How to Remove an Undeletable Stuck Document from the Windows Printer Queue

This article was co-authored by Christopher Batchelor, a trusted member of wikiHow's volunteer community. Christopher Batchelor is a wikiHow community member and technology enthusiast. He has experience using a range of different platforms and software, and likes to keep up with updates and new features.

This article has been viewed 244,046 times.

If you're trying to print a document in Windows and a stuck document is preventing the remaining documents in the queue from printing, it can be pretty frustrating! Sometimes, deleting the stuck print job doesn't actually delete it, but you'll still get a message on your computer screen saying Windows is "deleting" the item. In this article, we'll show you how to successfully remove a stuck document from the printer queue in a few easy steps so you can get on with your workday.

Turn off your printer from the printer itself and make sure the power cords are properly inserted into the printer and into the printer/USB port on your computer. Sometimes, this will clear up the problem without any other adjustments being made. If the printer it networked wirelessly, you will just need to turn it off and unplug the power cord from the outlet for 30-60 seconds instead.

Right-click the Computer/My Computer box, from your Windows operating system and select the "Manage" option from the context menu that results.

Grant your computer access to the "Computer Management Snapin Launcher" tool from the User Account Control box that displays if your computer is Windows Vista or newer.

Step 4 Double-click the Services and Applications selection from the Name column followed by the " width="460" height="345" />

Double-click the Services and Applications selection from the Name column followed by the "Services" item.

Scroll and click on the Print Spooler item in the list of services your computer is using. The list of printer services will most-often be immense and unruly, but with careful looking, you'll find it rather quickly.

Once you have stopped the Print Spooler, you may want to leave that window open. It will help remind you at the very end to turn the Print Spooler back on.

Delete all documents that exist in the C:\Windows|System32\spool\PRINTERS folder using your computer's Windows Explorer (folder tree) list folder. This folder is the log of spooled and unprinted documents waiting to be printed. Use the Run command ( ⊞ Win + R ) to open the folder. Once cleared, close this folder and don't open this folder until the next time the problem arises.

Restart the Print Spooler service from the Print Spooler Properties box and click the "OK" button to confirm you'd like to restart the service.

Close the "Computer Management" dialog box.

Re-run a test printable document. Advertisement

Community Q&A

How do I get a printer out of pause? Community Answer Right click the printer on your computer and click resume or see what's printing.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

Ask a Question 200 characters left Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published Please provide your name and last initial Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Users of Windows 8, beware! These steps are no longer the case. Microsoft has moved things around, and gotten rid of the main desktop of a Windows computer. Contact Microsoft instead, to find out how to delete this "Deleting" item from your print queue.