How To: Clear Print Queue In Windows Vista Or In Windows 7
It is a fact that Microsoft Windows won’t allow anyone to remove a hanging print job.This is because the Windows operating systems including Windows Vista and Windows 7 has to wait for the confirmation from the printer.But if the printer also hangs,the print job is stuck in the queue.A print queue is a list of all the print jobs waiting to print on a particular printer.One way to solve this annoying problem is to restart the Windows computer.But in some cases even a computer restart wouldn’t remove the erroneous print job from the queue.
Here are some easy methods to delete and clear the printer queue in Windows 7 or Windows Vista.
Method 1:
- Go to Windows Vista/Windows 7 Start, Control Panel and Administrative Tools. Double click on Services icon.
- Scroll down to the Print Spooler service, right-click on it and choose Stop.
- Navigate to the following directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS
- And delete everything inside this folder.Do not delete the folder itself, just everything inside of it.
- Now go back to the Services window and right click on the Print Spooler service and choose Start.
Method 2: Using Windows Vista/Windows 7 Command Prompt
- Click on Windows Vista/Windows 7 Start orb and type Command in start menu search field.
- From the list select and right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator(This will give you an elevated command prompt).
- Type net stop spooler into command prompt window and then press Enter.
- You should get a confirmation that the print spooler is stopping.
- Then type del %systemroot%\System32\spool\prtiners\* /Q then press Enter.
- Then type net start spooler then press Enter.
- Type exit and press Enter to exit the elevated command window.
- The print queue on your Windows 7/Windows Vista system should now be cleared.
Method 3: Clear The Printer Queue Using A Batch File
- Open Notepad editor from Windows Vista/Windows 7 start menu.
- Copy the following code into opened notepad window.
@echo off
echo.
echo Purging the print queue . . .
net stop Spooler
echo Deleting all print jobs . . .
ping localhost -n 4 > nul
del /q %SystemRoot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*
net start Spooler
echo Done!
ping localhost -n 4 > nul
- Save the file as ClearPrinterQueue.bat
- To use this batch file, just right-click on it and select Run as administrator(Otherwise you get an an error message).
You can download and extract the batch file(ClearPrinterQueue.bat) for deleting and clearing the printer queue in Windows 7 or Windows Vista from here.
ClearPrinterQueue.bat(Download)
Popularity: 20%
Did You Like This Post? Then You Might Find These Also Interesting:
Written by Tony on April 6th, 2009 with
1 comment.
Read more articles on Vista Performance and W7 Performance.
#1. February 5th, 2012, at 11:59 AM.
I was with you until you said “Navigate to the following directory….”
If I knew what or where or how to navigate, I’d be in good shape.
Unfortunately, my computer doesn’t want to tell me where this directory is at or how to navigate to it? So I’m still stuck. Why is it when
you press stop/clear settings, or cancel print on PC, the damn thing
will continue to print out the 50,000 pages you set in motion hitting the print button on the new job you wanted to print but it wouldn’t print? Why is everything so complicated?