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How to Restart the Print Spooler

Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, right-click Print Spooler and choose Restart. From Command Prompt, run net stop spooler, then net start spooler. If the spooler keeps stopping, clear the print queue and replace the printer driver, then restart it. Every method is below for Windows 11 and 10.

By Printer Test Page LabLast updated

Restart the print spooler in Services (Windows 11 and 10)

Restart

Restart the Print Spooler service

  1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
  2. Scroll down to Print Spooler.
  3. Right-click Print Spooler and choose Restart.

Source: Fix print spooler service not running errors in Windows | Microsoft Support (support.microsoft.com), checked Oct 12, 2026.

Clear and restart

Clear a queue that won’t cancel

  1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
  2. Right-click Print Spooler and select Stop.
  3. In File Explorer, go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS and delete all files in the folder.
  4. Right-click Print Spooler and select Start.
  5. Turn the printer off, wait at least 60 seconds, turn it back on, then restart the PC.

Source: Fix print job stuck in queue errors in Windows | Microsoft Support (support.microsoft.com), checked Oct 13, 2026.

Clear and reset the print spooler (stuck jobs)

  1. Type services in the taskbar search box and open Services.
  2. Double-click Print Spooler, click Stop, then OK.
  3. Open the folder %WINDIR%\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete every file in it.
  4. Back in Services, double-click Print Spooler, click Start, set Startup type to Automatic, then click OK.

Source: Fix printer connection and printing problems in Windows | Microsoft Support (support.microsoft.com), checked Oct 12, 2026.

Restart the print spooler from Command Prompt

Search for cmd, right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. Then run:

net stop spooler
net start spooler

net start starts a service by name,[1] and net stop stops it.[2] “Spooler” is the service name of Print Spooler. To only start or only stop it, run just one line.

Restart the print spooler with PowerShell

Right-click Start and choose Terminal (Admin). Changing a service needs administrator rights.[3]

Check whether it is running

Get-Service -Name Spooler

Restart it

Restart-Service -Name Spooler -Force

Make it start with Windows, then start it

Set-Service -Name Spooler -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service -Name Spooler

Get-Service shows Running or Stopped,[4] and Set-Service -StartupType controls how it starts.[5]

What is the print spooler?

The print spooler is the Windows service that sits between your apps and your printer. It decides whether a job goes to a local or network printer, saves the job to a file, converts it into a format the printer understands, and sends it to the printer.[6] Because every job passes through it, a stopped or stalled spooler means nothing prints, even when the printer itself is fine.

Print spooler keeps stopping or is not running

If the spooler stops again soon after you restart it, or Windows says the print spooler service is not running, something keeps crashing it. Microsoft’s fix, in order:[7]

  1. Clear the print queue. A damaged job can crash the spooler each time it starts. Cancel every job, or clear the print queue with one command.
  2. Remove conflicting or outdated drivers. In Device Manager, look under Print queues and Printers, and remove old or duplicate printer drivers you don’t use.
  3. Install the latest driver for your printer from the maker’s website.
  4. Restart the Print Spooler service, and set its Startup type to Automatic so it starts with Windows.[8]

Where is the print spooler folder?

Waiting jobs are stored as files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. When a job won’t cancel, Microsoft’s method is to stop the spooler, delete the files in that folder and start it again.[9] That cancels every waiting job for every printer, so print anything you still need afterwards. The clear the print queue page has this as a single command.

Spooler running, but still nothing prints?

Check whether the computer can reach the printer with the printer offline checker, or start from printer not printing.

Questions people ask

How do I restart the print spooler?

Press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter. Find Print Spooler, right-click it and choose Restart. From an administrator Command Prompt, run net stop spooler and then net start spooler.

What is the print spooler?

The print spooler is the Windows service that takes print jobs from your apps, saves them to a file, converts them for your printer and sends them to it one at a time. If it stops, nothing prints even when the printer is fine.

Why does the print spooler keep stopping?

Usually a stuck print job or a faulty printer driver crashes it again after each restart. Microsoft’s fix is to clear the print queue, remove conflicting or outdated printer drivers, install the latest driver from the printer maker, and then restart the spooler.

Is it safe to restart the print spooler?

Yes. Restarting it only stops and starts the printing service; your printers stay installed. If a job is stuck, clear the queue first, or the same job may block the spooler again.

Where is the print spooler folder?

Waiting print jobs are stored in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Stop the spooler before deleting anything there; deleting those files cancels every waiting job for every printer.

Sources

  1. [1] Net start (Microsoft Learn (archived))net start followed by a service name starts that service from Command Prompt.
  2. [2] Start, Stop, Pause, Resume, and Restart SQL Server Services (Microsoft Learn)To stop a service from Command Prompt, replace net start with net stop.
  3. [3] Start-Service (Microsoft.PowerShell.Management) (Microsoft Learn)Only administrators can start, stop or restart a service by default, so PowerShell must run elevated.
  4. [4] Get-Service (Microsoft.PowerShell.Management) (Microsoft Learn)Get-Service shows a service’s status, such as Running or Stopped.
  5. [5] Set-Service (Microsoft.PowerShell.Management) (Microsoft Learn)Set-Service -StartupType changes how a service starts.
  6. [6] Print Spooler Architecture (Microsoft Learn)The Windows print spooler is a set of components that decides whether a job is handled locally or over the network, spools the data to a file, converts it for the printer, and sends it to the printer hardware.
  7. [7] Fix print spooler service not running errors in Windows (Microsoft Support)Microsoft’s fix for print spooler service not running errors: clear the print queue, remove conflicting or outdated printer drivers in Device Manager and install the latest one from the maker, then restart the Print Spooler service.
  8. [8] Fix printer connection and printing problems in Windows (Microsoft Support)When restarting the spooler after clearing it, Microsoft sets its Startup type to Automatic.
  9. [9] Fix print job stuck in queue errors in Windows (Microsoft Support)Stuck jobs are kept in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS; Microsoft’s fix deletes the files there with the spooler stopped.

Checked 2026-10-13. Microsoft documents net start on an archived page; the syntax is unchanged in current Windows.

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