Print Spooler Queue - Clear and Reset

How to Clear and Reset the Print Spooler Queue in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to clear and reset the print spooler queue in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

This can be handy if you have a document stuck in the print spooler, and/or not allowing your computer to go to sleep automatically if set to do so.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

If the print spooler issue persists after resetting it below, the installed printer driver may not be compatible or corrupted. Check the printer manufacturer's website to download and install the latest Windows compatible driver for it.

OPTION ONE

To Automatically Clear and Reset Print Spooler Queue with a BAT File

1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below.
Reset_and_Clear_Print_Spooler_Queue.bat


Download


2. Save the .bat file to your desktop.

3. Right click or press and hold on the downloaded .bat file, and click/tap on Run as administrator.

4. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes (UAC-Windows 7/8) or Continue (UAC-Vista).

5. You will now see a command prompt open for a few seconds, run the commands, and then automatically close. (see screenshot below)

6. You can now delete the download .bat file if you like.

OPTION TWO

To Manually Clear and Reset Print Spooler Queue

1. Open Services, and stop the Print Spooler service. (see screenshot below)

2. Navigate to the folder below, and open the PRINTERS. (see screenshot below)
C:\Windows\system32\spool\PRINTERS


3. Click/tap on Continue and Yes (if prompted by UAC) to approve opening the PRINTERS folder. (see screenshot below)

4. Delete all files in the PRINTERS folder until it is empty, then close Windows Explorer. (see screenshot below)
:warn:WARNING: DO NOT DELETE the PRINTERS folder itself. Only delete it's contents.

5. Open Services, and start the Print Spooler service. (see screenshot below)

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a Printing Troubleshoot Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Create a "Print Queue" Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8

 

[steverido]

Thanks very much, I deleted the folders and restarted as you suggested and this worked.

Have a fantastic Christmas and New year.

Regards

Steve

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Steve.

 

[noelcm]

Please help.

I cannot locate these folders

C:\Windows\system32\spool\PRINTERS

Print spooler is present under Services, but when I click start it says "cannot!"

 

[NoelDP]

Please open an Elevated Command Prompt window and run the following commands

NET START SPOOLER
SC QC SPOOLER
SC QUERYEX SPOOLER


post the results


Here are some instructions to make life easier
1) To open an Elevated Command Prompt Window (the ECP window), click on Start, All Programs, Accessories – then right-click on Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator. Accept the UAC prompt.
2) To run the commands easier, highlight the block of commands, and right-click on the highlight – select Copy. In the CP Window, click on the black/white icon at top left – select Paste. The commands will run but may not complete the last command, so hit the Enter Key once.
3) To copy the results... click on the Black/White icon in the top left, and select Edit... 'Select All', and hit the Enter key - then use Ctrl+V or r-click+Paste to paste it into your response.

 

[AnthonySlipp]

Thanks for this! This is so good to know for future reference.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Anthony. Glad it could help.

 

[JulesBartow]

Windows Print Spool Lockup - Mucho Grande Gracias Amigo

Thank you for posting this solution. Microsoft's "Cancel All Print Jobs" button is a Charlie Foxtrot. Having to start and stop services and delete files in obscure locations leaves me with a headache imagining they hired Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian and Snooki as half vast programmers in Redmond.

If it weren't for nice guys like you, I'd have documents sitting in queues for another 10-months --for half a dozen printers that don't exist anymore. What should be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer ain't even close.

This is an example of why everybody is moving towards Apple Macs/iPhones and Google/Android and LAMP

Call me an anachronism if you want, but this has gotten worse with Windows 8. Every basic action now requires a Google search. I'm booting up in Chameleon Hackintosh and Ubuntu more and more often now because the learning curve is not as high, steep or laced with as many crevasses and avalanches.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Jules, and welcome to Seven Forums. I'm glad it was able to help.

 

[c8b8c]

I got issue:

Now i see in step 4. above that the PRINTERS folder should not be erased. We'll I erased it and then created a new folder by the same name. Now i cannot print. Please help me print again.

