Printer printing very slowly: speed it up

Slow printing is usually a quality setting, a USB 1.1 port, or bidirectional status traffic — all easy fixes.

1. 1

   Lower the print quality

   Best or Photo mode is dramatically slower. Use Normal or Draft for everyday documents.

2. 2

   Turn off quiet mode

   Many printers have a quiet mode that halves speed. Check the panel or driver settings.

3. 3

   Use a proper USB port and cable

   For USB, use a rear motherboard port and a cable under 2 metres. Long or unshielded cables slow data transfer.

4. 4

   Print directly, not via PDF preview

   Some PDF viewers rasterise pages before printing. Print from the system's native dialog instead.

5. 5

   Update the driver

   Generic class drivers print slower than the manufacturer's full driver package.

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