The Brother QL-820NWB label printer is the officially supported label printer for use with Evidence Manager.  This article will guide you through the installation process for this printer.


Decide how the printer will be connected


The QL-820NWB printer can be connected to a computer in multiple ways:


  • Direct network connection (Ethernet): The printer can be connected to an existing network using an Ethernet cable.
  • Wireless connection (WiFi): The printer can be connected to an existing network using WiFi.
  • Bluetooth: The printer can be connected to a computer using Bluetooth (if the computer supports Bluetooth).
  • USB: The printer can be directly connected to a computer using the supplied USB cable.


Once you determine how the printer will be connected, continue to the next section.


Install the printer driver


Windows does not have the drivers needed to use the QL-820NWB out of the box. The printer drivers must be installed using Brother's official installer.


Before you start:

  • If you are using Windows 10, make sure you have the 22H2 feature update for Windows 10 or a more recent feature update. This is because the installer may hang indefinitely on older versions of Windows 10 after the type of printer is selected.
  • Make sure you are logged into Windows with a Windows administrator account.


  1. Plug the printer into a power outlet using the supplied adapter and cable and turn the printer on.
  2. Connect the printer to a computer using the supplied USB cable.
  3. Go to http://install.brother.
  4. Under Windows, click Download.
  5. Click Agree to the EULA and Download to download the installer.
  6. Run the installer.
  7. Click Auto Select on the first page.
  8. On the next page, confirm that the type of printer is shown as "Brother QL-820NWB" and then click OK.

    Note: If the installer hangs at the "Downloading" step here for more than a few minutes, you may need to cancel the download and ensure you have the latest version of Windows 10 or Windows 11 installed before continuing.

  9. On the next page, leave Name and Company, and Destination Folder as-is. Under Advanced Settings uncheck "Manual". Under "Software", uncheck all options except for "Printer Driver" (you may need to scroll up or down in the list to see these options).
  10. Click OK.
  11. On the next page, click Agree to accept the license agreement.
  12. Wait for the printer driver to download and install (this step may take several minutes).
  13. On the next page, you'll be prompted to select the connection type for the printer. Select whichever option reflects how you plan to connect to the printer and then click Next.
  14. Follow the dialogs to set up the connection to the printer. The requirements for this will depend on which connection was selected in the previous step.
  15. Wait for the installation to finish, and then click Finish.
  16. If prompted to display the online registration page, click Cancel (registration is not necessary).
  17. Click Finish.


Test the label printer using the Evidence Manager


Confirm that the label printer is working by printing a location or evidence label from the Evidence Manager.


Optional: Setting up the same label printer on additional computers


You can optionally connect a printer to multiple computers to support printing labels from multiple computers.


If the printer is connected via Ethernet or WiFi, you can install the printer on other computers using the previous installation steps or use Windows File and Printer sharing to share the printer with your Windows network.


If the printer is connected using USB, it can be shared with other computers using Windows File and Printer sharing.


Note: If you using Windows File and Printer sharing to share a printer, it's recommended that you share the printer from a server or other computer that is always turned on so that the printer is always available to other computers.


Optional: Setting up multiple label printers on one computer


You may also want to set up multiple separate label printers on one computer. This can make sense if label printers are physically located in different areas and you have a need to print labels at different physical locations from the same computer.


There are two ways to set up multiple label printers on one computer:


  • Install each additional label printer using the previous installation steps
  • Alternatively, connect to multiple label printers by sharing the printers from the computer(s) they are installed on using Windows File and Printer sharing and then connect to the shared printers.


In both cases, it's recommended that you give the printers distinct names so that you easily distinguish between them when selecting which label printer to from within Evidence Manager.