A little preparation

Before you start

  • A Brother HL-L2445DW powered on and connected to the same network as the Mac.
  • Paper loaded and the printer free of any displayed error.

Start with a reachable printer

This guide follows the HL-L2445DW named in the narration and visible in the Mac’s Add Printer list. It adds an available printer; it does not establish that a factory-reset printer will join your router automatically.

Connect the printer and Mac to the same home network first. The source’s opening mentions a reset but does not clearly document the network transition before discovery. The separate Wi-Fi guide below covers that preparation.

Step 1:Open Printers & Scanners

Choose System Settings from the Apple menu, then open Printers & Scanners. Select Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax. On older macOS versions the same area is called System Preferences and the add control may be a plus button.

Step 2:Select the exact Brother entry

Wait for the list to populate, then select Brother HL-L2445DW. Check the selected printer name and the Use field. Brother’s instructions specify the model’s name for macOS 12 or later, and AirPrint for macOS 11 or earlier; use the option appropriate to your installed version.

Choose Add and wait until this printer appears in the Mac’s printer list. Do not select an unrelated Brother driver to make the dialog disappear.

Open a short document, choose File → Print and select the HL-L2445DW. Review the paper size and number of copies, then print one page and check the physical result.

A little extra help

Questions & troubleshooting

The printer does not appear in Add Printer.

Check that it is on and on the same network as the Mac. The separate Wi-Fi guide covers connecting the printer. A network reset is not the first step for a printer that is already working elsewhere.

The Use field does not offer this printer.

Consult Brother’s model-specific AirPrint reference for your macOS version. Do not choose a similarly named model or download an unspecified driver.

Do I need a separate Brother app for this route?

This demonstrated route uses macOS Printers & Scanners. It does not require an extra app, and it does not claim that Brother offers no other Mac software.

References