How to Cancel or Delete a Stuck Print Job in Windows 10 / 11

To cancel a stuck print job, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners in Windows 11, select the printer, select Open print queue, then right-click the job and select Cancel.

Windows 10 uses Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners > Open queue instead. When the job refuses to leave, restart the Print Spooler service and clear the spool folder, both covered below with fixes for jobs that keep coming back.

Cancel Print Jobs from Windows Settings

This is the route Microsoft gives first for a job stuck in the queue. It clears most stuck jobs in under a minute.

1. Select Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 11), or Start > Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 10).
2. Select the printer that holds the stuck job.
3. Select Open print queue (Windows 11) or Open queue (Windows 10).
4. Right-click the stuck job and select Cancel.
5. Repeat for every other job in the list until the queue is empty.
6. To clear everything at once in Windows 11, select the … menu at the top of the queue and select Cancel all.

If the job shows Deleting and never goes, or comes straight back, move on to restarting the Print Spooler service.

Which fix matches your stuck print job?

Each fix below goes one level deeper than the last. Start at the row that matches what you see and stop as soon as the queue is clear.

What you see	Use this	Why
One job is stuck and others wait behind it	Cancel it in Open print queue	Removes only that job and lets the rest print
Many jobs are stuck in the queue	… > Cancel all (Windows 11)	Clears the whole queue in one action
You prefer the classic printer window	Devices and Printers > See what's printing	Opens the same queue from Control Panel
Cancel does nothing, or the job says Deleting	Restart the Print Spooler service	The spooler is the Windows service that holds and sends jobs
The job returns after a spooler restart	Stop the spooler and delete the spool files	Restarting the spooler restarts the jobs it still has on disk
You manage printers by script or remotely	Remove-PrintJob in PowerShell	Deletes a job by printer name and job ID, without admin rights
The queue is empty but the printer still prints or shows a job	Cancel it on the printer itself	The job has already left Windows

Check the Print Queue and Cancel the Job

While a document is printing, Windows shows a printer icon in the notification area at the bottom-right of the taskbar. Use it to reach the queue without opening Settings.

1. Right-click the Printer icon on the taskbar. If it is hidden, select the arrow that shows hidden icons first.
2. Select Open All Active Printers, then select the printer you want.
3. Select the print job you want to cancel in the list under Document Name.
4. Open the Document menu and select Cancel.
5. Select Yes to confirm.
6. Wait for the job to disappear from the queue before you close the window.

While the queue is open in Windows 10, open the Printer menu and clear Pause Printing and Use Printer Offline if either is ticked. Either setting holds every job in the queue and looks like a stuck job.

If the printer icon vanishes as soon as you print, the job has already reached the printer. Windows can no longer stop it, so cancel it on the printer's own panel.

Clear a Stuck Job Using Control Panel

The classic Devices and Printers window opens the same print queue through a right-click menu. It is still reachable in both Windows 11 and Windows 10.

1. In Windows 11, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, select the printer, then select More devices and printer settings.
2. In Windows 10, press Win + R, type control printers and press Enter to open the printers folder.
3. Right-click the printer icon.
4. Select See what's printing to open its print queue.
5. Right-click each stuck job and select Cancel, then confirm with Yes.

Some printers install a manufacturer page in this window. For those, the right-click menu shows Open instead, which opens the maker's device page rather than the queue. Use the Settings route above for those printers.

Restart the Print Spooler Service

The Print Spooler is the Windows service that stores print jobs and hands them to the printer. Restarting it releases a job that Cancel cannot remove. You need an administrator account.

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
2. Scroll down the list and find Print Spooler.
3. Right-click Print Spooler and select Restart.
4. Reopen the print queue and cancel any job still listed.

If the service is stopped rather than running, double-click Print Spooler, select Start, set Startup type to Automatic, then select OK.

Restarting the spooler also restarts the jobs it still holds. A job that reappears after this step needs its spool files deleted, which is the next fix.

Restart Print Spooler with Command Prompt

This does the same restart as Services in one line. Open Command Prompt as administrator first: search for cmd, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

net stop spooler && net start spooler

spooler is the service name of Print Spooler. net stop spooler stops the service, and && runs net start spooler only if the stop succeeded. Run net stop spooler on its own when you want the service to stay stopped while you delete spool files, then run net start spooler afterwards.

You should see: Command Prompt reports that the Print Spooler service stopped, then that it started, and the stuck job can now be cancelled or has cleared.

Run it from an elevated window. A normal Command Prompt window does not have the rights to stop a Windows service.

Manually Delete Print Spooler Files

Windows keeps each queued job as files in the spool folder. When a job survives a spooler restart, those files are what brings it back. Deleting them clears every queued job for every printer on the PC, so reprint anything you still need afterwards.

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
2. Double-click Print Spooler, select Stop, then select OK. The folder's files stay locked while the service runs.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. You can also type %WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers in the taskbar search box.
4. Select all the files inside the PRINTERS folder and delete them. Delete the files only, not the folder.
5. Go back to Services and double-click Print Spooler.
6. Select Start, check that Startup type is Automatic, then select OK.
7. Open the print queue and confirm it is empty.

If Windows still shows the job, restart the PC from Start > Power > Restart, which is Microsoft's last step for a job stuck in the queue.

Delete a stuck print job with PowerShell

The PrintManagement PowerShell module removes a job by printer name and job ID. It does not need administrator rights and works in a remote PowerShell session. Replace Printer name with the name exactly as Printers & scanners shows it.

