Brother 'Jam MP': multi-purpose tray jam fix

What causes it

• Envelopes or card fed in the wrong orientation for the tray
• Media heavier than the multi-purpose tray's rated weight
• Too many sheets loaded, since the MP tray holds far fewer than the main tray
• The MP tray guides not set to the width of the media
• Curled envelopes or labels that catch at the entry point

How to fix it, in order

Work down the list and stop when the printer recovers. The steps are ordered from most likely and least invasive to last resort.

1. Remove the jammed sheet from the front

   Pull the stalled sheet or envelope out of the multi-purpose tray in the direction it was travelling, holding it evenly with both hands. If it will not move, do not force it, since the leading edge may already be gripped by the internal rollers and it will need to come out from inside instead.

2. Open the front cover and check inside

   Open the front cover, remove the drum and toner assembly, and look into the paper path. A sheet from the MP tray that got past the entry rollers sits here. Remove it slowly, then refit the assembly and close the cover. Let the machine cool first if it has been printing, since the fuser area gets hot.

3. Check the media weight against the specification

   The multi-purpose tray on most Brother lasers handles roughly 60 to 200gsm depending on model, and heavy card above that will jam every time. Look up your model's supported media weights and confirm what you are feeding is within range before blaming the machine.

4. Load envelopes the way the manual shows

   Envelopes normally go into the MP tray with the flap closed and the print side facing up, fed short edge first on most Brother models. Load only a few at a time, not a full stack, and press the pressure release levers inside the rear cover if your model has them, which reduces envelope creasing.

5. Set the MP tray guides

   Slide the guides on either side of the multi-purpose tray in until they touch the media without squeezing it. Media that sits loose in the tray feeds at an angle and jams at the entry rollers, and this is the single most common cause of repeat MP jams.

6. Set the paper size and type on the panel

   Go to Menu, then General Setup, then Tray Setting, then MP Tray, and set both the size and the type, choosing Envelope, Thick Paper or Label as appropriate. This changes the fuser temperature and the feed speed, and printing envelopes with plain paper settings causes both jams and poor fusing.

7. Feed a single sheet as a test

   Load one sheet or one envelope and print a single page. If one at a time works reliably but a stack does not, the tray is being overloaded, and printing envelopes one at a time is a perfectly reasonable working practice for occasional jobs.

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