How to cancel a previous print. How to cancel printing on a printer: common methods. Using the control panel

In order to print a document, you need to send a request to the printer. After that, the file is queued and waits until the device starts working with it. But in such a process, there is no guarantee that the file will not be mixed up or that it will be longer than expected. In this case, it remains only to urgently stop printing.

How to cancel printing if the printer has already started? It turns out there are a lot of ways. From the simplest, which helps in a matter of minutes, to quite complex, the implementation of which may not be time. One way or another, it is necessary to consider each of the options in order to have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200ball the possibilities available.

Method 1: Viewing the queue through the "Control Panel"

Quite a primitive way, relevant if there are several documents in the queue, one of which does not need to be printed.

Thus, we have considered one of the most simple ways stop printing on any printer.

Despite the rather complicated name, this way of stopping printing can be a great option for a person who needs to do it quickly. True, quite often they use it only in situations where the first option could not help.


As a result, it can be noted that the method under consideration quite effectively fulfills the user's need to stop the printing process. In addition, it does not require a lot of actions and time.

Method 3: Manual removal

All files that are sent for printing are transferred to the printer's local memory. It is also natural that she has her own location where you can get to remove all documents from the queue, including the one with which the device is working right now.


It is only important to take into account that all other files will be permanently removed from the queue. You need to think about this if the work is done in a large office.

In the end, we have analyzed 3 ways to quickly and smoothly stop printing on any printer. It is recommended to start with the first one, since using it, even a beginner does not risk making wrong actions, which will entail consequences.

Let's imagine the following situation: you "send" to the printer the printing of some document, but it does not want to be printed. Familiar? This article will look at all the possible causes, as well as fixing methods so that the document still prints and everyone is happy.

So, first, let's consider the possible reasons for this behavior of the printer and the computer as a whole.

1) The printer may be simply turned off. Look at it and make sure the network and standby light is on.
If not, then turn it on via the button. If even after that it didn’t light up, then you need to look at the connection wires (network and to the computer). Maybe they moved away or even fell and are not connected.

2) Check if there is paper in the printer. Yes, it happens.

3) It may be that you have several printers or the settings have been changed and the document is sent to another printer. To make sure the settings are correct, look where the document is being sent. Usually in all programs for printing there is a choice of where the document will be sent for printing. For example, this is what it looks like in Notepad:

If this was the problem, then, so that later you don’t suffer and choose your printer every time, you can find “Devices and Printers” in the Control Panel and set the printer in this setting, which will always be used by default, by right-clicking on it and selecting "Set as default"

For a number of other reasons, the computer or printer may tell you the problem directly. For example, make a sound or display a message about a paper jam, damaged cartridge, low ink, etc. Often they will also show how to solve this problem.

Reasons identified? Have you solved the problem? Not? Then let's move on to another most common problem - this is when you sent a document for printing, and it remains "hanging" in the Print Queue (the printer status window in which all documents are displayed) and then it says "Printing", then "Error", but nothing really happens.
Often in this case, many users resend the same document or others for printing. They think they say "What if it helps" and then dozens of documents for printing appear in the Queue, but it still does not happen.

Finally, let's consider what needs to be done with cleaning the print queue by methods, starting from the simple one.

1) The easiest and fastest solution is to restart either the printer or the computer. Usually turns off the printer, and the computer is a pity. You can generally turn it off and on again.
Here you should know that if you turned off the printer and then turned it on (preferably after 10 seconds), then you do not need to send the document for printing again, because. it will already be in the queue (provided that the computer has not been turned off) and can be printed several times.

2) In the window, right-click on the document and select Cancel

3) Go to Start - Control Panel - Printers and Faxes
This is for Windows XP

In Windows 7 and 8, this item is called "Devices and Printers" (if View is set to Large / Small icons)

Here we find our printer and either right-click on it and select the item Clear print queue:

or open this printer and in the window Print Queues select the menu Printer and the item "Clear print queue":

Didn't work? Then let's get serious about deleting the print queue.

4) Right-click on the My Computer icon (in the Start menu or on the Desktop) and select the Manage item:

Here, on the left side of the window, double-click on the “Services and Applications” item, then double-click on the “Services” item, and then on the right side we look for the “Print Spooler” item. Select it, right-click and select "Stop":

In Windows 7, it looks a little different and the items have different names, but the meaning does not change:

Now we need to go to the folder C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS
and delete all files and folders from there:

If your Windows is not on drive C, then you can insert into the address bar of the explorer %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\


Now we open our “Print Spooler” service again (if closed) and right-click on it by selecting the “Start” or “Start” item:

Everything. Now the print queue will certainly be cleared.

