Restarting the Print Spooler to Fix Common HP Printing Problems

The most common HP printing issue is called “Print Job Stuck on Queue”, where the printer does not respond to any print jobs that are being sent to the printer clogging up the print queue.

We used to get a lot of calls with this issue back when I was still an HP technical support representative. Luckily this was easy to fix. All you need to do is restart the print spooler.

Supported Operating Systems
  • Windows XP
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows 7
  • Windows 8
Affected HP Printers
  • Deskjets
  • Officejets
  • Photosmarts
  • Laserjets
  • HP envy printers
Steps
  • In your computer, go to the services management windows by typing the command “Services.msc” on the run dialog box or the search box for windows vista or higher windows operating systems.
  • Inside services, look for print spooler.
  • Once located, right click on it and click on restart.
  • You may also need to power cycle your printer after doing so, by turning it OFF and turning it ON again after 10 seconds of being OFF.