Brother Printer Printing Slow — Speed It Up
By Ryan Green · Updated August 2026 · Independent guide · PrinterCare USA LLC (not affiliated with any printer manufacturer)
A Brother printer that crawls through one page every few minutes is frustrating, especially when you have work piling up. This slowdown rarely means your printer is broken—it usually signals a driver conflict, a jammed print queue, or a firmware issue that we can walk you through fixing right now.
I have fixed this exact issue hundreds of times in the field, and ninety percent of the time the solution takes less than ten minutes and costs nothing. You will need about fifteen minutes, a Windows or Mac computer, and your printer's model number (look on the front of the machine or in your printer settings).
How to fix it — step by step
- Restart your printer and clear the queue. Power off your Brother printer completely and unplug it from the wall outlet for thirty seconds. While it is unplugged, open your computer's print queue: on Windows 11, search for "Print queue" in the Start menu and click "See what's printing," then cancel all jobs; on macOS, go to System Settings, Printers & Scanners, select your Brother printer, and click "Open Print Queue" then delete any stuck jobs. Plug the printer back in and power it on.
- Restart your computer. Restart your Windows 11 or macOS computer completely—not just sleep mode, but a full shutdown and restart. This clears temporary files and resets your printer connection, which often resolves communication delays between your computer and printer.
- Check and update your printer drivers. Visit the official Brother support website (brother.com) and search for your exact printer model. Download the latest printer driver package for your operating system and install it, restarting your computer when prompted. Outdated or corrupted drivers are a leading cause of slow printing speed, and updating them is one of the most reliable fixes.
- Verify your USB or network connection. If you are using a USB cable, disconnect it and reconnect it firmly to both the printer and a rear USB port on your computer (not a USB hub). For network-connected printers, go to your printer's control panel and print a network configuration page to confirm it has a stable IP address. Loose connections or network interference can cause the printer to process pages very slowly.
- Check your printer's toner or ink levels. Low toner or ink can cause the printer to slow down dramatically as it tries to compensate. Open your Brother printer's settings on your computer or check the control panel on the printer itself for supply level warnings. Replace any cartridge below twenty percent capacity.
- Clear the printer's memory and reset settings. On your Brother printer's control panel, hold down the Menu button until you see a menu appear, then navigate to Settings or System Settings and look for a "Reset" or "Initialize" option. Select "Reset All Settings" and confirm (this will not delete your stored documents or settings on your computer). This clears temporary files that may be slowing down the printer's processor.
- Disable unnecessary printer features. Open your printer's Properties or Settings on your computer: right-click the Brother printer in Windows 11 Devices and Printers, select Printer Properties, and look for tabs like "Color" or "Advanced." Disable high-resolution printing, color correction, or watermark features if you don't need them, as these add processing time. Some Brother models have a "Quiet Mode" setting that should remain off for normal speed.
- Test with a different application. Try printing a simple text document from Notepad or Word to see if the slowness happens in other applications. If only one program prints slowly, the problem is with that software's printer driver settings, not your printer itself. If everything prints slowly, your printer hardware or connection needs further diagnostics, and a $49 remote technician session can pinpoint the exact cause.
Still stuck? A technician can fix it remotely today.
Independent remote support — you watch every step, and you pay the flat $49 only after your printer is working. $0 if we can't fix it.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my Brother printer taking five minutes to print one page?
The most common reasons are a full print queue, outdated drivers, or a weak network connection if you are using Wi-Fi. Your printer's processor may also be overheating from a long print job queue, or toner levels may be critically low. Start with clearing your print queue and restarting both your printer and computer.
Does paper quality affect Brother printer speed?
Yes, heavy cardstock or thick specialty paper can slow printing noticeably because the printer's mechanism needs more power to move the paper through the rollers. If you recently switched paper types, try printing on standard twenty-pound copy paper to test if that is the bottleneck. Always use paper that matches your printer model's specifications, found in your user manual.
Can Wi-Fi cause my Brother printer to print slowly?
Absolutely—a weak Wi-Fi signal or interference from other devices is one of the top causes of slow network printing. Move your printer closer to your router, remove obstacles like metal filing cabinets between them, and check that no other large downloads are running. If you have a 5GHz Wi-Fi option on your router, connect your printer to that band for faster speed.
Should I use a USB cable or Wi-Fi if my printer is printing slowly?
USB is almost always faster and more reliable than Wi-Fi for printing speed, so if you are currently on Wi-Fi and experience constant slowness, switching to a quality USB cable is worth trying. However, make sure your USB cable is under ten feet long and plugged directly into your computer, not through a hub or extension cable, which can introduce delays.