Print queue stuck or jobs won’t delete? Clear it safely

One stuck print job can block everything behind it, and sometimes it refuses to cancel no matter how many times you click. The fix is to clear the queue from behind the scenes.

Why this happens

• A large or damaged document the printer can’t process.
• The printer went offline mid-job.
• The Windows Print Spooler service has frozen.

Windows 11 and Windows 10 — clear the spooler

1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
2. Scroll to Print Spooler, right-click it and choose Stop.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Click Continue if asked for permission.
4. Delete everything inside the PRINTERS folder (not the folder itself).
5. Go back to Services, right-click Print Spooler and choose Start.
6. Print again.

Comfortable with the command line? Open Command Prompt as administrator and run these three lines:

net stop spooler
del /Q /F %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*
net start spooler

Mac

1. Open System Settings › Printers & Scanners, select the printer and click Printer Queue.
2. Select each job and click the × to delete it. If the queue is paused, click Resume.
3. Still stuck? Control-click (right-click) in the printer list and choose Reset printing system. This removes all printers, so you’ll add yours back afterwards.

If it keeps happening

• Update the printer’s driver or firmware from the manufacturer’s site.
• Print large PDFs as images (in the Advanced print options) or print fewer pages at a time.
• Check that the printer isn’t dropping offline — see our offline guide.

Brand-specific tips

Related fixes

• Printer Offline
• Driver Unavailable / Errors