Printer Not Printing? Clear the Queue and Work Through These Checks

1What this lesson covers

This lesson is a step-by-step checklist for when your printer is not printing: you click Print and nothing comes out, or documents sit in a queue saying “waiting” or “error”. You’ll check the printer itself, make sure the job went to the right printer, clear a stuck print queue, and restart the printing system on your computer. Work through the steps in order and stop when printing works.

2Before you start

Look at the printer’s screen or lights first. Messages about paper, jams, open doors or empty ink or toner come first; nothing will print until they’re cleared. If the computer says the printer is offline, start with printer offline instead.

3Quick checks on the printer and computer

1. Check paper, doors and supplies. Load paper, close every door and replace any supply the printer says is empty. You should see: a ready screen or a steady ready light.
2. Check you chose the right printer. In the print dialog, look at the printer name. Jobs often go to an old printer, a duplicate entry or “Microsoft Print to PDF” by mistake.
3. Restart the printer. Switch it off with its power button, wait a minute, and switch it on.
4. Print a test page from the printer itself. Use its reports or settings menu. You should see: a page print. If it doesn’t, the problem is with the printer, not the computer; see the “When to get more help” section.
5. Print a test page from the computer. On Windows, open Printers & scanners, select the printer and choose Print test page. On a Mac, print a short document.

4Clear a stuck print queue

On Windows:

1. Open the queue. In Printers & scanners, select your printer and choose Open print queue (Windows 10: Open queue). You should see: a list of waiting documents.
2. Cancel the stuck jobs. Right-click the first document and choose Cancel, or use Cancel all documents from the menu if it’s available.
3. Wait a minute. Jobs marked “Deleting” can take a moment to disappear.
4. Print again.

On a Mac:

1. Open Printers & Scanners, select the printer and open its print queue.
2. Select each job and click the delete button (an X or a minus sign).
3. Click Resume if the printer is paused, then print again.

5Restart the print spooler on Windows

If jobs won’t delete, restart the Windows service that manages printing, called the Print Spooler. This needs an administrator account.

1. Open Services. Select Start, type Services, and open the Services app.
2. Find Print Spooler in the list.
3. Right-click it and choose Restart. You should see: the status change briefly and return to Running.
4. Open the print queue again. Stuck jobs are usually gone or can now be canceled.
5. Print again. If the queue still won’t clear, restart the computer.

On a Mac, if jobs still fail after you’ve deleted them and restarted, Apple’s help page explains further steps, including resetting the printing system (which removes all printers so you can add them again).

6Check that it worked

Print the document you wanted. You should see: the job appear briefly in the queue, then disappear as the page prints. Print a second short document to make sure the problem doesn’t come back.

7Troubleshooting

• Jobs disappear but nothing prints. The job may be going to another printer or a different entry for the same printer. Remove duplicate printer entries.
• Only one app won’t print. Try printing from another app. If others work, check that app’s print settings or save the document as a PDF and print that.
• Pages print as strange symbols. The driver may be wrong or damaged. See update, remove or reinstall a printer driver.
• The printer pulls paper in, then stops. See how to fix a paper jam.
• Pages come out blank. See improve print quality.

8When to get more help

If the printer can’t print its own test page, shows a hardware or service error that returns after restarting, makes grinding noises, or you smell burning, stop and contact the manufacturer’s support (switch off and unplug first in the last case). For problems in Windows or macOS that affect every printer, Microsoft’s and Apple’s support pages are the right place. On a work network, ask your IT administrator before restarting shared services.

9FAQ

Why does my print job say “error” in the queue?

The printer couldn’t complete it, often because of a paper, connection or driver problem. Cancel the job, fix the cause shown on the printer, and print again.

Is it safe to restart the Print Spooler?

Yes. It’s a normal Windows service, and restarting it only clears printing tasks. Your documents and settings are not affected.

How do I stop a document from printing halfway?

Cancel it in the print queue on your computer. Many printers also have a cancel button on the control panel.

Why is the print queue empty but nothing printed?

The job may have gone to a different printer, or the printer discarded it after an error. Check the printer name in the print dialog and look for messages on the printer.