The details:
A large .pdf file clogged my printer and then slowed my machine to a crawl. In safe mode i managed to get into the ..SPOOL\PRINTER folder to see a "shock wave flash object" at 235 megs dated the time i made my last print and it was locked. Also in this folder were over 1.1 million files totaling over 8 GB! Hmm. Because selecting and deleting was taking too long I deleted the folder PRINTERS and then recreated it after the hour it took to delete all the files. After reboot i print and see the Kyocera printer queue flash SPOOLING under the Status column but then in a flash of my eye it then says "deleting - spooling". The .shd file and shockwave flash files are made in the ..SPOOL\PRINTERS folder but are size 0KB. No change in status if i restart the print spooler service.

 

[Brink]

I got issue:

Now i see in step 4. above that the PRINTERS folder should not be erased. We'll I erased it and then created a new folder by the same name. Now i cannot print. Please help me print again.

The details:
A large .pdf file clogged my printer and then slowed my machine to a crawl. In safe mode i managed to get into the ..SPOOL\PRINTER folder to see a "shock wave flash object" at 235 megs dated the time i made my last print and it was locked. Also in this folder were over 1.1 million files totaling over 8 GB! Hmm. Because selecting and deleting was taking too long I deleted the folder PRINTERS and then recreated it after the hour it took to delete all the files. After reboot i print and see the Kyocera printer queue flash SPOOLING under the Status column but then in a flash of my eye it then says "deleting - spooling". The .shd file and shockwave flash files are made in the ..SPOOL\PRINTERS folder but are size 0KB. No change in status if i restart the print spooler service.

Hello c8b8c, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You might see if running a sfc /scannow command may be able to help.

 

[c8b8c]

Nope, 'Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations"

 

[Brink]

Try using OPTION ONE and restart the computer to see if that may.

 

[Fred Swims]

Noel,
When I use the options in either the Printer or Document dropdown on the Printer Status screen they hardly ever help; e.g., Document Restart. Currently, my STATUS on this windows is Printing. But it is not. The script submitted by Brink does work- but not always!

Here are the results of sc qu spooler and sc queryex spooler.
C:\Windows\system32>sc qc spooler
[SC] QueryServiceConfig SUCCESS

SERVICE_NAME: spooler
TYPE : 110 WIN32_OWN_PROCESS (interactive)
START_TYPE : 2 AUTO_START
ERROR_CONTROL : 1 NORMAL
BINARY_PATH_NAME : C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe
LOAD_ORDER_GROUP : SpoolerGroup
TAG : 0
DISPLAY_NAME : Print Spooler
DEPENDENCIES : RPCSS
: http
SERVICE_START_NAME : LocalSystem

C:\Windows\system32>sc queryex spooler

SERVICE_NAME: spooler
TYPE : 110 WIN32_OWN_PROCESS (interactive)
STATE : 4 RUNNING
(STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
CHECKPOINT : 0x0
WAIT_HINT : 0x0
PID : 7060
FLAGS :

Is there anything else I can do apart from rebooting?

 

[florisz]

clean the print spool

Thank you very much. Opening cmd as administrator and
net stop spooler
del /F /Q c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*
net start spooler

Did the job for me in Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit

Florisz

 

[Footloose]

Thanks for the help clearing my printer spooler.

 

[BiggJay]

Local printing holding jobs in queue and not printing

I have a local printer connected via USB that has just stopped printing. It shows the job in the queue as spooled and printing but no print job comes out and the job just sits in the queue. All network printers work just fine. I think it may be a spooler issue with the local printer, an HP Color LaserJet CP1215. Any suggestions on how to resolve this?

 

[Brink]

Hello Jay, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Did you already see if clearing the print spooler queue may help?

 

[BiggJay]

Yes. Sorry I should have been more in depth. I have cleared the print spooler. I went into C:\WIndows\System32\Spool\printers and deleted the files in that folder. I went into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-3 and deleted the driver. I have even completely removed the printer, drivers and all folders relating to the printer from the pc and reinstalled it from the beginning and the problem remains. You hit print the queue shows the job but it just sits there and nothing happens. I hooked the printer up to another pc and it prints perfectly. I know it is something with this Windows 7 machine. All network printers work just fine.

 

[Brink]

You might see if connecting the printer to a different USB port may help.

In addition, I assume that you used the latest driver version from HP at the link below.
Software & driver downloads HP Color LaserJet CP1215 Printer | HP® Support
You might also see if the HP Print and Scan Doctor diagnostic tool at the same link above may be able to help.