How to cancel a print job that's stuck in your queue
A print job stuck in your queue usually means the printer received the command but never finished sending it to paper — or sent it but the operating system doesn't know that yet. You can cancel it directly from your computer without touching the printer itself. The steps differ slightly by operating system, but the goal is the same: tell your computer to forget about that job and clear the queue so new prints can go through.
Most stuck jobs clear within a few seconds of cancellation. If a job refuses to cancel or keeps reappearing, the printer's memory may need a reset — but cancelling from your computer is always the first step to try.
Key Takeaways
- On Windows, open Settings > Devices > Printers & Scanners, select your printer, and click "Open queue" to see and cancel individual jobs.
- On Mac, go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners, select your printer, and click "Open Print Queue" to cancel jobs from there.
- On Linux, use the command lpstat -o to list jobs and cancel -a to clear them all, or cancel [job-id] to remove one specific job.
- If a job won't cancel from the queue, restart the Print Spooler service on Windows or the printing daemon on Mac and Linux.
- Restarting your printer after clearing the queue can help it forget stuck jobs that are still in its own memory.
Cancelling a print job on Windows
Open Settings and go to Devices, then Printers & Scanners. Find your printer in the list, click it once to select it, then click the Open queue button that appears below. A window will open showing every job waiting to print on that printer.
Click the job you want to remove, then click the Printer menu at the top of the window and select Cancel. The job should disappear from the list within a few seconds. If you want to clear all jobs at once, you can select multiple jobs by holding Ctrl and clicking each one, then cancel them together.
If the job won't cancel or keeps reappearing, the Print Spooler service may be stuck. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Print Spooler in the list, right-click it, and select Restart. This will clear all queued jobs and restart the printing system.
Cancelling a print job on Mac
Go to System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions), then click Printers & Scanners. Select your printer from the list on the left. A button labeled Open Print Queue will appear on the right side of the window — click it.
The print queue window shows all jobs waiting for that printer. Click the job you want to remove, then click the X button or the Delete button that appears. The job will be cancelled immediately. If you see a job that says "Paused" or "Error", cancelling it usually clears it from the queue as well.
If a job won't cancel, restart the printing system by opening Terminal (in Applications > Utilities) and typing launchctl stop org.cups.cupsd, then launchctl start org.cups.cupsd. This restarts the CUPS printing daemon without requiring a full computer restart.
Cancelling a print job on Linux
Open a terminal and type lpstat -o to see all jobs currently in the queue. Each job will have an ID number like HP-1 or Canon-5. To cancel a specific job, type cancel [job-id] — for example, cancel HP-1 — and press Enter.
To cancel all jobs at once, type cancel -a and press Enter. This clears the entire queue for all printers on your system. If you only want to clear jobs for one printer, type cancel -P [printer-name], replacing [printer-name] with your printer's actual name (which you can find by running lpstat -p).
If jobs won't cancel, restart the CUPS daemon by typing sudo systemctl restart cups and entering your password. This will clear all queued jobs and restart the printing system.
What to do if the job still won't cancel
If a job persists after you cancel it from your computer's queue, the printer itself may have a copy of the job in its memory. Power off the printer completely, wait 30 seconds, and turn it back on. This clears the printer's internal queue and usually resolves stuck jobs.
Some printers also have a Cancel or Stop button on the control panel itself. If your printer is actively printing or warming up, pressing this button will stop the current action. Check your printer's manual for the exact location of this button — it varies by model.
If the same job keeps reappearing after you cancel it, the file itself may be corrupted. Try deleting the original document and recreating it, or try printing a different document to confirm the printer works. This tells you whether the problem is with that specific file or with the printer's queue system.
Why print jobs get stuck
Print jobs usually get stuck when the connection between your computer and printer is interrupted mid-transfer — a USB cable disconnect, a network timeout, or a printer that goes to sleep before finishing. The operating system holds onto the job, waiting for the printer to respond, but the printer never does.
Outdated or corrupted printer drivers can also cause jobs to queue but never print. If you find yourself clearing stuck jobs frequently, check your printer manufacturer's website for a newer driver version. Uninstall the old driver completely, restart your computer, and install the new one.
Network printers are more prone to stuck jobs than USB printers because the connection is less stable. If you use a network printer and jobs frequently get stuck, try moving the printer closer to your router or switching to a wired connection if your printer supports it.
Preventing stuck print jobs
Keep your printer awake while printing by disabling sleep mode in your printer's settings menu. Many network printers have a power-saving feature that puts them to sleep after 15 or 30 minutes of inactivity — if a large print job is queued during this time, it may time out.
Update your printer driver regularly. Manufacturers release driver updates to fix printing bugs and improve stability. Check your printer's support page every few months, or enable automatic driver updates in Windows Update if your printer is a common model.
Avoid sending multiple large print jobs in rapid succession. If you queue five 50-page documents at once, the printer may become overwhelmed and drop one or more jobs. Send one job, wait for it to finish printing, then send the next one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cancel a print job after it has already started printing?
Yes, but the result depends on how far the printer has progressed. If you cancel within the first few seconds, the printer will stop and eject the page. If the job is already halfway through, the printer may finish the current page before stopping. Pressing the Cancel button on the printer's control panel will stop it immediately.
What if I cancel a job but it's still showing in the queue?
Wait 10 to 15 seconds — sometimes the queue takes a moment to update. If it still shows after that, restart the Print Spooler (Windows), CUPS daemon (Mac/Linux), or restart your computer. If the job reappears after restart, the printer itself may have a corrupted copy; power off the printer for 30 seconds and turn it back on.
Will cancelling a print job damage my printer?
No. Cancelling a job from your computer's queue simply tells the printer to stop listening for that particular file. It does not send any harmful commands to the printer. Restarting the Print Spooler or CUPS daemon is also safe and does not damage hardware.
How do I cancel a print job on a shared network printer?
Follow the same steps for your operating system, but note that you can only cancel jobs you sent yourself. If someone else sent the job, only they or a network administrator can cancel it. Check your printer's web interface (usually accessible by typing the printer's IP address into a browser) to see all jobs on the queue, though cancelling from there requires admin access.
Why does my printer keep printing old jobs after I restart it?
Some printers store jobs in permanent memory and resume them after a restart. Check your printer's settings menu for an option to clear the job queue or reset to factory defaults. Consult your printer's manual for the exact menu path, as it varies by brand and model.