Get-PrintJob -PrinterName "Printer name" | Remove-PrintJob

Get-PrintJob lists every job on that printer and passes each one to Remove-PrintJob, which deletes it. To remove a single job, run Get-PrintJob -PrinterName "Printer name" to read its ID, then Remove-PrintJob -PrinterName "Printer name" -ID 1 with that number. Wildcards are not accepted in the printer name.

You should see: Running Get-PrintJob -PrinterName "Printer name" again returns nothing, and the print queue window is empty.

How to check the stuck print job is gone

An empty queue on its own does not prove the printer can take new work. Print a test page to confirm the whole path works again.

1. Open Printers & scanners and select the printer. Its status should no longer show an error, paused or offline state.
2. Select Open print queue (Windows 11) or Open queue (Windows 10) and confirm no jobs are listed.
3. In Windows 11, select Printer properties. In Windows 10, select Manage > Printer properties.
4. On the General tab, select Print Test Page.
5. Watch the queue: the test page should appear, print, and then leave the list.

What to Do If the Print Job Keeps Coming Back

Find the symptom that matches what you see, then work through the fix under it in order.

The print job will not cancel or delete

The Print Spooler service is holding the job and not responding to Cancel.

1. Open services.msc, right-click Print Spooler and select Restart.
2. Reopen the queue and cancel the job again.
3. If it still shows Deleting, stop the spooler, delete the files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, and start the spooler again.
4. Restart the PC from Start > Power > Restart.

The deleted job reappears after a spooler restart

A spooler restart restarts every job still saved in the spool folder.

1. Stop Print Spooler instead of restarting it.
2. Delete every file in the PRINTERS spool folder.
3. Start Print Spooler and set Startup type to Automatic.
4. Check the queue before sending anything new.

A new copy of the same document keeps arriving

Something outside the queue is sending the document again: another PC or phone on a shared printer, or the app that printed it.

1. Ask anyone else who prints to the same printer whether they sent the document.
2. Cancel the job in that other device's print queue, not only in yours.
3. Close the app that printed the document, then cancel the job again.
4. Turn the printer off, unplug it for 30 seconds, then plug it back in and turn it on.

The job disappears from Windows but the printer still shows it or prints it

The job already left Windows and is stored in the printer's own memory.

1. Use the cancel or stop button on the printer's control panel.
2. Turn the printer off, unplug it for 30 seconds, then reconnect it.
3. Check the printer manual or the manufacturer's support site for how to clear jobs held in the printer.

The job disappears but nothing prints

The printer is paused, offline, or not reachable from the PC.

1. Open the queue. In Windows 10, open the Printer menu and clear Pause Printing and Use Printer Offline.
2. Turn the printer off, unplug it for 30 seconds, then turn it back on.
3. For a wireless printer, confirm it is on the same Wi-Fi network as the PC.
4. Remove the printer in Printers & scanners and add it again.
5. Print a test page from Printer properties > General > Print Test Page.

Print Spooler will not start and shows Error 1068

A service that Print Spooler depends on is not running.

1. In Services, right-click Print Spooler and select Properties.
2. Select the Dependencies tab and note each service listed in the first box.
3. Start each of those services if it is not running, and set its Startup type to Automatic.
4. Start Print Spooler again.

The spooler stops again soon after you restart it

A conflicting or damaged printer driver is a common cause of spooler crashes.

1. Clear the print queue first so the spooler restarts cleanly.
2. Select Start, search for Device Manager and open it.
3. Expand Print queues or Printers, right-click the problem printer and uninstall it.
4. Install the latest driver from the printer manufacturer's website.
5. Restart Print Spooler from services.msc.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bing autocomplete returns only two print-related queries for this topic, so the rest of these questions come from the headings of pages already ranking for it.

How do I cancel or delete a stuck print job?

Open Printers & scanners in Settings, select the printer, then select Open print queue (Windows 11) or Open queue (Windows 10). Right-click the job and select Cancel. If it will not leave, restart the Print Spooler service from services.msc.

Why will a print job not cancel or delete?

The Print Spooler service is holding the job and not responding. Restart Print Spooler in services.msc. If the job survives that, stop the service, delete the files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, and start the service again.

Will restarting my computer delete a stuck print job?

Not always. Microsoft lists a restart as one fix, but restarting the Print Spooler service restarts the jobs it still holds on disk. A job whose spool files remain can come back after a reboot. Delete the spool files with the service stopped to remove it for good.

Where are stuck print jobs stored in Windows 10 and Windows 11?

Queued jobs are stored as files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, also written as %WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers. The path is the same in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Stop the Print Spooler service before deleting the files, then start it again.

What should I do if the print job disappears but nothing prints?

Check that the printer is not paused or offline. In the Windows 10 queue, clear Pause Printing and Use Printer Offline on the Printer menu. Then turn the printer off, unplug it for 30 seconds, reconnect it, and print a test page.

Why does the deleted print job keep coming back?

Either the job's files are still in the spool folder, or another device or app keeps sending it. Stop Print Spooler, delete the files in the PRINTERS folder, start the service, and cancel the job on any other PC that shares the printer.

Do I need administrator rights to clear a stuck print job?

Cancelling a job in the print queue and running Remove-PrintJob in PowerShell do not need administrator rights. Stopping the Print Spooler service, running net stop spooler, or deleting spool files needs an administrator account or an elevated Command Prompt.

Can I cancel a print job from the app before it reaches the queue?

Yes, but only briefly. Office apps such as Excel show a printing dialog for a moment after you select Print, and selecting Cancel there stops the job. Once that dialog closes, cancel the job from the print queue instead.