To clear the printer queue in Windows 11, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. Select your printer, then Open print queue. Select the three dots (…) and choose Cancel all. If a job won’t go away, stop the Print Spooler service, delete the stuck files, and start the service again, as shown below.

Applies to: Windows 11 (the same steps work in Windows 10).

Contents hide

1 Step 1: Cancel all print jobs

2 Step 2: Restart the Print Spooler and delete stuck files

3 Clear the queue with commands

4 Use the classic print queue

5 If jobs keep getting stuck

6 Frequently asked questions

Step 1: Cancel all print jobs

Press Windows + I and select Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
Select your printer, then select Open print queue.
Select the three dots (…) at the top of the queue, then choose Cancel all. To cancel one job, right-click it and select Cancel.
Select Yes to confirm.

Windows 11 print queue window with the More menu open and Cancel all highlighted — Select the three dots (1), then Cancel all (2).

A job can show Deleting for a minute before it disappears. If it’s still there after a couple of minutes, go to Step 2.

Step 2: Restart the Print Spooler and delete stuck files

The Print Spooler is the Windows service that holds print jobs until the printer takes them. Stopping it lets you delete a job that won’t cancel.

Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
Find Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Stop.

Windows Services window with Print Spooler selected and Stop highlighted in the right-click menu — Right-click Print Spooler (1), then select Stop (2).

Press Windows + R again, type %windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS, and press Enter. Select Continue if Windows asks for permission.
Delete everything inside that folder. Don’t delete the folder itself. It may already be empty.
Go back to Services, right-click Print Spooler, and select Start.
Turn the printer off, wait about a minute, and turn it back on.

The queue is now empty. Try printing again. Printer still stuck after the queue is empty? Windows 11’s Printer troubleshooter can scan the setup for you; see how to run a troubleshooter in Windows 11.

Clear the queue with commands

If you do this often, commands are faster. Right-click Start and select Terminal (Admin), which opens PowerShell. Run these three commands, one at a time:

Stop-Service -Name Spooler -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:windir\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*" -Force
Start-Service -Name Spooler

If you prefer Command Prompt (Admin), use these instead:

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

Use the set that matches the window you opened. The Command Prompt commands don’t work in PowerShell.

Use the classic print queue

Some printers still use the older queue window:

Press Windows + R, type control printers, and press Enter.
Right-click your printer and select See what’s printing.
Select Printer > Cancel All Documents, then Yes.

If jobs keep getting stuck

Check the printer. Clear any paper jam, error light, or empty tray, and make sure it’s online and connected to the same network as your PC. Also, a job sent with a PIN isn’t stuck at all: it waits in the printer’s memory until you release it, as explained in how Secure Print works on Windows 11.
Run the printer troubleshooter: go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters, and select Run next to Printer.
Update or reinstall the driver from the printer maker’s website, following the steps to update a printer driver in Windows 11.
Remove the printer and add it again. First remove the printer from Windows 11, then add the printer in Windows 11 again.
Print a smaller job. Very large PDFs and photos can stall some printers. Try printing a few pages at a time.
Check the default printer. Jobs can pile up for a printer that’s no longer connected, so set the right default printer in Windows 11.

Frequently asked questions

Why won’t my print job delete?

The Print Spooler is still holding it. Stopping the spooler and deleting the files in the PRINTERS folder (Step 2) removes it.

Is it safe to delete files in the spool folder?

Yes, as long as the Print Spooler is stopped. Those files are only waiting print jobs. Deleting them cancels the jobs and doesn’t affect your documents.

Why does my printer say it’s offline after clearing the queue?

Restarting the Print Spooler can briefly disconnect a network printer. Turn the printer off and on, wait for it to rejoin Wi-Fi, then open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, select the printer, and check its status. If it still shows offline, make sure Use Printer Offline isn’t checked in the classic print queue window’s Printer menu.

Will clearing the queue delete my documents?

No. It only cancels the print jobs. Your original files stay where they are, so you can print them again.

To reach the print queue faster next time, put a printer icon on the desktop. If pages print faded after the queue clears, check your printer’s ink levels. And to see what’s already been printed, you can check print history in Windows 11.

Microsoft’s own fixes are in Fix print job stuck in queue errors in Windows.

Matt Jacobs

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.