How to Clear Printer Queue in Windows 11

The Printer queue is something which helps the users to decide which order the printing jobs are given attention. This also gives the users to handle the print operations such as pause or stop any print jobs. Sometimes, you must have observed that the print command is stuck and printer is not able to execute the print command. This must be because of Printer queue overload. Therefore it is better to clear the printer queue and try to execute the print command again. If you are wondering how to do it, this post will help you with how to clear printer queue in windows 11.

How to Clear Printer Queue in Windows 11

 

Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together to open Run dialog box.

Step 2: Type services.msc in the run box and hit the Enter key to open Services app.

 



Windows 11 Services.msc

 

Step 3: In the services app, locate Print Spooler service and right click on it.

Step 4: Then, Click Stop from the context menu as shown below.

 

Printer Spooler Service Stop 11zon

 

Step 5: Once the Printer Spooler service is stopped, Press Windows + E keys together to open File Explorer.

Step 6: Then, Copy and Paste the below given path in the address bar of the File explorer.

C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

 

Step 7: If you get a warning window saying you don’t currently have permission to access this folder, then Click Continue button to proceed and get permission permanently.

 

Printer You Dont Have Permissions New

 

Step 8: Once the folder is open, Press CTRL + A keys together to select all the files in that folder.

Step 9: Then, Press SHIFT + DELETE keys together and hit Enter key to permanently delete all the files in the folder.

Step 10: Now you can see that this folder is completely empty.

 

Printer Spool Folder New

 

Step 11: Now go back to Services app.

Step 12: Locate Printer Spooler service and right click on it.

Step 13: Then, Click Start from the context menu to start this service.

 

Printer Spooler Start 11zon



 

Step 14: Close both File explorer and Services app.

That’s it folks!

Hope this post was informative.

Please leave us comments below.

Thank you.



4 thoughts on “How to Clear Printer Queue in Windows 11”

  1. Thank you for this, most useful! Since the upgrade to Windows 11 my printer keeps going offline. After printing, the document stays in the print queue and I cannot delete it. After a Windows restart, it’s still there. So this was a super post!

  2. I can’t even open the spool file. What do you suggest it is? I turned off my laptop mid print and it’s been stuck ever since. Printer is glitched on the laptop side.

Comments are closed.