How to Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10
The primary component of the printing interface is the print spooler. The print spooler is an executable file that manages the printing process. Management of printing involves retrieving the location of the correct printer driver, loading that driver, spooling high-level function calls into a print job, scheduling the print job for printing, and so on.
A printer spooler enables storing multiple print jobs within a print queue where it’s retrieved by the printer or print server. Print jobs are stored in a queue at the speed of the computer, then retrieved and printed at the speed of the printer. Multiple processes can send print jobs to the spool without waiting, and can then perform other tasks, while the "spooler" process operates the printer.
If you have a stuck print job in the print queue, you can clear and reset the print spooler to remove the stuck print job.
This tutorial will show you how to reset and clear the print spooler to remove print jobs in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
You must be signed in as an administrator to reset and clear the print spooler.
Contents
- Option One: To Reset and Clear Print Spooler using a BAT file
- Option Two: To Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Command Prompt
1 Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .bat file below.
2 Save the .bat file to your desktop.
3 Unblock the .bat file.
4 Run the .bat file.
5 When prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes to approve the .bat file to run as administrator.
6 You will now see a command prompt flash and quickly open and close to reset and clear the print spooler.
1 Open an elevated command prompt.
2 Enter the commands below into the elevated command prompt one at a time, and press Enter after each command. (see screenshot below)
net stop spooler
DEL /F /S /Q %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*
net start spooler
3 When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
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