Print Spool Cleaning

When all else fails

When you can't get a document out of the Print queue, here's a suggestion:

Type "services.msc" at the Command prompt. That will open the Services
Window.

Scroll down the alphabetical list in the right window pane until you come
to "Print Spooler"

Right-click this entry, then select "stop".

Open Windows Explorer.

The usual path to the spool folder is:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Spool\PRINTERS

Delete every file within this folder to empty the print queue

Close the explorer window.
Return to your Services window.
Right-click the Print Spool entry and select
"Start" from the list. Close the services window and try printing again.

(You can also go to a command prompt and type net stop spooler or net start spooler to start and stop the service.)

See TopFreeStuff.com

For the brave, here’s a macro that will do the job:

@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

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