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How to Clear the Printer Queue?

Several printer users experienced the problem of a stuck document in the print queue. Stuck or corrupted print documents prevent other documents from being printed.

If you are facing similar issues then, refer to this article to Clear the Print Queue. In this article, we explore the detailed steps to Clear Print Queue on Windows as well as Mac operating systems.

How to Clear Printer Queue in Windows 10:

In the windows operating system, the printer spooler program is responsible for managing all the print jobs of the system. It also allows users to change the order of print jobs or delete any specific file from the queue. Users can follow the below steps to Clear Print Queue. There are two methods to clear the print queue on windows 10.

Method 1:

  1. Click on Start and launch the Settings application.

    Start and Launch Setting
  2. Go to Devices-> Printers & Scanners.
  3. Click on your printer from printer devices.
  4. Select the open Queue button.

    Printers & scanners open Queue
  5. After then, users can Right-click on the desired file in the print queue and select “Cancel” to delete it from the queue.

Method 2:

  1. Click on Start. Type services in the search box and launch the Services application.
    Services
  2. Look for and open Printer Spooler in the Services windows.
  3. It shows the Printer Spooler Properties screen. Go to the General tab.
  4. Click on the Stop button. This will stop the print queue.

    Print Spooler Properties
  5. To delete the documents go to ‘C:\System32\spool\PRINTERS‘ and clear all documents or a specific document in the Printers directory.
  6. Again open the Printer Spooler properties screen and click on the Start button in the general tab.
    Service status start button

How to clear print queue for Mac Operating System:

In the Mac operating system, users need to reset the print system to clear the print queue. After resetting the printer system on Mac, it will remove the current print queue and reset the customized driver settings.

  1. Click on the Apple Menu and go to the System Preferences option.

    System Preferences Mac

  2. Tap on the Printers & Scanners.

    Printers & Scanners Mac

  3. Right-click on your printer devices shown in the left side panel.
  4. Select the Reset printing system option. Tap on the OK button to confirm the same.
    Reset Printing System Mac
  5. Enter the User credentials if asked (Type your user Name and Password).
  6. Click on the OK button.

In this way, the user can reset the printing system on mac. Alternatively, users can simply run the ‘cancel -a –‘ command on the terminal to clear print queue on mac.

Hopefully, this blog assist users to clear the print queues on windows and Mac devices. Users can feel free to contact technical team for quick assistance in troubleshooting all kinds of printers.