Fix-it: How to remove a document stuck in your Printer Queue

Recently when I was setting up a client’s computer with Windows Printer Sharing, I ran into an issue where a document was stuck in the print queue and was brining the system down to a crawl. First I tried deleting the document from the queue the “traditional” way by opening “Printers and Faxes” and launching the stuck printer and right-clicking the document name and selecting “cancel.” With that process, the document was stuck in cancel-mode for hours and obviously didn’t work.

I found the process for fully deleting the document from the queue and the steps are listed below:

  1. Launch the SERVICES program. There are a couple of ways to do this:
    • Go to Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Services
    • Got to Start > Settings >Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services
  2. Look for the “Print Spooler” service. Click on it and select STOP. Make sure that the services shows as “Stopped”
  3. Open Windows Explorer (a shortcut for launching Windows Explorer is to hit the Windows Key – if your keyboard has it – and E at the same time)
  4. Navigate to: “c:/windows/system32/spool/printers”
    • Note: You may have to allow Windows Explorer to show system folders. You can do this in Explorer by going to Tools > Folder Options and selecting the VIEW tab.
    • There should be a check box (that might be unchecked) labeled “Display the contents of system folders” –> Check this box and click OK
  5. Once you can view the contents of that folder, you will (hopefully) see 1 or more documents. You are viewing your printer queue at that point.
  6. Select the file(s) and delete them
  7. Go back to the Services program (see step #1) and restart the Print Spooler service
  8. Check the printer queue (see the first paragraph) and confirm that the Spooler is now empty

Did you find this solution useful? If so: [paypal-donation reference=”printer queue”]

Hope that helps! Why, in my case, the Shared Printer created docs that caused the queue to stall is a topic for another discussion someday.

126 Responses

  1. Thanks for leaving this very helpful tip. Google is amazing too… a couple of years ago I thought it very unlikely that typing “windows document stuck in queue” would get me exactly what I wanted in a second or two.

  2. Thanks for leaving this very helpful tip. Google is amazing too… a couple of years ago I thought it very unlikely that typing “windows document stuck in queue” would get me exactly what I wanted in a second or two.

  5. Wow! Thanks for this fix. I know you said that why the printer stalls in this first place is a topic for another post, but do you have any ideas about that?

  6. Wow! Thanks for this fix. I know you said that why the printer stalls in this first place is a topic for another post, but do you have any ideas about that?

  7. Glad it worked! You know, I'm not sure as to the root cause of why this happens. Could be corruption in the printer queue or a malformed document. -HTD

  8. Glad it worked! You know, I'm not sure as to the root cause of why this happens. Could be corruption in the printer queue or a malformed document.

    -HTD

  11. So, did the suggestion in the post work for you? If so, let me know. If it didn't, I would like to find out where it failed.Thanks,HTD

  12. So, did the suggestion in the post work for you? If so, let me know. If it didn't, I would like to find out where it failed.
    Thanks,
    HTD

  23. A payroll document froze inside my que and prevented me from printing any checks for any employees! This was definitely a life-saver. Thanks :)

  24. A payroll document froze inside my que and prevented me from printing any checks for any employees! This was definitely a life-saver. Thanks :)

  27. Wow – thanks for this easy-to-follow and execute solution to an exasperating print queue problem. My old solution took up to an hour removing printers and drivers and then reinstalling over and over. This cleaned up the problem in under a minute. A real time saver. I printed several copies and gave them to friends that have battled this before. Kudos to you!

  28. Wow – thanks for this easy-to-follow and execute solution to an exasperating print queue problem. My old solution took up to an hour removing printers and drivers and then reinstalling over and over. This cleaned up the problem in under a minute. A real time saver. I printed several copies and gave them to friends that have battled this before. Kudos to you!

  29. thanks for your simple insutructions to this annoying problem. You saved me a lot of stress!

  30. thanks for your simple insutructions to this annoying problem. You saved me a lot of stress!

  33. tried 3 times, worked on the 3rd, on my pc, twas an option called 'kill process', but the rest worked just as you described in your very reader friendly instruction, the stuck to unstuck took me blissfully under 2 minutes, thanks alot for sharing!

