Samsung Printer Job Stuck in Queue? Here's How to Clear It

What's Actually Going On

When you hit Print, your computer doesn't send the document straight to the printer. It hands the job to the print queue, a waiting line run by a background service called the Print Spooler on Windows (and CUPS on a Mac). Jobs print in order, one at a time.

That's why a single broken job causes so much trouble. If the first document in line stalls, every document behind it waits too. You can keep hitting Print, but those new jobs just pile up behind the stuck one.

The good news is that this is almost always a software problem on the computer, not a broken printer. Clearing the queue the right way usually fixes it.

Signs Your Print Job Is Stuck

You're probably dealing with a stuck queue if you see any of these:

• The job's status sits on Spooling, Printing, Error, or Error - Printing and never changes
• You click Cancel and the status changes to Deleting, but the job never leaves
• New documents join the queue, but none of them print
• The printer shows Ready on its display, yet nothing comes out
• The Windows print icon near the clock stays in the taskbar long after you gave up on the job

If the printer's own display shows a paper jam, low toner, or an open cover, fix that first. The queue will often start moving again on its own once the printer is ready.

Why Samsung Print Jobs Get Stuck

Over the years we've seen the same handful of causes come up again and again:

• A frozen Print Spooler. The spooler service can lock up on a job it can't finish. When that happens, pressing Cancel does nothing, because the service that would carry out the cancel is the part that's stuck.
• A damaged or oversized file. Very large PDFs, files with heavy graphics, or documents with missing fonts can produce a spool file the spooler can't finish writing.
• An outdated or mismatched driver. Many Samsung printers were released for Windows 7 or Windows 10. An old driver on a newer version of Windows, or the wrong driver type for your model, is a common trigger.
• The printer went offline mid-job. A Wi-Fi dropout, a sleeping printer, or a changed IP address can cut a job off partway through and leave it in limbo.
• A second copy of the printer. Windows sometimes adds a duplicate entry, like "Samsung M2070 Series (Copy 1)." Your job ends up in a queue that points at a connection that no longer works.
• A paused queue. Someone (or some software) chose Pause Printing, and the jobs simply wait.

Quick Checks Before You Start

Take 30 seconds to check these. They solve more stuck queues than you'd expect.

1. Look at the printer's display or lights for an error, like a paper jam, empty tray, or toner warning.
2. Make sure the printer is on and awake. Press any button to wake it from sleep.
3. For a USB printer, check that the cable is firmly seated at both ends. For a wireless printer, confirm it's on the same network as your computer.
4. Save any open work. A few of the steps below restart services or your PC.

Step 1: Cancel the Stuck Jobs in Windows

Start by clearing the queue the normal way.

On Windows 11:

1. Select Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Click your Samsung printer, then choose Open print queue.
3. Right-click each job and select Cancel. To clear everything at once, click the three dots (...) at the top right and choose Cancel all.
4. Confirm when asked.

On Windows 10:

1. Select Start > Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Click your Samsung printer and choose Open queue.
3. Right-click each job and pick Cancel, or use Printer > Cancel All Documents from the menu bar.

Give it a few seconds. If the queue empties, send a test page. If a job hangs on Deleting, move on to Step 3. That's a sign the spooler itself is stuck.

Step 2: Cancel the Job From the Printer's Control Panel

Sometimes the job has already reached the printer and is stuck in its memory, not on your computer. In that case, cancel it at the machine.

• Most Samsung laser printers (ML, M, and Xpress models) have a Cancel or Stop/Clear button, often marked with a red X or a circle. Press it once. The printer finishes the sheet already moving through it and drops the rest of the job.
• Touchscreen models usually list active jobs under a Job Status or similar menu. Select the stuck job and cancel or delete it there.

The exact button name and spot vary by model. If you can't find it, your model's user manual will show it in the section on canceling a print job.

Step 3: Restart the Print Spooler Service

Restarting the spooler forces Windows to let go of the job it's hung up on. This is the step that fixes most jobs stuck on Deleting.

1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
2. Scroll down to Print Spooler.
3. Right-click it and select Restart.
4. Open your print queue again and check whether the job is gone.

Prefer the command line? Open Command Prompt as administrator and run these two commands, one after the other:

net stop spooler
net start spooler

Restarting the spooler doesn't delete your printers or settings. It only restarts the service that manages the queue.

Step 4: Clear the Spool Folder by Hand

If the job comes right back after a restart, the spool file on your drive is probably damaged. You'll need to delete it yourself. The spooler has to be stopped first, or Windows will keep the files locked.

