How to clear a stuck print queue (Windows & Mac)

Windows: cancel from the queue

1. Open Printers & scanners, choose your printer, and click Open print queue.
2. Select stuck jobs and press Delete, or use Printer menu › Cancel All Documents.
3. If a job won't delete, move on to clearing the spool folder.

Windows: clear the spool folder

1. Press Win+R, type services.msc, and Stop the Print Spooler.
2. Open C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS and delete everything inside it.
3. Go back to Services and Start the Print Spooler again.

Mac: reset the printing system

Open System Settings › Printers & Scanners. To clear jobs, open the printer and delete them. If the queue is truly stuck, right-click (Control-click) in the printer list and choose "Reset printing system" — note this removes all printers, so you'll re-add them afterwards.

Stop it happening again

Recurring stuck queues usually trace back to a flaky driver or a printer that keeps going offline. Reinstall the current driver and reserve a static IP for a network printer.