How to Print in Draft Mode in Windows

Change print quality to draft mode and save time and ink

By
Peter Piazza
Peter Piazza
Writer
Peter Piazza is a former Lifewire writer and an award-winning technology journalist whose work has appeared in print and online.
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Updated on December 15, 2021
Reviewed by
Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher headshot
Reviewed by Jon Fisher
  • Wichita Technical Institute
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
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What to Know

  • To print, open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > View Devices and Printers, right-click a printer, and select Printing Preferences.
  • Next, select Quality. Look for a Draft or Fast option and select it to use the quick print option. Then select Apply or OK.
  • If you have a color printer, select Grayscale to save on color ink.

Printer ink never lasts as long as you want. When you print anything that's for your reference, print in Draft mode. When you change the print quality to Draft, documents print quickly and use less ink. Here's how to set up a Windows printer to use Draft mode by default. Change the settings back when you need to print something of higher quality, such as a proposal or photos.

How to Print Using Draft Mode in Windows

It's easy to set up a printer to print in Draft mode. Your specific printer may refer to this setting as "fast mode" or something similar, but the process yields the same result.

  1. Open Control Panel on your Windows computer.

    In the search box on the Taskbar, enter control panel. In older Windows versions, access Control Panel by selecting the Start button.

  2. From the Hardware and Sound section, choose View Devices and Printers.

    On older Windows versions, you may need to select Printers and Other Hardware > View installed printers or fax printers.

    View devices and printers under Hardware and Sound

  3. Right-click the printer and choose Printing Preferences.

    The Printing Preferences option

  4. Depending on the printer, you'll see a variety of tabs, including options like Color and Quality. Click around to explore these tabs' settings.

  5. Select the Quality tab or something similar and look for a Draft or Fast option. Select it to enable the quick-print option.

    For example, with a Canon MX620 printer, the option is called Fast, and it's found under the Print Quality section of the Quick Setup tab.

  6. Select the Color or Grayscale tab. If there's a Grayscale option, select it to save color printer ink.

  7. Select Apply or OK to save the settings.

  8. The printer will now print in Draft mode and grayscale while these settings are intact. Follow the same procedure to change back to a high-quality, full-color printing mode.

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