When you Print Commands are issued from the computer, they are sent to Print Spooler service, which is responsible for managing the list and order of Print requests coming from the computer.
While this setup works well most of the times, it can sometimes choke up and prevent all the print jobs from being executed, even if a single print request gets corrupted.
Luckily, this problem can be fixed by clearing the Print Queue, which results in all the pending print jobs from being removed from the computer, including the corrupted print job that had interrupted the printing process.
Clear Print Queue in Windows 11/10
You can find below the steps to clear Print Queue on a Windows computer by using Settings, Windows Search and Command Prompt.
Another way to clear the Print Queue on a Windows computer is by going to the Printers Folder, located at path: OS (C) > Windows > System32 > Spool > Printers and deleting all the Print Jobs.
1. Clear Print Queue Using Settings
You can follow the steps below to clear the Print Queue on your computer by using the Settings App.
1. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & Scanners > click on your Printer.
2. On the next screen, click on Open queue option.
Windows 10: Go to Settings > Devices > Printers & Scanners > select your Printer and click on Open Queue option.
3. On the next screen, right-click on the Document (if any) and click on Cancel to remove the document from print Queue.
2. Clear Print Queue Using Windows Search
A quick and easy way to open and clear the Print Queue on a Windows computer is by using the Windows Search bar on your computer.
1. Type Printers in the search bar > click on Printers & Scanners in the search results.
2. On Printers & scanners screen, select your Printer > on the next screen, click on Open Print Queue.
3. On the next screen, you can clear documents from the Print Queue by right-clicking on them and selecting the Cancel option.
Once all the documents are removed from the Print Queue, your computer should no longer prompt you to clear the print queue or come up with other error message while printing.
3. Clear Print Queue Using Command Prompt
If you like using the Command Prompt, you can make use of the “net stop spooler” command to clear the print Queue on your computer.
1. Press Win + X keys on the keyboard of your computer and select Command Prompt (Admin) option.
2. On the Command Prompt screen, type the following commands one-by-one and press the Enter key after each command.
1. Type net stop spooler and press the Enter Key.
2. Type del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers\* /Q and press the Enter Key.
3. Type net start spooler and press the Enter Key.
3. Once these commands are executed, you will find the Print Queue totally cleared on your computer.
4. Clear Print Queue By Delete Print Jobs
You can also clear the Print Queue by deleting all the Print Jobs listed in the Printers Folder located at (C) > Windows > System32 > Spool > Printers.
This method requires you to stop the Print spooler service, before deleting the Print Jobs and restarting the Print Spooler service, after the Jobs are deleted.
For the steps to Stop and Restart the Print Spooler service, you can refer to this guide: How to Start, Stop, Restart Print Spooler in Windows 11/10.
1. First, stop the Print Spooler Service on your computer by using steps as provided in the above link and leave the Services Window open (do not close it yet).
2. Press Win + R keys > Type %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers\ and click on OK.
Note: You can also navigate to OS (C) > Windows > System32 > Spool > Printers by using File Explorer.
3. On the next screen, select All Files in the Printers Folder and Delete them.
After this, go back to the Services screen that you had left open and restart the Print Spooler service by using steps as provided in the above link.