Quick Tip: How To Delete a Stuck Print Job in Windows 7 Print Queue

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Have you ever had a stuck print job in the print queue? If so, then you know how frustrating it can be removing that print job from the queue. With windows 7, this can be an issue for some printers.

To get those stuck print jobs unstuck, you can always try and turn off the printer, powering down the printer, restarting the computer, and hitting the cancel button over and over again. Sometimes these tricks work but for the truly stuck print jobs, they won’t work. When this happens there are several things you can do.

How to Clear a Stuck Print Job in Windows 7

Working in the IT field, I have had a stuck print job happen in Windows 7 and previous versions of Windows as well. In fact, just last night, I had a stuck print job that just wouldn’t go away. After resolving the issue, I thought I would share how I easily fixed this issue and it took less than two minutes to fix. Normally rebooting the computer and printer works. But when it doesn’t or if the print jobs keep getting stuck (you have a bigger issue that needs to be resolved) then you need you a faster way to remove those stuck print jobs.

If you are constantly having to delete print jobs, then rebooting isn’t the best thing you can do with your time. Until you can have someone look into your print issues, you can delete the print spooler from windows services. In most cases, this is a fix you might only have to do once. Each time you delete the print spooler, a new one is created. So when the new one is created, the stuck print job goes away. 

To get Window Services, go to – start >>> control panel >>> administrative tools >>> services then scroll through the many active services and look for the sprint spoiler. Right click on that service and stop the service. Then start the service again. Once its running again, close the services window. Close your print queue and reopen it. Now your print queue should be empty. After that, your print spooler should be empty.

This is an easy way to fix a stuck print job in Windows 7. This quick and easy way is only one way to fix this issue and should work with Windows Vista and XP as well. As for the other ways, those are a lot more in depth and work just as well as this method.