For those who found all the steps above (in paragraph 4) too difficult, I have prepared a good solution for you - this is a file that will do everything for you - stop the service, delete files, start the service.
You only need to download it, unzip (

Sometimes, when printing documents on the printer, users may encounter a problem in which, no matter how strange it may sound, the printer does not stop. That is, the printer prints without stopping. What to do and how to fix the situation, see below.

In most cases, this problem occurs, for example, when adding a large number of copies or pages of a document. But maybe in other cases too, for example, the printer just freezes.

To stop printing, you need to pull the paper out of the printer. But, most likely, if you are reading this article, the paper is no longer in the device.

On the right side of the desktop, on the taskbar, we find the printer icon, right-click on it (or left) and select Open all active printers or something like that. Quick menu selection a printer and press Pause printing.

If for some reason there is no printer icon on the taskbar, open Control PanelDevices and printers.

Find the desired printer and open its print queue.

All we need here is to do the same as described above: select the menu a printer and press Pause printing.

Printing will be paused. Any attempts to print the document will be ignored. We have stopped the uncontrolled printing of the printer.

But the problem is not solved. To do this, select everything in the same place, in the print queue, a document or all documents and click Cancel or Delete. Better yet, press Clear print queue.

The queue is empty, but the printer is printing

It happens that there is not a single document in the print queue at all, but, at the same time, the printer continues to print like crazy. We insert paper - the printer starts printing, the queue is empty. We remove the paper - the printer stops, there are still 0 documents in the queue. We insert it - it prints. What to do? How to stop the printer?

The cause of this case is also a large number of copies of the document or too many pages specified for printing. But why queue is empty!? The answer is this: in the printer there is a so-called buffer, some amount of memory that remembers the tasks that were given to it for printing. The operating system may consider that the document has been printed and remove the information from the queue. However, the printer continues to print the document if, for example, more than 100 pages have been ordered.

To stop printing printer, you need to turn off the printer. Wait 1-2 minutes and turn it on again. If this does not help, then in order to stop the printer, you may need to restart the computer and the printer too. Wait a while and turn on the devices.

The printer prints without a computer

It happens. The printer begins to live as if on its own. On one of the forums, someone said something about RISE OF THE MACHINES, JUDGMENT DAY.

And someone even on the printed sheets displayed something like "WHAT DID YOU DO LAST SUMMER". Or maybe it's true ... what a sin for the user ...!??

The solution to the problem is the same as in the previous description - turn off the printer, turn off the computer, wait and turn everything on again. It will work.

Did not work? Then remove the printer completely, reinstall. Fortunately, the driver can be picked up in our

Using a printer or MFP is easy. Just read the instruction manual carefully. Although sometimes this is not enough. Certain difficulties periodically arise for almost everyone who resorts to using this device. For example, quite often novice users ask themselves the question - how can I cancel printing on a printer? Naturally, this can be done in different ways. So in this article, you will learn about all the popular ways to stop printing and thereby save paper and ink that might otherwise be wasted.

On any such device there is an on / off key. Clicking on it will cancel the print job. But at the same time, turn off the printer incorrectly. This is fraught with paper jams and even machine failure. Therefore, we cannot recommend this method. Use them only as a last resort.

Another thing is if the printer has a separate "Cancel" key. By clicking on it, you will quickly delete the current print job. Most often, a similar button is available on devices with a touch screen. It is usually available on the printer screen while the pages are printing.

For reference! The on/off button is usually located on the front panel. But for some printer models (for example, Samsung), it is located at the back.

Through the desktop toolbar

To stop printing on the printer, many users use the so-called toolbar. It allows you to remove the task when working with a device of any manufacturer - canon, hp, sony, etc. And everything is done quite easily:

  1. On a computer or laptop, move to the lower right part of the desktop. Click on the icon that looks like an arrow or a triangle. Thus, we expand the toolbar.
  2. Next, click on the printer icon. Moreover, it is the right mouse button (RMB).
  3. In the menu that opens, select the model of your device, for which you need to cancel the print command. For example, in our case it is hp laserjet 1200.
  4. A menu will appear in which all documents in the queue will be available. It remains only to select the required file (that is, select the entire line with it) and click the Delete button.
  5. When you need to remove all print jobs (rather than choosing one from the queue), it is quicker and easier to click on "Printer" first, and then click on the "Clear Print Queue" command.