1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
2. Right-click Print Spooler and choose Stop. Leave this window open.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. If Windows asks for permission to open the folder, click Continue.
4. Delete everything inside the PRINTERS folder. Delete only the files inside it, not the folder itself.
5. Go back to the Services window, right-click Print Spooler, and choose Start.

This wipes out every waiting job for every printer on the PC, so resend anything you still need.

Step 5: Restart the Printer and Your Computer

A full restart clears anything still held in the printer's memory and gives Windows a clean start.

1. Turn off the Samsung printer and unplug it from the wall.
2. Wait at least 60 seconds.
3. Plug it back in and turn it on. Let it finish warming up until it shows Ready.
4. Restart your computer from Start > Power > Restart.
5. Print a test page.

Step 6: Check for a Duplicate Printer, Pause, or Bad Connection

If jobs keep getting stuck after you clear them, the queue may be pointing at the wrong place.

Look for a duplicate entry. In Printers & scanners, check for two versions of your printer, such as "Samsung C480 Series" and "Samsung C480 Series (Copy 1)." Send a test page to each one. Keep the one that works, and remove the other by selecting it and choosing Remove.

Make sure printing isn't paused. Open the print queue and check the Printer menu (Windows 10) or the three dots menu (Windows 11). If Pause printing or Pause all is turned on, turn it off. On Windows 10, also uncheck Use Printer Offline if you see it.

Check the port on a network printer. Windows often connects to wireless printers through a WSD port, which relies on automatic discovery and can drop out after router or network changes. If your jobs stall every few days, a steadier setup is to give the printer a fixed (static) IP address and connect it through a Standard TCP/IP port instead. You'll find the port under Printer properties > Ports.

Try the built-in troubleshooter. On Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters > Printer. On newer builds, including version 24H2, this opens Microsoft's Get Help app rather than the old troubleshooter window. Either one can spot a stopped spooler or a paused queue.

Step 7: Update or Reinstall the Samsung Printer Driver

If jobs keep jamming the queue, an old or damaged driver is the usual suspect. One thing that trips a lot of people up: Samsung no longer makes or supports printers. HP bought Samsung's printer business in November 2017, so current Samsung printer drivers and software come from HP.

To get the right driver:

1. Go to HP's software and driver downloads page at support.hp.com.
2. Type your exact Samsung model number, such as SL-M2020W or Xpress C480FW. You'll find it on a label on the front or back of the printer.
3. Choose your version of Windows and download the recommended driver or the full software package.

To reinstall cleanly:

1. Clear the queue first (Steps 1 to 4).
2. In Printers & scanners, select your Samsung printer and choose Remove.
3. Run the installer you just downloaded and follow the prompts.
4. Print a test page.

About the Samsung Universal Print Driver: if your model doesn't have a driver for your version of Windows, HP offers the Samsung Universal Print Driver as a fallback. HP has published a security bulletin about older versions of it, so always download the newest version from HP instead of reusing an old installer or a copy from a third-party site.

How to Clear a Stuck Samsung Print Job on a Mac

Cancel the job:

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings > Printers & Scanners. (On older macOS versions, it's System Preferences.)
2. Select your Samsung printer and click Print Queue (called Open Print Queue on some versions).
3. Select the stuck job and click the X next to it to delete it.
4. If the printer shows as Paused, click Resume.

If the job won't go away, restart both the printer and the Mac, then open the queue again.

As a last resort, reset the printing system. In Printers & Scanners, hold down Control and click the printer list, then choose Reset printing system. This deletes every printer and every queued job from your Mac, and you'll have to add your printers again afterward. Only use it once the other steps have failed.

A note on Mac drivers: Apple's own Samsung driver package (Samsung Printer Drivers v2.6) was built for OS X versions from Snow Leopard to Mavericks, so it's quite old. On a current Mac, check HP's support site for your model first. Many Samsung models will also print using the generic driver macOS picks automatically.

How to Keep It From Happening Again

• Send one job at a time. If a document doesn't print right away, check the queue before you hit Print again. Resending just piles more jobs behind the stuck one.
• Make big files lighter. For huge PDFs or image-heavy files, try printing a smaller page range, or save a flattened copy first.
• Keep one printer entry. Delete duplicate "Copy 1" printers as soon as they show up.
• Give a wireless printer a fixed IP address. It stops the printer from "moving" on your network after a router restart.
• Update the driver after big Windows updates. Major updates can knock an older Samsung driver out of step.