through how to install a toner step by step: half of the odd warnings come from a seal that wasn't removed, not from the counter.

How do I turn off the "cartridge low" message on an HP LaserJet?

On HP there's no button trick, and that's good news. It's an official setting on the panel itself: Menu/Settings > System Setup or Supplies (Supply Settings) > Very Low Behavior > Black Cartridge, and there you choose Continue (HP Support, 2024). With "Continue," the printer warns you but keeps printing until quality degrades.

There are four options you'll see:

HP option	What it does
Stop	Stops printing on reaching "very low." The most restrictive.
Prompt to continue	Stops and waits for you to confirm each time.
Continue	Warns but keeps printing without interruption. The one you want.
Print Black	Color only: continues in black if a color runs out.

This same setting can be adjusted from the embedded web server (EWS): you enter the printer's IP in the browser and look for the Supplies section. It's the convenient route if you have several HP machines on a network and don't want to go machine by machine.

Citable capsule: Changing the behavior for "toner very low" on an HP LaserJet isn't a hack and doesn't void anything: it's a manufacturer feature designed precisely so you can keep printing. The official path is Settings > Supplies > Very Low Behavior > Continue, also configurable from the embedded web server by IP (HP Support, 2024).

Watch out for a different, HP-specific trap: firmware updates that block third-party cartridges. That's not the toner counter, it's brand policy, and we cover the whole thing in how HP firmware blocks compatible cartridges.

And on a Samsung Xpress M2020 or M2070?

On the Samsung Xpress SL-M2020/M2020W, M2022, M2026 and M2070, the consumable is the MLT-D111S (standard) or MLT-D111L (high capacity), and here the key isn't a button, it's the chip. After refilling you have to replace or reset the chip on the cartridge so that the printer recognizes it again and clears the toner-empty message (YouTube — GIMIKBG, 2024).

There's some context worth being clear about: Samsung stopped making printers, so the viable route today is a compatible cartridge with a new chip (or a replacement chip for anyone refilling). It's not a second-rate workaround; it's simply the sensible way to keep a perfectly working machine alive. If you have one of these, we have the dedicated guide to the compatible MLT-D111S toner for the Samsung Xpress M2020/M2070.

Why does the message keep coming back with a compatible cartridge?

Because the chip doesn't measure powder: it counts pages and decides end of life. If the message persists after fitting a compatible, the usual cause isn't the cartridge's quality, but that its chip is an older version than your printer expects, or that a firmware update has invalidated it (INKtintaytoner, 2024). The solution is to use an updated chip and avoid automatic updates.

The toner chip is a small circuit that reports the estimated level to the printer. It works like a counter; it doesn't read the real powder. That's why refilling a cartridge already in a "toner low/empty" state without changing the chip won't reset the level: the printer will keep showing the message until the chip is replaced (Ahorraentinta, 2024).

Here's the line that separates a good compatible from a bad one:

• Compatible with an updated or auto-resetting chip → the printer recognizes it, the counter starts from zero and you don't see the message again. This is the scenario you want.
• Chip on an old version or invalidated by firmware → the message persists; you have to install a toner with the correct chip and disable automatic updates.
• A chip that has decided "end of life" → it has already counted its page quota; that specific chip can't be talked around, and you have to change the chip or the cartridge.

From what we see in our tests, 90% of the "messages that won't go away" with a compatible Brother are resolved with an updated chip, not one recycled from the old cartridge. When the chip is the right one, the machine recognizes it instantly and the counter starts clean. That's exactly what stops you from having to do the manual reset every five minutes.

Does the reset last forever? How to tell the cartridge is really empty

No, and this is what almost nobody tells you. The counter reset is a temporary solution: it should only be repeated while the cartridge actually holds powder. The unmistakable sign of a physically empty cartridge is visible degradation of the print —light, blurry, streaky or faded text; at that point, no reset avoids it and you have to change the cartridge (Toner Master, 2025).

Put another way: use the reset to squeeze out that 40-50% of toner the counter wanted to bin, but don't turn it into a religion. As soon as you see streaks or light areas, the machine is no longer lying to you. If streaks appear early, it's not always the toner: it could be the drum or the print heads, and we separate them out in why the printer prints with streaks.