Using the control panel

You can open the menu in another way, where all the print jobs in the queue will be displayed:

  1. Go to the "Devices and Printers" section through the Control Panel. In some versions of Windows, it is located in Hardware and Sound.
  2. Right-click on the "problem" printer. Select View Print Queue.
  3. So you got to the menu where you can delete all erroneous queues.
  4. If the documents cannot be removed from the print queue, then most likely they are blocked by the system or the printer driver. Therefore, it is best to try the following method.

Using the command line

How else can I clear the print queue on the printer? There is an option to use command line capabilities. For this:


By the way, if it is inconvenient for you to write all these commands one by one, then you can create a BAT file. To do this, open a Notepad window. Insert all the commands listed in order into it. Save the document using the "Save As" option. In this case, be sure to specify the extension “.cmd” in the name. Run this command script file to stop the printer from printing.

Using the command line capabilities, it is easy to clean up the print queue of documents. You only need to do the following:

  1. Open command line. For example, in Windows 8 and 10, you can simply right-click on Start, and then select the appropriate item.
  2. Enter the command "services.msc". Press enter on the keyboard.
  3. A large menu will appear. We are looking for the item "Print Manager". Click on it RMB, and then select "restart".

By the way, the described method works not only when trying to print a document in Word, but also in cases where special programs are used (ACD FotoSlate, Photo Print Pilot, etc.).

What if I can't clear the print queue?

Sometimes the printer or MFP freezes, and a certain queue of pages sent to print remains in its memory. As a result, the device refuses to execute the new command. In order for it to work properly again, you have to delete the previous print queue.

As a rule, each of the methods described above helps in this. But it also happens that, having tried all the options, the user fails to return office equipment to normal operation. How to be? There are a few more tricks to try:

  • Reboot both devices. This refers to both the printer and the computer from which the document is sent for printing.
  • Go to the "Printers" folder, which is located at "C:\windows\system32\spool\. Delete all its contents manually.


Be sure that after all these manipulations you will be able to stop the printing process and delete "unnecessary" jobs. Just do not forget that any printer has built-in RAM. It is she who stores the print queue and processes various commands that come from a PC or laptop. Including cancellation.

So if you decide to pause the printing process, then keep in mind that the technique will take some time. Therefore, a few seconds after the cancel command is given, the printer can still continue to work. This is fine. Wait a bit and most importantly do not press anything. The device will follow the specified instructions and shut down correctly. He just needs some time for all this.

While printing various documents on the printer, abnormal situations may occur in which it is necessary to stop or completely cancel the entire process. This may be a paper jam in the printer, accidentally sending an unnecessary document for printing, detecting errors in the document during printing, etc. Whatever the reason, in any case, it is advisable to stop printing as soon as possible to avoid wasting paper, as well as printer ink or toner.

The principle of canceling printing is the same in all versions of operating systems of the Windows family and includes the following steps.

  1. In the desktop toolbar, usually located in the lower right corner of the screen, look for the printer icon. IN operating systems, starting with Windows 7, icons are grouped and minimized from the visible part of the screen to save space. To access them, expand the hidden icons by clicking on the triangle symbol in the panel.
  1. Right-click on the printer icon and select your printer by its name from the menu that opens.

  1. The Print Manager window opens and displays all the documents queued for printing. To cancel a single document, select its line and press the Delete or Del key.

  1. To completely delete all print jobs, select the section a printer in the manager and in the list that appears, select the item Clear print queue.

  1. In some cases, it may require restarting the system process responsible for printing in the operating system. To restart, press the Win + R key combination to bring up the system command input window (Win is the key with the Windows logo). Enter the command in the line services.msc and press the Enter key on your keyboard.

  1. In the window that opens, find the service called Print Manager and click the link Restart service.

The print job cannot stop instantly, since all modern printers have built-in RAM, which is used for intermediate storage of documents sent for printing. Even if you canceled printing on the computer itself, the printer may continue to print the document from its RAM.

This process can be stopped immediately only by turning off the power of the printer, which on a running device can lead to a paper jam and is generally not a correct shutdown of a complex electrical device.

Canceling printing on Windows operating systems of various versions works with some delay. It may seem that printing is not canceled despite the commands entered in the dispatcher, and the printer continues to print the already canceled document. But after completing all the steps listed in the article, you will definitely cancel the printing of the document.

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