PTPrinter Triage
Home / Printer problems / How to Restart the Windows Print Spooler
Printer troubleshooting

How to Restart the Windows Print Spooler

The Print Spooler is the Windows service that manages printer queues. Restart it when the queue is frozen or jobs will not delete—not as the first fix for every printer problem.

Quick checks

  • Try cancelling the stuck job first.
  • Save any work before changing services.
  • Restart only the Print Spooler service, not random Windows services.
  • After the restart, retry one simple page.

Try these fixes in order

Step 1

Try the queue first

If you can cancel the failed job normally, do that. You may not need to touch the service at all.

Step 2

Open Services

Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. This opens the Windows Services console.

Step 3

Find Print Spooler

Scroll to Print Spooler. Do not change unrelated services.

Step 4

Restart the service

Right-click Print Spooler and choose Restart. If Restart is unavailable, choose Stop, wait briefly, then Start.

Step 5

Retry printing

Open the print queue again. If the old job is gone, send one simple test page before returning to the original document.

Still not working?

Let Printer Triage narrow it down

The guided troubleshooter asks one question at a time and keeps the checks matched to what you are seeing.

Run the guided troubleshooterPrint Spooler troubleshooting guide
How to Clear the Print Queue in Windows 11Clear a stuck Windows 11 print queue safely: open the queue, cancel failed jobs, retry, and restart the Print Spooler only if the queue will not clear.Print Job Stuck in Queue? Clear the Blockage SafelyPrint job stuck in the queue? Remove the failed job, resume the printer, and retry before restarting services or reinstalling the printer.Printer Won't Print? Start With These ChecksPrinter won't print? Check the printer, selected queue, stuck jobs, connection, and a simple test before reinstalling software or resetting Wi-Fi.How to Print a Windows Test PagePrint a Windows test page to check whether Windows can send a basic job to the printer before troubleshooting a specific app or document.
Printer Triage is an independent troubleshooting reference and is not affiliated with printer manufacturers. When a model-specific message or procedure differs, use the exact printer model's documentation.