brother work smart 1360 wireless printer installed but can't change paper size, only shows letter. how do i print on a4?

Diagnosis

This issue occurs because Windows has automatically assigned the "Microsoft IPP Class Driver" or a generic "WSD" (Web Services for Devices) driver to your Brother Work Smart 1360. While these generic drivers allow basic printing functionality, they operate on a restricted feature set that defaults to the regional standard (Letter size in North America) and strips away the advanced printer-specific capabilities, such as the ability to toggle between Letter, A4, and Legal sizes.

You can confirm this by navigating to the Control Panel, selecting "Devices and Printers," right-clicking your Brother 1360, and selecting "Printer Properties." If the "Driver" field lists "Microsoft IPP Class Driver" or "Generic," the system is ignoring the printer's internal firmware capabilities and is instead using a simplified software layer that does not communicate the A4 paper tray options to your applications.

How to Fix It

To unlock the A4 paper size selection, you must replace the generic class driver with the full Brother feature set. Follow these precise steps:

1. Open Settings on your PC and go to Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Click on the Brother Work Smart 1360 and select Printer properties.
3. Navigate to the Advanced tab. If you see "Microsoft IPP Class Driver," click the Update Driver button.
4. Select "Search automatically for updated driver software." If Windows finds nothing, click "Browse my computer" and select the Brother support package you downloaded from the official site.
5. Once the driver is updated, restart your computer to clear the print spooler cache.
6. Open the document you wish to print (e.g., in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat).
7. Press Ctrl + P to open the Print dialog.
8. Click Printer Properties or Preferences.
9. Under the Basic tab, locate the Paper Size dropdown menu. You will now see "A4" listed as an available option. Select A4 and click OK.
10. Ensure the physical paper guides in the printer tray are slid snugly against the edges of the A4 paper to prevent "Paper Size Mismatch" errors on the printer's LCD screen.

If That Didn't Work

• Manual Driver Installation: Completely remove the device from "Printers & scanners" and uninstall any "Brother" entries from the "Apps & features" list. Download the "Full Driver & Software Package" directly from the Brother support site. Run the installer as an Administrator and choose "Wireless Network Connection" during the setup to ensure the software binds correctly to the IP address.
• Change Regional Settings: Sometimes Windows overrides printer defaults based on the OS region. Go to Settings > Time & Language > Region. Change your "Regional format" to a country that uses A4 (such as United Kingdom or Germany). Restart the PC and check if the A4 option appears in the print preferences.
• Application-Specific Overrides: If you are printing a PDF, the software often overrides the printer driver. In the Adobe Acrobat print window, ensure the checkbox "Choose paper source by PDF page size" is checked. This forces the driver to request A4 from the Brother 1360 based on the document's actual dimensions.
• Clear the Print Spooler: Open the "Services" app (type services.msc in the start menu), find Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Restart. This forces the system to re-read the capabilities of the installed driver.

Heads Up

• Paper Mismatch Errors: If you select A4 in the software but the printer's internal sensor detects Letter paper, the printer will pause and display a "Paper Size Mismatch" error on the LCD. You must confirm the paper size on the printer's physical panel before it will resume.
• Avoid WSD Ports: If the printer keeps reverting to the generic driver, go to Printer Properties > Ports. If "WSD" is checked, change it to a "Standard TCP/IP Port" using the printer's static IP address to ensure a stable connection to the full driver.
• Ink Consumption: Printing A4 documents on a printer configured for Letter can sometimes lead to slight alignment shifts or clipped margins at the bottom of the page; always double-check your "Print Preview" before hitting the final button.