As the world turns digital, the demand for printer paper has declined. However, we cannot omit the need for paper and printing for now. Hence, printers are still a useful and must-have peripheral device. This helps you quickly print photos and other important documents. But many of us have faced certain minor issues with printing like printer queue stuck error or document stuck in print queue. This guide will help you resolve this error in no time.
Steps On How To Quickly Clear A Print Job Stuck In Queue
If you have given print commands but cannot receive any printouts from your printer, then there are two ways to clear a document stuck in print queue.
Method 1: Stop the Printer Service
The Printer Service helps establish communication between the OS and Hardware. All the print commands sent by the user reach the printer via this service. The steps to restart the printer service are:
Step 1: Press Windows + R and type services.msc in the RUN box’s text space.
Step 2: Press the OK button to open the Services window.
Step 3: The list of services will be displayed, and you will have to scroll down until you locate the Print Spooler Service.
Step 4: Make a right-click on Print Spooler service and click on Stop from the context menu.
Step 5: Next, navigate to the service folder and delete the pending files in Printer Queue Stuck. Delete all the files in this folder by following the path below:
C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
Step 6: Now, make a right-click again on the Print Spooler service and click on Start this time.
Once the pending tasks have been cleared, you can try to print your documents or images again.
Method 2: Use The Command Prompt
The above process can also be carried out using the command prompt too. It is a much faster process provided you know how to use the command prompt. Just follow the exact steps mentioned below, and you will resolve the print job stuck in the queue.
Step 1: Type command prompt in the search box located on the left of the taskbar.
Step 2: You will find a bunch of results. Locate the Best Match result and hover your mouse over it. You will find further options on the right side.
Step 3: Click on Run as Administrator to open the Command Prompt in admin mode.
Step 4: Type or copy & paste the following command one by one, followed by the Enter key.
net stop spooler
del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers* /Q /F /S
net start spooler
Step 5: Close the Command Prompt window and try to give a print command to assure if the document stuck in print queue issue has been resolved.
Steps on How to Avoid a Print Job Stuck in Queue
If the print job stuck in queue error frequently occurs in your PC, then it means you need to update your printer drivers. Drivers are small programs that communicate between the hardware and the software. Drivers can be updated using the manual method of using the official website and device manager tool or by using an application to update drivers. Read On! to find out which process of updating drivers is most suited for you.
Option 1: Use The Official Website
The printer manufacturers maintain an official website and store all the drivers and other printers’ resources. These websites maintain a database which is available free of cost. This option of updating drivers take considerable time, effort, and requires technical skill.
The basic idea of this option is simple. You have to visit the driver’s section of your printer’s official website and choose your printer model. From the results displayed, select your operating system and download the drivers. The downloaded file can then be executed with a double click and follow the on-screen instructions to install the drivers.
Option 2: Use The Device Manager
The Device Manager is an inbuilt tool provided by Microsoft to Windows 10 users to detect the hardware changes and initiate a download of the most updated drivers from the Microsoft Servers. It automatically installs the drivers after downloading them. Here are the steps to use the Device Manager to update the drivers:
Step 1: Press Windows + R button to open the RUN box and type devmgmt.msc to launch Device Manager.
Step 2: Press the OK button, and the Device Manager window will display all the drivers installed on your computer.
Step 3: Scroll down until you find Printers among the drivers, click on it to view the dropdown and see select your device.
Step 4: Make a right-click and click on Update Drivers.
This option can resolve documents stuck in print queue error, but it takes time, and there is no guarantee if the updated driver has been uploaded to Microsoft servers yet.
Option 3: The Smart Driver Care
The last option to download or update the printer drivers is to use a third-party tool for updating drivers. This application, known as Smart Driver Care, scans all the drivers present in your system and updated them with their latest counterparts. It is an important tool for identifying outdated, missing, and corrupted drivers in your system. Here are the steps to use the Smart Driver Care:
Step 1: Download and Install Smart Driver Care from the official link provided below:
Download Now:
Step 2: Double click on the file downloaded and follow the onscreen instructions to install the software.
Noe: When you install it, the basic version will be activated, scanning all the errors free of cost but will update only two drivers daily. For updating all drivers in one go, you will have to purchase this application and upgrade it to the PRO version.
Step 3: Now, click on the Start Scan Now button to commence the Scan process.
Step 4: Once the scan process completes, all the driver issues will be listed. Choose your Processor name and then click on the update now link next to it. You can choose any other driver as well.
Note: if you have the PRO version, you need to click on the Update All button, and all the drivers will be updated in one go.
The Final Word On How To Quickly Clear A Print Job Stuck In Queue
There are many printer issues, and many of them can be resolved by updating the drivers. Without drivers, the printer would not be detected, but it would not function in the desired manner with outdated drivers and cause small issues like printer queue stuck error. The best possible resolution to avoid this issue is to update drivers using Smart driver Care, which is an automatic process and does not consume much time and effort.
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