Canon Printer Print Queue Stuck — Clear It Now

WINDOWSClear Stuck Queue on Windows 11 and 10

The standard Cancel All Documents button in the print queue often fails because the Windows Print Spooler service holds the job files open with a file lock. You must stop the spooler service before the files can be deleted.

Method 1 — Manual Steps (Recommended)

1. Go to Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners. Click your Canon printer → Open print queue. Click Printer → Cancel All Documents. If jobs clear, you are done. If they stay, continue below.
2. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
3. Scroll to Print Spooler in the list. Right-click it → Stop. Confirm the status column shows Stopped.
4. Open File Explorer and navigate to: C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
5. Select all files inside this folder (Ctrl + A) and delete them. Do not delete the PRINTERS folder itself — only the files inside it.
6. Return to services.msc, right-click Print Spooler → Start.
7. Try printing again. The queue is now completely clear.

Method 2 — Command Prompt (Faster)

If you are comfortable with Command Prompt, these four commands clear the queue in under 30 seconds. Right-click the Start button and choose Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin).

Each command runs sequentially. After the fourth line appears, the spooler is restarted and the queue is empty.

MACClear Stuck Queue on Mac

Mac handles print queues differently from Windows. There is no spooler service to stop, but the approach of pausing the printer first before deleting jobs is more reliable than trying to cancel while the printer is active.

1. Go to System Settings → Printers & Scanners. Click your Canon printer.
2. Click Open Print Queue (or the printer icon that appears in the Dock when jobs are queued).
3. In the print queue window, click the printer name at the top and choose Pause Printer. This stops the printer from trying to process jobs while you clear them.
4. Click the X next to each job to cancel and delete it. With the printer paused, jobs delete immediately without getting stuck.
5. After all jobs are deleted, click the printer name again and choose Resume Printer.
6. If you do not see a Pause option, try right-clicking or Control-clicking the printer name in the queue window.

Why the Queue Keeps Getting Stuck — Permanent Fix

If your Canon printer queue gets stuck repeatedly — not just once — the underlying cause is almost always an unstable connection between your computer and the printer. When the printer is temporarily unreachable (because its IP address changed after a router restart, or because the WiFi connection dropped briefly), print jobs time out and become corrupted in the spooler. These corrupted jobs then block all subsequent printing.

The permanent fix is assigning your Canon printer a fixed IP address through your router's DHCP reservation settings. Log into your router admin panel at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, find the DHCP or Address Reservation section, locate your Canon printer by its MAC address (printed on a label on the bottom of the printer), and assign it a permanent fixed address such as 192.168.1.100. After saving this reservation, your printer always appears at the same address and the queue-sticking problem stops recurring.

For a full walkthrough of WiFi stability fixes including DHCP reservation, see our Canon printer not connecting to WiFi guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why is my Canon printer queue stuck and won't clear?
  A stuck print queue is usually caused by a corrupted print job that the Windows Print Spooler cannot process or delete. The fix is to stop the Print Spooler service, manually delete the job files from C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, and restart the service.
• How do I clear a stuck print job on Canon printer Windows 11?
  Press Windows key plus R, type services.msc and press Enter. Find Print Spooler, right-click and Stop it. Open C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS and delete all files inside. Return to services, right-click Print Spooler and Start it. The queue will now be empty.
• How do I clear a stuck print job on Mac?
  Go to System Settings then Printers and Scanners. Click your Canon printer then Open Print Queue. Click the printer name in the queue window and choose Pause Printer. Click the X next to each job to cancel it. Then choose Resume Printer. Pausing first prevents jobs from getting re-locked while you delete them.
• Why does my Canon printer queue keep getting stuck?
  Recurring queue problems are almost always caused by the printer's IP address changing after router restarts. Jobs time out when the printer cannot be found, become corrupted, and block the queue. Assigning a static IP through your router's DHCP reservation settings permanently solves this.