How much does a Brother cartridge yield, and how much do you save with a compatible?

It depends on the reference. The TN-2410 (standard) yields 1,200 pages at 5% coverage and the TN-2420 (high capacity) yields 3,000 pages under the same standard; a compatible TN-2410/TN-2420 with an updated chip offers up to those 3,000 pages for roughly a third of the price of the original, which runs around €72-87 (PcComponentes, 2025).

Reference	Type	Yield (5% coverage)	Indicative original price
TN-2410	Standard	~1,200 pages	—
TN-2420	High capacity	~3,000 pages	~€72-87
TN-2420 compatible	High capacity, updated chip	up to ~3,000 pages	~1/3 of the original

The math does itself: a compatible with an updated chip gives you the same yield and, on top of that, doesn't force you to do the manual reset each time, because the machine recognizes it clean. If you want to identify the exact reference for your machine, we have how to find out which toner your printer needs.

Tired of seeing "replace toner"? The definitive shortcut isn't resetting over and over: it's fitting a compatible with an updated chip that the printer recognizes from scratch. Take a look at our compatible Brother toner collection —TN-2410 (1,200 pages), TN-2420 (3,000 pages)— at a third of the original price and with no message chasing you.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal and safe to reset my printer's toner counter?

Yes. On HP it's an official panel feature (Supplies > Very Low Behavior > Continue), designed by the manufacturer so you can keep printing (HP Support, 2024). On Brother it's a documented button sequence. You don't damage anything: you're just zeroing a page counter that can cut off with 40-50% of toner still inside.

I reset the counter but the message comes back right away, why?

Because you're using a compatible whose chip is an older version than your printer, or a firmware update has invalidated it (INKtintaytoner, 2024). The solution isn't to reset endlessly, but to fit a cartridge with an updated chip and disable automatic firmware updates.

Can I refill the old cartridge without changing the chip?

You can refill it with powder, but the message won't go away. The chip counts pages, it doesn't measure powder, and once it has marked "empty" it will keep showing the message until you replace it (Ahorraentinta, 2024). On virtually all current laser machines the chip has to be changed with every refill.

How do I know whether it's the toner or the drum I need to reset?

Read the exact word on the panel. "Replace Toner / Toner Low" is the powder cartridge; "Replace Drum / Drum End Soon" is the imaging unit, with its own reset. Applying the toner reset to a drum message is pointless. The full difference is in toner vs drum.

How many times can I repeat the counter reset?

As many as you like, as long as there's powder left. The reset is temporary by design: use it until the print comes out light, blurry or streaky (Toner Master, 2025). That visible degradation is the only reliable sign that the cartridge really is empty and it's time to change it.

Sources

• INKtintaytoner — Resetting Brother printers with a TN-2310/2320 toner cartridge — https://inktintaytoner.es/blog/reset-toner-brother-tn-2310-2320/
• Toner Master — Save money: your easy guide to resetting Brother printer toner — https://www.toner-master.com/es/brother-printer-toner-reset-guide/
• HP Support — "Cartridge low / very low" message and changing Very Low behavior (LaserJet Pro) — https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_7569701-7569754-16
• Ahorraentinta — Do you need to change a chip when you refill the cartridge? — https://www.ahorraentinta.es/blog/22_es-necesario-cambiar-un-chip-cuando-se-recarg.html
• Toner Buzz — HP Toner Cartridge Low? How to Override (and Keep On Printing!) — https://www.tonerbuzz.com/hp/hp-toner-cartridge-low-override/
• PcComponentes — Brother TN-2410/TN-2420 Compatible Black high capacity up to 3000 pages — https://www.pccomponentes.com/toner-brother-tn-2410-tn-2420-compatible-negro-alta-capacidad-hasta-3000-paginas
• Bruneau — Brother TN-2410 original black toner standard capacity (1200 pages) — https://www.bruneau.es/product/brother-tn-2410-toner-original-negro-capacidad-estandar-1200-paginas-/42639
• YouTube (GIMIKBG) — Samsung MLT-D111S Toner Refill & Chip Reset Guide (M2020, M2022, M2026, M2070) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FPTtuXmoSk