Brother Printer Error Code 39 — What It Means & How to Fix It

What Does This Error Mean?

Error 39 on a Brother printer means the printer's memory is full and cannot process the current job. The document you sent was too large or complex for the available printer memory. Simplifying the print job or reducing its quality settings usually resolves the error.

Affected Models

Brother MFC-9130CW
Brother MFC-9330CDW
Brother HL-3170CDW
Brother MFC-L3770CDW
Brother DCP-9015CDW

Common Causes

The print job contains very high-resolution images that require more memory than the printer has available
Multiple print jobs were queued simultaneously, exhausting the available processing memory
The printer is set to the highest print quality, which requires significantly more memory
A large multi-page document is being processed all at once instead of page by page
The printer driver is set to a mode that sends the entire document before printing starts

How to Fix It

Press the Cancel or X button on the printer to clear the current job from memory.

Clearing the stuck job frees up printer memory so you can try again with adjusted settings.
On your computer, open the print dialog and reduce the print quality from 'Best' or 'High' to 'Standard' or 'Draft'.

Cutting resolution from 1200 dpi to 600 dpi can reduce memory usage by 75% with minimal visible impact on most documents.
If printing a multi-page document, try printing 10 pages at a time rather than the entire document at once.

Smaller jobs require less printer memory and are less likely to trigger error 39.
In the printer driver settings, look for 'Resource Saving' or 'Print Data Compression' and enable it if available.

This setting compresses the data before sending it to the printer, reducing memory usage.
Try saving the document as a PDF and printing it from Adobe Reader or a PDF viewer instead of the original application.

PDF output is often more memory-efficient than printing directly from Word, Excel, or similar programs.

When to Call a Professional

Error 39 is almost always resolved through settings adjustments and does not require a technician. If you regularly print complex documents, contacting a Brother dealer about memory upgrade options for your specific model may help.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much memory does my Brother printer have?

Most Brother laser printers have between 32MB and 256MB of built-in memory. You can check your printer's exact specification on Brother's website by searching your model number. Some higher-end Brother models allow memory expansion via optional DIMM upgrades.

Is error 39 different from error 38?

Yes. Error 38 on Brother printers typically refers to fax memory being full. Error 39 is specifically about print processing memory being exhausted during a print job. Both involve memory limitations, but they affect different functions of the printer.

Can error 39 damage any files or data?

No. Error 39 simply means the print job was not completed — it does not affect the document on your computer. The original file is untouched. Once you clear the error and adjust the settings, you can print the document again normally.