Print Jobs Won't Delete from the Print Queue!

Today a user called me up because she couldn't print. The problem was apparent when I went to take a look. She had a print job stuck in the queue, and the rest of her documents were lining up right behind it.

I tried to delete it, but all it did was sit there saying deleting indefinitely. What the heck was going on?

Lets get one thing straight, this is not going to be a freebie post on where to get free software, this is one of those tips and tricks. Lots of administrators know exactly what to do in this case, but do you?

Here's what I did:

1) I remoted into the print server using Remote Desktop.
2) I stopped the print service ( I like the command line method: net stop spooler)
3) I browsed to %systemroot%\system32\spooler\printers and deleted the stuck file in there.
4) I started the service again (again with the command line: net start spooler)

Bingo! The job was deleted and she could print again. Luckily I have my easy button from Staples handy.

Posted in: print queue, print server, printer, rdp, remote desktop, stuck printer