How to Speed up Slow Printing in Windows 10/11

Jul. 17, 2023 / Updated by Eloise to Windows 10

Why my printer takes a long time to print? If it’s not caused by low paper or ink levels, the root cause might be the outdated or corrupted printer driver, printer spooler service error or network or cable issues. Fortunately, there are some simple ways to fix this problem and improve your printing speed. Regardless of the main cause, you are likely to find an effective solution here.

1. Update your printer driver

2. Change printing preferences

3. Uncheck the SNMP Communication

4. Assign a new IP address to your printer

5. Stop the Print Spooler service and clear the printers directory

6. Turn off Quiet Mode

7. Check the network connection

1. Update your printer driver

While manually updating the printer driver may be a troublesome process, we recommend an automatic driver update employing Driver Talent. It is trusted by a wide range of users worldwide for its fast, safe and effective performance. It can not only fix any driver issues on your PC, but also backup, restore and uninstall drivers with ease. This tool supports all Windows versions and all printer brands and models. Click the Download button below to get this software.

Download Driver Talent

Step 1: Launch Driver Talent and click on Peripheral Drivers > Printer. Choose your printer from the list and let Driver Talent scan your PC and printer driver status.

Step 2: If Driver Talent detects any issue with your printer driver, it will show you the problem and the solution. You can click on the Up to date button and let Driver Talent download and install the most recent driver for your printer.

Step 3: Restart your PC and printer and check if the printing speed has improved

2. Change printing preferences

Another factor that affects printing speed is the printing quality and resolution. The higher the quality and resolution, the longer it takes for the printer to process and print the document. If you don’t need high-quality printouts, you can lower the settings in the printing preferences to speed up printing.

Step 1: Search Printers and Scanners in the search bar.

Step 2: Select the printer which is working slow, and then click on Printing preferences.

Step 3: In the Printing Preferences window, change or lower the quality to default, or if you need, set the quality further lower to increase the speed. Change resolution, toner setting, and others.

Step 4: Click on Apply and OK.

3. Uncheck the SNMP Communication

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a protocol that allows network devices to communicate with each other. Some printers use SNMP to monitor their status and report any errors. However, this can also slow down printing if there is a network issue or a firewall blocking SNMP traffic. To disable SNMP communication in Windows 10/11, follow these steps:

Step 1: Choose Printing preferences in Printer&Scanners settings.

Step 2: Switch to Ports tab, select your printer port (usually TCP/IP) and click on Configure Port.

Step 3: Uncheck the SNMP Status Enabled box and click on OK.

4. Assign a new IP address to your printer

If you are using a network printer, the slow printing problem could be caused by a conflict or an error with the IP address of your printer. Sometimes, your router may assign a different IP address to your printer than what is configured on your computer. This can cause communication issues and slow down printing. To fix this problem, you need to assign a new IP address to your printer.

Step 1: On your printer’s control panel, navigate to Settings > Network > Wireless > TCP/IP > IPv4.

Then select Manual IP and enter a new IP address that is not used by any other device on your network. For example, if your router’s IP address is 192.168.1.1, you can enter 192.168.1.100 for your printer.

Step 2: Save the changes and restart your printer.

Top 5 ways to fix printer connection on Windows 11

5. Stop the Print Spooler service and clear the printers directory

The Print Spooler service is responsible for managing the print jobs and sending them to the printer. Sometimes, the service may get stuck or corrupted due to too many pending print jobs, causing slow printing. To fix this problem, you can stop the Print Spooler service and clear the printers directory where the print jobs are stored. Here’s how:

Step 1: Type services in the search bar and open it.

Step 2: Locate the Printer Spooler and right-click to open the context menu. Then click Stop and minimize the window.

Step 3: Press Windows+R to open the RUN box, type %WINDIR%\System32\spool\PRINTERS and hit Enter.

Step 4: Delete all the files present in this folder.

Step 5: Go back to the Services window, right-click the Print Spooler and click Start.

6. Turn off Quiet Mode

Some printers have a Quiet Mode feature that reduces the noise level of the printer by slowing down the printing speed. If you don’t mind a little noise, you can turn off this feature to speed up printing. To turn off Quiet Mode on your printer, follow these steps:

Step 1: On your printer’s control panel, navigate to Settings > Device Settings > Quiet Mode.

Step 2: Select Off and save the changes.

7. Check the network connection

If you are using a wireless printer, you should also check your network connection. A weak or unstable Wi-Fi signal can cause slow printing or communication errors. To improve your network connection, you can try these tips:

Move your router closer to your printer or vice versa.
Avoid any physical obstructions or interferences that may block or weaken the Wi-Fi signal, such as walls, metal objects, microwaves or cordless phones.
Use a Wi-Fi extender or repeater to boost your Wi-Fi signal range and coverage.
Update your router firmware to fix any bugs or improve performance.
Change your Wi-Fi channel to avoid congestion or interference from other nearby networks.

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