Disclosed are an image forming apparatus and a control method thereof. The control method of an image forming apparatus includes mounting a cartridge including a status indicating element, determining whether the mounted cartridge is a new one based on identification information of the mounted cartridge and status information of the status indicating element, and performing initial settings with respect to the new cartridge if it is determined that the mounted cartridge is a new one. With this, it is possible to induce a user to use an authenticated cartridge and prevent an image from being deteriorated and a component from being worn due to use of a fraudulent cartridge.