Printer Not Printing in Windows 11: Clear the Spooler and Other Fixes

A printer that will not print in Windows 11 is usually blocked by a stuck job in the queue, a Print Spooler service that has stopped responding, or a connection problem that makes Windows mark the printer as offline. Try the steps in this order: restart the printer, cancel all documents in the queue, restart the Print Spooler, and if that fails, stop the spooler and delete the files in its spool folder. Re-adding the printer is the last step.

Who this is for and what you will have at the end

This guide is for Windows 11 users who see a print job sitting at "Printing" or "Error", a printer shown as Offline, or documents that vanish without printing. It assumes a printer already set up on the PC, whether USB, Wi-Fi or a shared network printer. At the end you will have an empty queue, a running spooler and a printer that Windows reports as ready, or a clear idea of which layer is failing. If you are setting up a printer for the first time on a network, see office printer network setup.

The first part of the procedure follows Microsoft's article "Troubleshooting offline printer problems in Windows". The command-line method for clearing the spool folder is from a Microsoft Learn Q&A answer. Both are listed in the references.

How printing works, briefly

When you print, Windows does not send the document straight to the printer. The Print Spooler service receives the job, stores it as files in a spool folder, and then sends it to the printer when the printer is ready. If one job in the queue is corrupt or the printer stops responding, every job behind it waits. That is why one failed document can block everything, and why clearing the queue so often works.

Knowing this tells you what each fix does:

Step 1: Run the built-in troubleshooter

Microsoft's article for Windows 11 starts with the automated troubleshooter in the Get Help app. It runs diagnostics and attempts a repair, which costs nothing and sometimes finds a cause you would not guess.

1. Open the Get Help app from the link in Microsoft's article (aka.ms/OfflinePrinter), or search for Get Help in the Start menu and ask it to troubleshoot an offline printer.
2. Follow the prompts. If it fixes the problem, print a test page and stop here.
3. If it does not, continue with the manual steps.

Step 2: Restart the printer and check the connection

Microsoft lists a power cycle as the first manual step:

1. Turn off the printer and unplug it.
2. Wait 30 seconds.
3. Plug it back in and turn it on.

Then check the connection:

• For a Wi-Fi printer, confirm the printer is on the same Wi-Fi network as your PC. You can see the network name on the printer's display or menu, and the printer's manual explains where to look.
• For a USB printer, try a different port and a different cable, and connect it directly to the PC instead of through a hub.
• If you recently changed your router or network name, the printer may still be trying to join the old one.

Print a test page after this step. A surprising number of "offline" cases clear here.

Step 3: Set the default printer

Windows can change the default printer on its own, so a document may be going to a different printer than you think, such as a PDF printer or an old device.

1. Open Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Select your printer.
3. Choose Set as default.

If Set as default is missing, turn off Let Windows manage my default printer on the same page first, then select the printer again. Microsoft documents this exact behavior.

Step 4: Clear the print queue

1. In Printers & scanners, select your printer.
2. Choose Open print queue.
3. Select the ellipsis (...) and choose Cancel all.

You should see the list empty out. A job may sit for a few seconds with the status "Deleting". If it stays there and never disappears, go on to the next step.

If the queue window has a Printer menu, check that Pause Printing and Use Printer Offline are not ticked.

Step 5: Restart the Print Spooler service

1. Search for Services and open it.
2. Scroll to Print Spooler.
3. Right-click it and choose Restart.

This is the step Microsoft gives for a hung spooler. Wait about 10 seconds, reopen the print queue and print a test page.

If Restart is greyed out or the service fails to start, go to the next step and also read the troubleshooting section below.

Step 6: Stop the spooler and delete the spool files

If a job will not cancel, you can remove the queued job files directly. A Microsoft Learn Q&A answer describes this method. You need administrator rights.

Using Services and File Explorer

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
2. Find Print Spooler, right-click it and choose Stop.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. If a User Account Control prompt asks for permission, choose Continue or Yes.
4. Delete all the files inside the folder. Do not delete the PRINTERS folder itself.
5. Return to Services, right-click Print Spooler and choose Start.

Using PowerShell

Open Terminal (Admin) or Windows PowerShell as administrator and run:

Stop-Service -Name Spooler -Force
Remove-Item -Path "C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*" -Force -Recurse
Start-Service -Name Spooler

The same sequence works in an elevated Command Prompt:

net stop spooler
del /Q /F /S "C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*"
net start spooler

The \* at the end of the path matters. It removes the files inside the folder and leaves the folder in place. The deleted jobs cannot be recovered, so resend any documents you still need.

After the service starts, open the queue again. It should be empty. Print a test page.

Step 7: Remove and re-add the printer

If the printer still fails, its entry on the PC may be damaged. Microsoft's steps:

1. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Select the printer, choose Remove, then Yes.
3. Make sure the printer is on and connected to the same network, or plugged in by USB.
4. Next to Add a printer or scanner, choose Add device and follow the prompts.

Windows will usually install a driver automatically. If it cannot find one, download the driver from the printer maker's support site for your exact model. Microsoft's offline printer article links to a separate article on installing printer drivers in Windows, which has the details.

Finally, restart the PC. Microsoft lists a restart as the last step, and it clears anything the earlier steps left behind.

Verify the fix

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners and select the printer. The status should not say Offline.
2. Open the print queue. It should be empty.
3. Choose Printer properties and select Print test page. The page should print within a minute.
4. Print a real document from an application, such as a PDF or Word file, to make sure the application's output also works.

Troubleshooting

The spooler will not stop or start

If the Print Spooler will not stop, a job may be holding it. Try the steps again, or restart the PC, which clears the service. If the spooler stops again soon after starting, the cause may be a bad printer driver or a damaged job file instead of the queue. In that case, remove the printer and download a fresh driver from the maker's site before adding it again.

The printer is online but nothing prints

Check that the right printer is selected in the application's print dialog and that it is the default in Settings. Also look for a second copy of the same printer in Printers & scanners, for example a name followed by "(Copy 1)". Print to each one and remove the extra.

The printer shows Offline on Wi-Fi only

The printer may have gone to sleep, changed its IP address or joined a different network. Turn it off and on, confirm the network name, and if your router assigns addresses automatically, see the guide on DHCP reservations for office printers so the address stops changing.

Only one app cannot print

Try another application. If a PDF prints from another viewer but not from the first, the problem is the first application's print settings and not Windows. Update the app or print to PDF and print the PDF.

A shared printer works for others but not for you

Remove the shared printer from your PC and add it again. For a print server set up, the article on shared printer setup with a Windows print server covers the server side.

Closing checklist

1. Run the Get Help troubleshooter.
2. Power-cycle the printer and check the network or USB connection.
3. Set the correct default printer.
4. Cancel all documents in the print queue.
5. Restart the Print Spooler service.
6. If a job will not clear, stop the spooler, delete the contents of the PRINTERS folder and start it again.
7. Remove and re-add the printer, then restart the PC.
8. Print a test page to confirm.

References

• Microsoft Support, Troubleshooting offline printer problems in Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/help/4496876
• Microsoft Learn Q&A, clearing the print queue and restarting the Print Spooler: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/a/3322824