An image forming apparatus includes a preliminary toner image forming unit, a detecting unit, an adjusting unit, an obtaining unit, an activation grasping unit, a determining unit, and a preparation unit. The preliminary toner image forming unit causes an inactive image forming unit to form a preliminary toner image and causes the preliminary toner image to be transferred onto a transfer body. The detecting unit detects the preliminary toner image. The adjusting unit adjusts quality of a toner image. The obtaining unit obtains information regarding an image to be output. The activation grasping unit grasps an estimated activation timing. The determining unit determines whether a time period until the estimated activation timing has become equal to an image quality adjustment period. The preparation unit causes the preliminary toner image forming unit to transfer the preliminary toner image and causes the adjusting unit to adjust the quality of the toner image.