  34. tried 3 times, worked on the 3rd, on my pc, twas an option called 'kill process', but the rest worked just as you described in your very reader friendly instruction, the stuck to unstuck took me blissfully under 2 minutes, thanks alot for sharing!

  37. I can clear the spool but still cannot print anything. Just sits there stuck again.

  38. I can clear the spool but still cannot print anything. Just sits there stuck again.

  39. Did you follow all of the instructions as I listed out? What was the result?

  40. thanks so much 4 ur help..dis is absolutely amazing..d 1st time it happened, i called HP technician n they charged me to fix it..dis time around i decided on d 'do it urself' method cuz i was broke…thanks a million.

  41. Glad that it worked for you! Next time, you can pay me (grin). Just
    click some ads, Digg or tweet about my site is enough. Good luck to you!

  42. I know this article is 2 years old, but it just helped me resolve a printer queue problem I've been trying to fix for 2 days! Needless to say, I'm not a techie or it would not have taken me 2 days to figure out to look up the solution on the internet. Thanks! Most helpful!

  43. THANKS!! Worked GREAT! Except to stop the spooler I used the Windows key + E then typed “cmd” then “net stop spooler” and then followed your instructions from #3 to #6, then I used the Windows key + E again, typed “cmd” then “net start spooler” to finish. It all worked in a jiffy, thanks.

    For all of those out there without an IT person doing this yourself, don't forget to do #4 and remember to go back to #4 and uncheck “Display the contents of system folders” to go back to the way you were before. Unchecking that box again is not necessary but I like to leave things the way I find them, ESPECIALLY on computers.

  44. Hey just wanted to drop by an tell you that I clicked “stop” on that print spooler and then went back and clicked “start” on the print spooler. The stubborn document was gone from my que! Thanks

  50. You are an angel. Got a college project due in on Monday, now after 10 on Saturday and the feckin printer has me in a heartspin! Thanks a million.

  53. I always got this problem when printing large documents like a llc member withdrawal agreement on my Windows machine. I found an even better solution: I switched to ubuntu, and now whenever an application freezes i just run xkill and click on the app and it goes out right away.

  54. Thanks, I was installing a new printer and the driver must have been corrupted. I tried removing the printer and starting over but after each reboot the corrupted printer reappeared. I found this was due to the test prints being stuck in the queue (not allowing the printer to fully uninstall). Once I followed the given directions the corrupted printer fully uninstalled on its own.

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    Just do a click http://www.ongamesite.com. Good luck!!!

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  60. Thank you so very much! had a document stuck in the printer queue that just would not go away. So frustrating!! I tried other sites but to no avail until I came upon your site. Worked like a bomb! Blew the silly print job right out of the spooler!!!

    Thanks again

    have a lovely day

  64. Thanks, Dad!! This is a problem for me. Glad I don’t have to delete my printer and re-install it anymore. Now, did you write that article on why this happens? I might need that too.

  65. help, when i go to start i don’t see settings or programs. under all programs i don’t see administration the next step. can u help me

  67. I love reading and I am always searching for informative information like this! You are bookmarked!

  69. Thank you Dad. My work depends on my computer working properly. I very much appreciate your help. And it worked. Big hug and back to work I go.

    Thank you

    Christa

  70. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU – I just started a new teahcing job, and have encountered technical problem one after another – you saved me ripping out ANOTHER handful of hair!!!!

  73. I’ve had real problems with documents getting jammed in the print queue, so this solution ws brilliant. Thank you so much.
    Just one comment. Some of the terminology seemed a bit dated. On my Vista PC, I eventually found Administrative Tools in Control Panel > System and Security. Once I’d got there, everything was as described.

  74. THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU FIXED MY PRINTER!!!!!!
    It’s rare to find something on the internet that’s actually helpful in troubleshooting, I appreciate it!

  76. thanks! this actually worked. first time I think I have found something that actually works from the net!!

  79. Thank You!!! I’ve been struggling with this for the past 3 days and nothing was working. Oh, maybe I’d eventually get the corrupt file out only to have it show up again the next time I printed. Your way worked and I am again a happy printer!!

