Modern computers rely on the print spooler service \u2014 kind of a behind-the-scenes hero that holds print jobs in a queue until they’re sent to the printer. It\u2019s usually smooth sailing, but sometimes, jobs get stuck (probably because of a weird glitch or a corrupted file), and trying to right-click and cancel doesn’t do the trick. That\u2019s when the queue just refuses to clear, and you\u2019re left staring at that stubborn print job, wondering if it will ever go away. The fix usually involves forcing the spooler to forget those stuck jobs, which means cleaning out its cache or restarting its service. Doing this clears out those frozen jobs and lets everything run normally again, so you can print without issues.<\/p>\n
Fixing this isn\u2019t the most complex thing, but it\u2019s not automatic either. Sometimes, just stopping the spooler service and deleting those temporary files in the spool folder does the trick. On other setups, you might want to do it through commands\u2014because Windows isn\u2019t always friendly with a GUI when things go sideways. And if you\u2019re on a Mac, resetting the entire print system is usually the way to go, but beware \u2014 it\u2019ll wipe out your printers, so be ready to set them up again.<\/p>\n
This method helps on Windows when the print jobs are stuck stubbornly and won\u2019t cancel normally. It\u2019s kind of weird, but turning off the spooler service, deleting the files manually, then restarting it can fix the problem. It clears out the cache files (.SHD and. SPL) that might be holding onto corrupted or stuck jobs. On some machines, this might take a reboot to fully work, but most times, it\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n
net stop spooler del %systemroot%\\System32\\spool\\PRINTERS\\* \/Q net start spooler<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n- Check your print queue\u2014usually, the stuck job is gone now.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note: Sometimes, stopping and starting the spooler doesn\u2019t work on the first go. You might need to reboot or repeat for good measure. Weird, but true.<\/p>\n
Method 2: Using the Graphical Interface<\/h3>\n
If command-line stuff makes your head spin, this way is more visual. It\u2019s straightforward\u2014stop the spooler, clear out the files, then restart it. It\u2019s kind of a hassle to navigate sometimes, but it works pretty reliably.<\/p>\n
\n- Power off your printer for good measure.<\/li>\n
- Right-click the Start<\/strong> menu and select Run<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Type
services.msc<\/code> and hit OK<\/strong>.<\/li>\n- Find Print Spooler<\/strong>, right-click, and choose Stop<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Press Windows + E<\/kbd> to open File Explorer.<\/li>\n
- Paste this in the address bar:
C:\\Windows\\System32\\spool\\PRINTERS<\/code> and hit Enter.<\/li>\n- Delete all files in that folder. If Windows complains, just skip or close everything that says it\u2019s in use.<\/li>\n
- Go back to the Services<\/strong> window, right-click Print Spooler<\/strong>, then choose Start<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Check your print queue. If the stuck job persists, a full reboot might be needed, but usually it\u2019s cleared out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Resetting the Print System on Mac<\/h3>\n
On a Mac, it\u2019s a bit more drastic\u2014from a frustration standpoint\u2014resetting the entire printing system resets all printers and clears out stuck jobs. It\u2019s a straightforward process but means you’ll need to add your printers again afterwards.<\/p>\n
\n- Click the Apple<\/strong> icon, then go to System Preferences<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Open Printers & Scanners<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Hold down the Control<\/strong> key and click anywhere in the list of printers on the left side, then pick Reset printing system<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Confirm the reset when prompted. You\u2019ll probably need to enter your administrator password.<\/li>\n
- Re-add the printer(s) as usual by clicking the ‘+’ button.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Still No Luck? Reinstall the Printer Driver<\/h3>\n
If clearing the spooler cache doesn\u2019t do the trick, the driver might be acting up. Sometimes corrupted drivers cause print jobs to get stuck, no matter what you do. The fix? Remove the printer device from your system and add it back, probably after downloading the latest driver from the manufacturer\u2019s site.<\/p>\n
\n- Open Device Manager<\/strong>: just type it in the Windows search bar.<\/li>\n
- Expand the Print queues<\/strong> section.<\/li>\n
- Right-click your printer and choose Uninstall device<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Confirm with Uninstall<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Head into Settings<\/strong> > Bluetooth & devices<\/strong> > Printers & scanners<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Click Add device<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Select your printer and add it back. If it doesn\u2019t appear, click Add manually<\/strong> and follow the instructions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Basically, reinstalling the driver resets the whole system, which sometimes is the only way to clear that stubborn queue.<\/p>\n
Summary<\/h2>\n\n- Clear the spooler cache by stopping the spooler service and deleting files manually or via commands.<\/li>\n
- Reset printing system on Mac if Windows tricks don\u2019t work.<\/li>\n
- Reinstall printer drivers if all else fails.<\/li>\n
- Reboot your machine if things are still wonky after trying everything else.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Wrap-up<\/h2>\n
Dealing with stuck print jobs can be a pain, but most of the time, a good old cache cleanup does the trick. It\u2019s kind of satisfying when those frozen jobs finally disappear, and printing gets back to normal. Just remember, on Windows, messing with services and files isn\u2019t always elegant, but it works. On Macs, resetting the print system is a heavy hitter but may cause you to reconfigure some settings. Hopefully, this saves someone a chunk of time. Fingers crossed, this helps some folks get those jobs unstuck faster than they thought possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Modern computers rely on the print spooler service \u2014 kind of a behind-the-scenes hero that holds print jobs in a queue until they’re sent to the printer. It\u2019s usually smooth sailing, but sometimes, jobs get stuck (probably because of a weird glitch or a corrupted file), and trying to right-click and cancel doesn’t do the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10004,"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10003\/revisions\/10004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtogeek.blog\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}