Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10  

    Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10

    Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10

    How to Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10
    Published by Category: Hardware & Drivers
    04 Sep 2023
    Designer Media Ltd



    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






    OPTION ONE

    To Reset and Clear Print Spooler using a BAT file


    1 Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .bat file below.

    Reset_and_clear_print_spooler.bat

    Download

    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.






    OPTION TWO

    To Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Command Prompt


    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.

    Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10-clear_print_spooler_command.png


    That's it,
    Shawn Brink






  1. Posts : 1
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Shawn's method works, but I think there is an easier (1-click) way. I cobbled this together from web research, so I don't deserve any credit (except perhaps for creative laziness).

    From Windows 10 PowerShell, I created a ps1 file with two commands in it:
    net stop spooler
    net start spooler

    Then I created a batch file with a single command in it:
    PowerShell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell -ArgumentList '-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File ""c:\users\[insert your username]\[insert the path to the ps1 file]\PrintSpooler.ps1""' -Verb RunAs}";

    Then, because I really am lazy, I created a batch file that I could attach to the Quick Launch bar:
    explorer.exe "C:\Users\[insert your username]\[insert the path to the ps1 file]\Print Spooler.bat"

    You can then simply left-click on the Quick Launch bar icon for that last file, and your print spooler will reset. You need not invoke administrator level. This method does not seem to require the second line of code from the Administrator Command Prompt box above, although wiser heads than mine (not hard to find those) may say that I'm just accumulating worthless files by not dumping them. If that turns out to be the case, edit the ps1 file to insert the suggested command.

    I am sure that in the fullness of time, Microsoft will come up with something so that this fix does not work, because that's what Microsoft does. But it works for now.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 67,255
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Thank you for the addition WTig3ner, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 1,634
    Windows 10 Pro (+ Windows 10 Home VMs for testing)
       #3

    I use the same commands but wrapped in an AutoHotkey script which takes care of the elevation and provides an onscreen message:

    Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10-clear_print_queue.jpg

    Code:
    ; Based on https://autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24987&hilit=print+queue
    #SingleInstance force ; Ensure only one instance at a time
    #NoTrayIcon ; Surpress the default Notification tray icon
    
    ; Prompt to 'Run as Admin', i.e. show UAC dialog
    If Not A_IsAdmin
    {
       Run *RunAs "%A_ScriptFullPath%"  ; Requires AHK v1.0.92.01+
       ExitApp
    }
    
    SplashImage,, W300 H120,, `nPlease wait...`n`nThe Printer queue is being cleared.`n`n This may take up to 10 seconds., Clear Printer Queue ; Show user message to inform what's happening
    Runwait, %comspec% /c "net stop spooler",, hide ; Stop the Print Spooler
    
    ; Windows has its Print Queue located at the path used below.
    Runwait, %comspec% /c "del C:\Windows\System32\spool\printers\* /Q /F /S",, hide ;  Delete all files in the Print Queue (using [Q]uiet mode, [F]orce and clear [S]ub-folders switches)
    
    Runwait, %comspec% /c "net start spooler",, hide ; Restart the Print Spooler
    splashimage, off ; Close the information message
    
    ExitApp

    I've added this as a right-click option using a REG file:
    Reset and Clear Print Spooler in Windows 10-clear-print-queue.jpg

    Code:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\background\shell\Clear Print Queue]
    "Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\shell32.dll,222"
    "MUIVerb"="Clear Print Queue"
    
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\background\shell\Clear Print Queue\command]
    @="explorer /root,\"C:\\Support\\ClearPrinterQueue.ahk\""

    Hope this helps...
      My Computer


 

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