Clear Print Queue

On a Windows system, sometimes the print queue can cause applications that use printers to hang, specifically Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Word. I would first force close OUTLOOK.EXE and WINWORD.EXE from the Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del -> Task Manager or Ctrl+ Shift + Esc) by clicking the Processes tab and then “End Process” on both if they are running. Once they are both closed, delete the Normal.dot or Normal.dotm file from the Templates folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

The below script (place in a *.CMD file) can then be run from an administrative account to stop the printer spooler, delete any pending jobs, and they restart the print spooler.

@ECHO OFF
REM BATCH SCRIPT
REM Source: http://wp.me/p6h4z-1v
REM This program stops the print spooler, deletes all documents in the queue
REM and then restarts the print spooler
ECHO *******************************
ECHO *** Printer Spooler Cleaner ***
ECHO *******************************
ECHO.
NET STOP SPOOLER
C:
ECHO Deleting the print queue...
DEL C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS\* /Q /F
ECHO.
NET START SPOOLER
ECHO The print spooler is now clean.
PAUSE