“I am experiencing issues even when my printer is connected properly. What should I do?” – Arnold

Printer issues are not uncommon. Fortunately, in most cases, they can be solved easily.

If you’re experiencing printer issues such as the ones mentioned below even when your printer is properly connected, then restarting the printer spooler can help.

• An error message that says “the printer spooler service is not running”
• Documents getting stuck in the printer queue
• Files not being sent to the printer

Printer spooler is built-in program in Windows. It is responsible for managing any print jobs that are sent to the printer.

Here’s what you need to fix the above issues:

Step #1 – Restart Printer Spooler Service

• Type services in the Windows Search Bar (usually located on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen) and click Services app in the search results
• In the right-side pane, look for Print Spooler service, right-click on it, and select Restart

• Once you’re done, try to print a test document. If the printer doesn’t print it, try the next solution

Step #2 – Clear the print queue

• Type control panel in the Search Bar in the taskbar and hit Enter
• Set view by to Category using the drop-down menu next to it and then click View devices and printers

• Right-click your printer and select See what’s printing

• Right-click each document and then click Cancel

• Try to print a test document and if you’re still unable to print, try the next solution

Step #3 – Manually delete files in print spooler folder

Here’s what to do:

• Type services in the Search Bar in the taskbar and hit Enter
• In the Services window, right-click Print Spooler service in the right-side pane and select Stop

• Type file explorer in the Windows Search Bar and hit Enter
• Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\spool\Printers and delete all files
• Once you’re done, open the Services window, right-click the Print Spooler and select Start

You should be able to print documents now. But if the problem still persists, move on to the last solution.

Step #4 – Use a batch file for clearing and restarting the print spooler

Here’s what to do:

• Right-click on an empty space on the desktop, hover the cursor over New, and select Text Document

• Now copy and paste the text below into the document:

net stop spooler

del /Q /F /S “%windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*.*”

net start spooler

• The text document should look like the screenshot below

• Click the File menu and select Save as
• Change the Save as type to All Files by using the drop-down menu next to it. Give any name to file you like, but just make sure that you type .bat at the end of it (see the screenshot below) and click Save

• After you’ve saved the file, right-click it and select Run as administrator to clear and restart the print spooler

We’re sure you will be able to print documents now. Keeping this batch file may be a good idea. If needed, you can reuse it in the future.

Well, I believe as far as restarting the printer spooler is concerned, that’s just about it. But before signing off, I would like to give a pro-tip to improve printer performance, bug fixes, and ensure better compatibility with new software. Keeping the printer drivers helps you achieve all of that and some more. While you can update printer drivers manually, the easiest and the fastest way to do it is by using a reliable third-party tool. I recommend you give Driver Updater a try. It is the most accurate and advanced among all the driver update tools on the market.

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

• You can update device drivers automatically
• The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
• The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
• Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

 

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