Fixing Slow Network Printing in Windows 10

January 24, 2023

If you are frustrated with the slow network printing process on your Windows 10 PC, the first thing you need to do is to check if your internet connection is optimal or not. But, more often, it also happens due to other factors that are yet to be discussed in this article. This guide will help you to know the causes causing the issue with some effective troubleshooting methods to fix the same. So keep reading!

How to fix slow network printing in Windows 10

Here are a few must-have causes that cause network printer printing delay on your Windows 10 PC. Read them carefully to determine which one is bothering you.

Printer not included.
The printer is not connected to your computer.
The Wi-Fi or USB connection is not set up correctly.
Bad connection or outdated USB drivers also cause problems.
Several essential services are not running on your PC.
A large list of files is queued for the next printing process.
The operating system is outdated.
Your PC has several corrupted and broken internal file components.

If your internet connection is unstable and inadequate. this can cause slow network printing. If there is any kind of interference or obstruction between your PC and the router, this can also cause the problem discussed.

Test your computer's network speed by running Speed Test .

Follow the criteria below and make sure your computer meets them.

Remove any obstacles in the path of the router if your network signal strength is very low.
Your internet connection can be slow if there are many devices connected to the same network, so try to avoid this.
It is always preferable to buy a router or modem verified by your ISP.
It is not recommended to use old, damaged or broken cables, replace cables if necessary.
Make sure the modem wires to the wall and the wires from the modem to the router are clear of obstructions.

If you're having trouble connecting to the internet, check out our Windows 10 Network Connection Troubleshooter guide to fix the same issues.

Here are some amazing hacks that will help you solve the problem of slow typing on your device. But, before following the methods below, restart your Windows 10 PC to resolve any temporary glitches associated with the device. If you did not find a solution to the problem after restarting your computer, follow the methods below.

Method one: Troubleshoot printer connection

When you encounter a print delay on a network printer, the device wants to inform users that something is wrong with the communication established between the printer and the system via a USB cable or network connection. To resolve this issue, make sure the following steps are completed or not.

To restart the printer, turn off the printer's power, and then turn it back on.
Now check your printer connection again.
If you connected the printer with a USB cable, make sure the cable is working properly and the port connections are secure. You can also switch the USB port to see if that fixes the issue.
If you connected the printer via wired networks, check that the cable connection is correct. Also, you can check if the signal is blinking on your printer or not.
If your system is connected to the printer via a wireless network, make sure your printer is connected to your network and the wireless icon will light up to show that you are connected.

Method 2: Run the printer troubleshooter

The easiest and fastest way to resolve any issue with a device or feature is to run its associated troubleshooter. Windows 10 includes a troubleshooter for a wide variety of problems, and printer issues are also one of them. The printer troubleshooter automatically performs several actions such as restarting the spooler service, cleaning up corrupted spooler files, checking for outdated or corrupted printer drivers, etc. To run the printer troubleshooter, follow the steps listed below.

1. Press the Windows + I keys at the same time to launch the settings.

2. Click on the Update & Security tile as shown in the picture.

3. Go to the Troubleshoot menu in the left pane.

4. Select "Troubleshoot Printer" and click "Run the troubleshooter".

5. Wait for the troubleshooter to find problems and follow the on-screen instructions to apply the fix.

Check if you have fixed the problem with slow network printing in Windows 10.

Method 3: Update Windows

Also, if there are any errors on your PC, they can only be fixed after updating Windows. Microsoft releases regular updates to fix all these bugs, thereby fixing the problem of slow network printing in Windows 10. Hence, make sure you update your Windows operating system and if there are any updates pending, check out our How To Download guide. and install the latest Windows 10 update.

After updating the Windows operating system, check if you can print pages without any problems.

Method 4: Change printer settings

It is well known that your printer's quality settings also use different amounts of ink. If the print quality is set to "Best", then the print speed will definitely be slow. You can change the printer settings as shown below.

1. Press the Windows key and type Printers and Scanners, then click Open.

2. Then select your printer and click Manage.

3. Now click "Printing Preferences".

4. In the next window, select the Paper/Quality tab and select Plain Paper in the Media/Paper Type field in the Tray Select menu.

5. Then select Draft, Plain, or Standard from the Quality Options or Print Quality menu.

6. Save your changes by clicking OK. Now check if the print speed has increased or not.

Method 5: Repair System Files

If there are any corrupted system files in your Windows operating system, then your PC may face a lot of internet connection problems. If you just recently experienced a problem with slow network printing on Windows 10, chances are that the files on your computer have been damaged or corrupted. Luckily, your Windows 10 PC has built-in recovery tools like SFC (System File Checker) and DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) to help you fix any corrupted files. Read our guide to restoring system files in Windows 10 and follow the steps to repair any corrupted files.

Method 6: Check the printer port settings

Few users have suggested that the problem of slow printing on your device can be solved by changing some printer port settings as mentioned below.

1. Press the Windows key, type Control Panel and click Open.

2. Set View by > Category, then click View Devices and Printers.

3. Now right click on the printer and select "Properties".

4. Click the Ports tab and find the port your device is connected to.

5. Then check the box corresponding to the printer's USB connector.

6. Save your changes by clicking Apply > OK.

Note. It's also entirely possible that your printer is working fine, but you're sending a print request to the wrong printer. This may be the case if you have multiple printers installed on your computers. Set the one you are trying to use as the default printer to fix the issue. Hence, right click on your printer and select "Set as Default Printer".

