An image forming apparatus is capable of executing a printing operation and a decoloring operation for decolorizing a decolorable recording material. The image forming apparatus executes an operation for maintaining image quality (hereinafter, referred to as an “image quality maintenance operation”) in order to suppress the deterioration in a printing quality due to environmental conditions such as temperature or humidity, or an effect of time variation.
However, for such an image forming apparatus, there is a case in which a user who desires to use the image forming apparatus must wait to execute the decoloring operation or the image quality maintenance operation.