What Ink Does the Brother MFC-J1205W Use?

Quick answer: The Brother MFC-J1205W uses four individual LC404 ink cartridges, each rated at about 750 pages. There is no LC404XL or LC404XXL — LC404 is a single-tier cartridge, and the 750-page rating is already high-yield territory for a printer in this class.

Brother MFC-J1205W Ink Cartridges at a Glance

The Brother MFC-J1205W takes four individual cartridges. The same LC404 cartridges fit the Brother MFC-J1205W XL and the MFC-J1215W.

A naming note worth getting right: there is no Brother MFC-J1205DW. The US model is the MFC-J1205W, with no D. If you have been searching for "J1205DW" ink and finding nothing, that is why — you want LC404.

Save on LC404

Castle Ink does not currently stock LC404 cartridges, so there is nothing for us to sell you here — and we would rather say that plainly than pad the guide out. This is a newer family and we add lines as supply becomes reliable, so it is worth checking back. In the meantime you can find LC404 cartridges on Amazon — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Everything above is the information you need to buy the right cartridge wherever you buy it.

How to Replace Ink in the Brother MFC-J1205W

1. Leave the printer switched on. Open the ink cartridge cover on the front of the machine — the carriage does not need to move on this design, because Brother mounts the cartridges in a fixed bay.
2. Press the lock release lever for the cartridge you are changing and let it pop forward, then pull it straight out.
3. Unwrap the new cartridge and remove the orange protective cap. Do not touch the black chip contacts or the ink port.
4. Slide the new cartridge in following the arrow on the label — each color is keyed so it will only fit its own slot — and push firmly until the lever clicks.
5. Close the cover. The printer primes the line automatically; on a first install after running dry this can take a couple of minutes and is normal.
6. Print a test page from the control panel to confirm all four colors are laying down evenly before you send a real job.

Troubleshooting Tips

"Cannot Detect" or "Unable to Detect Ink": Power the printer off, remove the cartridge, and wipe the chip contacts with a dry lint-free cloth. Reseat until the lever clicks audibly — a cartridge that is in but not latched is the most common cause of this message. If it persists across every slot, the problem is the machine's contact block rather than the ink.

Blank pages or a missing color: Run Print Quality Check from the Ink menu, then Cleaning on any color that shows gaps. Two cleaning cycles is the sensible limit; if a channel is still missing after that, the blockage is in the head and needs a different approach.

Prints look faded straight after a cartridge change: Brother primes the line automatically but a long dry spell can leave air in it. Print ten pages of ordinary text and re-check — most cases clear themselves.

Ink levels look wrong: Brother's gauge is an estimate based on drop counts, not a measurement of what is left in the cartridge. Treat "low" as a prompt to order, not a reason to stop printing.

Official Brother MFC-J1205W Resources

• Brother support home for your model
• Brother genuine supplies finder

Bottom Line

The Brother MFC-J1205W is a cheap machine to keep running precisely because LC404 is a single large tier rather than a standard/XL split — 750 pages per cartridge is a lot for this class of printer. Write the model number down somewhere you can find it, buy LC404 rather than hunting for an XL that does not exist, and ink stops being something you think about.

Written and reviewed by William Elward — Founder of Castle Ink, 20+ years in the printer & imaging supplies industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does using compatible LC404 cartridges void my Brother MFC-J1205W warranty?
No. Under the U.S. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a manufacturer cannot void your printer warranty solely because you use compatible or remanufactured cartridges. If a specific cartridge causes damage, that damage is not covered — but the rest of the warranty stands.

How are these page yields measured?
To the ISO/IEC standard for the cartridge type, at 5% page coverage on plain paper. That is a deliberately modest amount of coverage, so heavy graphics, photos or dense tables will always yield fewer pages than the rating. The numbers are useful for comparing cartridges against each other, not for predicting your exact month.

What is the MFC-J1205W XL, and does it use different ink?
Same ink. The "XL" is the printer, not the cartridge — the MFC-J1205W XL ships pre-loaded with higher-capacity starter cartridges (Brother quotes roughly two years of ink in the box). Once those run out, you refill with ordinary LC404 cartridges just like the standard model.

Why is there no LC404XL?
Because LC404 is already a high-capacity design at 750 pages per cartridge. Brother positioned this line around a big in-box supply rather than a standard/XL split, which is why you will not find an XL tier no matter where you look.

Shop Compatible Ink at Castle Ink

Find the right cartridge for the Brother MFC-J1205W and every other printer we cover on the Find Ink by Printer page, or work through a fault at our printer troubleshooting center.

Buy the Brother MFC-J1205W on Amazon: Brother MFC-J1205W on Amazon — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

See also: printer says ink cartridge not recognized | faded or streaky prints | printer printing the wrong colors