How to Fix Slow Printing [Easily & Quickly]

If you’re plagued by slow printing, or your printer keeps you waiting forever for your prints, then you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we will tell you some solutions you can try to solve this problem.

Try these fixes

You may not need to try them all; simply work your way down the list until you find the one that works.

1. Reset you printer 
2. Check the printer preferences
3. Update your printer driver
4. Turn off Quiet Mode
5. Restart the print spooler service
6. Check the network connection
7. Update the printer firmware

Fix 1: Reset your printer

If your printer has been printing for a long time, the speed may begin to slow to protect the print mechanism from overheating or becoming damaged. To fix it, you’ll need to reset your printer. Here’s how:

1. With your printer turned on, disconnect the power cable from the printer.
2. Unplug the power cable from the wall outlet.
3. Wait for one minute.
4. Reconnect the power cable to your printer and the wall outlet.

Try printing again. If the print speed is still so slow, go ahead with the next fix.

Fix 2: Check the printer preferences

The print speed can be affected by the print quality since different quality settings use different amounts of ink. Printing in “Best” quality can slow the print speed. So you can set the print quality to Normal or Draft to make your printer print faster. Here’s how:

in Windows 10

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and S together, then type printer in the search bar, and click Printers & scanners to open it.
   
2. Click your Printer, then click Manage.
   
3. Click Printing preferences.
   
4. In the pop-up window, navigate to the Paper/Quality tab. Select Plain Paper in the Media or Paper Type field. Under Quality Settings or Print Quality, select Draft, Normal or Standard. Then click OK to save changes.
   

in Windows 11

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key. Type printer, and click Printers & scanners from the list of results.
   
   
2. Click on your printer.
   
   
3. Select Printer preferences.
   
   
4. Under the Paper/Quality tab, use the drop-down menu next to Media to select the appropriate paper type.
   
   

After applying the changes, test if the print speed goes back to normal.

If your printer still prints very slowly, continue to the next fix.

Fix 3: Update your printer driver

The printer driver is a program that allows your computer to communicate with your printer. If you’re using a faulty or outdated printer driver, you may encounter a slow printing issue. To solve the potential problem and ensure your printer works properly, you need to make sure you’re using the latest printer driver.

There are two ways to update your printer driver: manually or automatically.

Manual driver update – You can update your printer driver manually by going to the manufacturer’s website for your printer, searching for the most recent correct driver, and then following the on-screen instructions to download and install it. Be sure to choose only drivers that are compatible with your Windows version.

Here we list the common printer manufacturers for you:

Canon

HP

Brother

Epson

Lexmark

Xerox

Automatic driver update – If you don’t have the time, patience, or computer skills to update your printer driver manually, you can, instead, do it automatically with Driver Easy. Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for your exact printer, and your Windows version and it will download and install them correctly:

1. Download and install Driver Easy.
2. Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
   
3. Click the Update button next to the flagged printer driver to automatically download the correct version of that driver, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).
   
   Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (this requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)
   

After updating your printer driver, try to print. If the issue remains, move on to the next fix.

Fix 4: Turn off Quiet Mode

The Quiet Mode setting can reduce printing noise but will slow the print speed. If that’s the case for you, you can fix the slow printing issue by turning off Quiet Mode. This will vary depending on the printer you’re using.

For HP printer users:

1. On your computer, open HP Smart.
2. Click your printer, then select Advanced Settings.
   
3. Navigate to Settings, expand Preferences, and select Quiet Mode. 
   
4. Select Off, then click Apply.
   

For other printers users:

You can check your printer’s user manual or visit your printer manufacturer’s official website for help.

After doing that, try your printer again. If this method doesn’t solve your problem, check out the next fix.

Fix 5: Restart the print spooler service

Print Spooler is a Windows service that’s responsible for managing all print jobs getting sent to the computer printer or print server. A problem with the print spooler can affect printer driver performance and print queue responsiveness. If your printer suddenly prints so slowly, you can try restarting the print spooler service to see if it solves the problems. Here’s how:

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog box, then type services.msc and click OK.
   
2. In Services, find Print Spooler, right-click on it, and select Stop.
   
   Note: Do not close the Services window, simply minimize it as you’ll go back to it later.
3. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog box, then type spool and click OK.
   
4. Open the PRINTERS folder.
   
5. Delete all files in this folder, then close it. This is to clear the print queues.
6. Go back to the Services window, right-click Print Spooler, and select Start.
   

Now try your printer to see if the problem is resolved.

If your printer still prints at a slow speed, try the next fix below.

Fix 6: Check the network connection

If you’re using a network printer, you may encounter a slow printing issue due to a poor network connection. To fix it, you can try the following tips.

If you’re using an Ethernet cable, make sure that the cable is properly connected.

If you’re using a wireless printer, try rebooting your router. Simply unplug it from the power supply, wait for one minute, then plug it again.

Close other programs that are not in use, since some bandwidth-hogging applications can slow down your network speed and result in slow printing.

After checking your network connection, try to print again. 

If your network is not the problem, continue to the next fix.

Fix 7: Update the printer firmware

If all of the methods above fail to solve your problem, try updating the printer firmware as the last resort. This might help you resolve the slow printing issue sometimes. You can download available firmware updates from your printer manufacturer’s official website. Then follow the on-screen instructions to install it.

With all methods listed above tried, your printer’s print speed should improve. But if not, try contacting your printer manufacturer for help.

That’s it. Hope this post comes in handy and helps resolve your printer’s slow printing issue. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

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