Introduction:

Printer spooling ensures that printing jobs are processed efficiently, and while it’s beneficial in many cases, there might be instances when you need to stop the spooler service. This could be due to several reasons like stuck print jobs, printer errors, and configuration issues. In this article, we will discuss three ways to stop printer spooling on a Windows computer.

Method 1: Restart the Print Spooler Service through Services

1. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.

2. Type “services.msc” without quotes and press Enter.

3. In the Services window, search for “Print Spooler” in the list of services.

4. Right-click on “Print Spooler” and select “Stop” from the context menu.

5. Your printer spooling service is now stopped. To restart it, right-click again on “Print Spooler” and choose “Start.”

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

1. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.

2. Type “cmd” without quotes and press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to open Command Prompt as an administrator.

3. In the Command Prompt window, type “net stop spooler” without quotes and press Enter.

4. The command will execute, and you will see a message saying “The Print Spooler service was stopped successfully.”

5. To restart the Print Spooler service through Command Prompt, type “net start spooler” without quotes and press Enter.

Method 3: Clearing Print Queue

1. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.

2. Type “%WINDIR%\System32\spool\PRINTERS” without quotes, and press Enter.

3. The “PRINTERS” folder will open up, showing all the files currently in the print queue.

4. Delete all the files inside the folder. This will remove any pending print jobs and free the print queue.

5. Close the folder and restart your computer to clear any remaining print spooling issues.

Conclusion:

Stopping printer spooling on a Windows computer can help resolve errors and remove pending print jobs that might be causing issues. With these three methods, you can easily stop and restart the Print Spooler service as required. Remember to follow instructions carefully, as incorrect modifications may lead to further problems with your system or printer functions.