This publication shows students and new users the steps to clear the print queue in Windows 11. When you print in Windows, what prints first goes to the print queue. Sometimes you may encounter errors in Windows that can prevent users from printing new documents.

Windows allows users to view and cancel print jobs after they start by accessing the print queue through the notification area or through the Windows Settings application. One of the most frustrating things is when a job doesn’t print or gets stuck in the print queue.

You cannot just cancel print jobs. In situations like these, you may need to clear the print queue, and the steps below show you how to do that in Windows 11.

Sometimes canceling a print job can help. But if that doesn’t solve your problems, your other option may be to clear the print queue.

If you want to learn how to cancel a print job, read the post below:

How to cancel a print job in Windows 11.

How to clear a print queue in Windows 11

As mentioned above, one can clear the print queue to solve problems in Windows 11. The steps below will show you how to forcibly clear the queue, so that other documents can continue to print.

First, open the Services console and stop the print queue. You can press the Windows key, then find and select Services application.

Once the Services console opens, local Print spooler service, stop it. Right-click the spooler service and select Stop.

Windows 11 print queue stop

Then press the Windows key + me on your keyboard to open a File Explorer window. In File Explorer, use the environment variable to locate the spool folder.

Enter the path below in File Explorer to go to the spooler folder.

%windir%System32spoolPRINTERS

Delete all files in this folder.

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empty spool folder

The print queue should now be empty. Now go back to the Services console and start the backup spool service or restart your computer.

Go and print again and hopefully this should solve your printing problems.

You should do that!

Conclusion:

In this tutorial we have seen how to clean the print queue in Windows 11. If you find any errors above or have something to add, use the comment form below.

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