  80. Thanks. Now I have a way for myself (and others) to fix those stupid print que errors without restarting the computer.

  81. How can I get a documet off of my printer that is deleting and is holding other documents back. I can cancel the others but when it says deleting it is like froze.

  82. When I try to STOP my Print Spooler, it says “loading files to memory for later printing” as the description. This persists for a very long time. How do I fix this?

  83. actually the good news is that my printer is working now, although the status never came up as stop in the Print Spooler…

  84. it took a while for the document to clear, but this worked! Even unplugging and shutting things off didn’t work. thank you soooo much

  86. I love this!  Seriously, I have used this twice and have it saved on my bookmarks.  Thanks so much for sharing.

  87. I tried this on a networked pc and it will not clear it out.  Access to the user’s ..printers folder is denied.  Stopped and re-started the net spooler. Re-booted to no avail.  I’m thinking I’ll need access to the server command line to get it cleared out.

  88. Amazing – Just saved me a lot of time speaking to my printer IT support!

  89. It is definitely possible that it is stuck within the print server
    queue. Unfortunately, I don’t have an environment to test that. Let us
    know what you eventually figure out.

  90. You are my hero! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I am bookmarking your address for future reference.

  91. it wont allow me to delete the files in the qeue after i got to windowssystem32……. that address. it says they r open in spoolsv.exe which is not open

  94. OMG that worked . my system is vista home, i followed and found everything, and it deleted the stuck doc, superduperwooperman…thankYOU

  95. My system is Windows Vista Home.
    In my case using only 2 steps was enough for fully deleting the document from the queue
    and restart PC after that.
    I am bookmarking your address for future reference.
    Thank You very much!!
    Marina

  98. yOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW FRUSTRATED I WAS UNTIL I CAME TO YOUR ADVICE.  mAHALO FROM MAUI, HAWAII

  102. Best advice I’ve seen yet on cancelling and print document that is stuck.  Thanks so much!

  105.  just right click on the printer which u using in Device and Printer and select Troubleshoot.

  106. Auuugh, thank you.  I was trying to reinstall my printer driver and this old “deleting” document was giving me so much trouble.  Thank you so much.

  108. Wow, amazing, didn’t think i was going to figure that out, but it seems to have worked. Hopefully I’ll be able to print now. Thanks so much for sharing!!!!!!!

  109. Do not follow this persons advice – you will never be able to print again!!!!!!!!! I followed to the letter and now I really regret it

  110. thanks, that worked, we had a document waiting to be printed from a printer that we no longer had but couldn’t get rid, because of this it was crashing our computer when we tried to print to another printer – all works now

  111. It worked magically!!! I was struggling to delete that stucked document with all Administrator permissions and through different machines on LAN. But finally, your solutions helped and all the users could start using this printer again.

  117. it worked! I feel like a genius, but then, could not have done it on my own. Thank you!!!!!!!!

  118. Wow! It worked! I had been struggling with this for days before finding these instructions. I will definitely bookmark this page in case this should happen again. It just took me a little while to find Adminitrative Tools, because on my version of Vista I had to go to Start, Control Panel, System & Maintenance, and then Administrative Tools, and; Services. Thanks so much! Appreciate it!

  120. God bless you hi tech dad. You just saved my computer and printer’s life because I was going to replace both if instead of paying someone to fix them. Lexmark was going to charge me over $100 to fix this and with your help I fixed it in minutes. NEVER BUY LEXMARK! THEY ARE THIEVES!

  121. The solution to unstick a document in the printer queue was great. The step by step instructions were most helpful.. Thank you.

  122. Does it also work for some PDF printing application (e.g. doPDF)?
    I do a printing with doPDF and it got stuck in the printer queue. When I did the #5 step the files shown are FP00000.SHD and FP00000.SWF. What should I delete?

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Michael Sheehan (“HighTechDad™”) is an avid technologist, writer, journalist, content marketer, blogger, tech influencer, social media pundit, loving husband and father of 3 beautiful girls living in the San Francisco Bay Area. This site covers technology, consumer electronics, Parent Tech, SmartHomes, cloud computing, gadgets, software, hardware, parenting “hacks,” and other tips & tricks.

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