Method 7: Delete temporary files (print spooler)

The print spooler is an intermediate file/tool that coordinates your computer and printer. The spooler manages all print jobs you send to the printer and allows you to delete a print job that is still processing. Problems can occur if the print spooler service is corrupted or the temporary files of the print spooler are corrupted. Restarting the service and deleting these temporary files should help you resolve Windows 10 slow printing issues on your computer.

Note. Before we delete the print spooler files, we need to stop the print spooler service that is constantly running in the background.

1. Press the Windows key and type Services, then click Open.

2. Browse the list of local services to find the print spooler service. Once found, right-click the Print Spooler service and select Properties from the context menu (or double-click the service to access its properties).

3. Click the Stop button to stop the service.

Note. Minimize the Services window instead of closing it as we will need to restart the service after deleting the temporary files.

4. Now open Windows Explorer (Windows key + E) and navigate to the following path - C:WINDOWSsystem32spoolprinters.

Note. You can also open a run command window, type %WINDIR%system32spoolprinters and press Enter to navigate directly to the desired destination.

5. Press Ctrl + A to select all files in the printer folder and press the delete key on your keyboard to delete them.

6. Expand/return to the "Services" application window and click the "Start" button to restart the print spooler service.

Now you should be able to solve the slow network printing problem and be able to print documents without any problems.

Method 8: Change the print spooler recovery options

Any misconfiguration of the print spooler service recovery options can also cause a delay in printing to a network printer. Therefore, you need to make sure that the recovery options are correct, otherwise the print spooler will not start automatically.

1. Open the Services window as you did before.

2. Locate the print spooler, then right-click it and select Properties.

3. Click the Recovery tab and make sure the three failure tabs are set to Restart Service.

4. Click Apply and then OK to save your settings.

Now see if you can fix the problem with your printer.

Method 9: Update or roll back the printer driver

Each computer peripheral has a set of program files associated with it to interact effectively with your computer and operating system. These files are known as device drivers. These drivers are unique to each device and manufacturer. In addition, it is important to install the correct set of drivers in order to use the external device without any problems.

Option I: Update the printer driver

Drivers are also constantly updated to stay compatible with new versions of Windows. If your drivers are not up to date, update them by following our guide How to update device drivers in Windows 10.

Option II. Rolling back printer driver updates

Sometimes the current version of the printer drivers can cause conflicts, in which case you need to restore the previous versions of the installed drivers. This process is called driver rollback and you can easily roll back your computer drivers to their previous state by following our guide How to roll back drivers in Windows 10.

Wait until the previous versions of the drivers are installed on your Windows 10 PC. After that, check if the problem with slow printing on your device is resolved.

Method 10: Reinstall printer drivers

Incompatible drivers need to be reinstalled to fix slow printing issues in Windows 10. You are only advised to reinstall device drivers if you cannot get any fix by updating them. The steps to reinstall drivers are very simple and you can do it using a third party app or by following the steps manually as mentioned in our How to Uninstall and Reinstall Drivers in Windows 10 guide.

After reinstalling the printer drivers, check if you can solve the problem in question.

Note. Few users have suggested that reinstalling printer drivers in Compatibility Mode helped them resolve the issue in question. Here are some instructions for this.

1. After uninstalling the driver, go to your printer manufacturer's website (for example HP ) and download the latest drivers for your printer.

2. Right-click on the installation file and select "Properties".

Note. If the drivers are in a zip file, be sure to extract all files and then right-click on the .exe file.

3. Click the Compatibility tab and click Run this program in compatibility mode.

4. Select Windows 7 or 8 from the drop-down list, and then click Run this program as an administrator.

5. Finally, double-click the installation file and wait for the drivers to install on your device.

6. Once completed, restart your computer and see if you can fix the printing problem on Windows 10 PC.

Method 11: Remove and re-add the printer

If all these steps didn't resolve the network printer's print latency, you may need to completely uninstall your existing drivers and printer, and then reinstall them. The process of doing the same is simple but quite lengthy, but it seems to solve the problem in question on your Windows PC. In any case, below are the steps to remove and re-add the printer.

1. Launch Windows Settings and select Devices.

2. Navigate to the Printers & Scanners options on the left panel.

3. Locate the problematic printer on the right sidebar and click it once to access its options. Select Remove Device, wait for the process to complete, and then close Settings.

4. Press the Windows keys and type Print Management in the search bar, then click Open.

5. Double-click All Printers (left or right pane, both are OK) and press Ctrl + A at the same time to select all connected printers.

6. Right-click any printer and select Uninstall.

7. Now it's time to add the printer again, but first unplug the printer cable from the computer and reboot. Once the computer boots up again, reconnect the printer properly.

8. Follow steps 1 and 2 of this method to open the printer and scanner settings.

9. Click the Add printer and scanner button at the top of the window.

10. Windows will now automatically start searching for all connected printers. If Windows successfully detects the connected printer, click on its entry in the search list and select "Add device" to add it back, otherwise, click on the "The printer I want is not listed" hyperlink.

11. In the next window, select the appropriate option by clicking its radio button and click Next.

Note. For example, select My printer is a little older. Help me find it if your printer doesn't use USB for connection, or select Add Bluetooth, Wireless or Network Printer to add a wireless printer.

12. Now reinstall the printer.

Now that you've successfully reinstalled the printer, try printing a test page to make sure everything is in order.

1. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings and click Devices.

2. On the Printers & Scanners page, click the printer you just added and want to test, and then click the Manage button.

3. Finally, click Print Test Page. Plug your ears and listen carefully to the sound of your printer printing a page and rejoice.

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We hope this guide was helpful and you were able to fix slow network printing on your Windows 10 PC. Let us know which method worked best for you. Also, if you have any questions/suggestions regarding this article, feel free to post them in the comments section.