How to Stop the Spooler Service

The Windows Print Spooler controls communication between the computer and printer.

In Windows, the Print Spooler is the service that manages the flow of data from the computer to the printer. If you experience a problem while printing and need to stop your computer from continuing to print, one simple way to do so is by stopping the Print Spooler from the command line. Stop the Print Spooler as a troubleshooting step when you experience problems printing in Windows.

Things You'll Need

• Windows 2000 or later

Instructions

1. Press the Windows logo and "R" keys simultaneously then type "cmd" without quotation marks in the window that appears. If you are running Windows Vista or 7, click the Start button then type "command" in the "Search" box at the bottom of the Start menu. Right click "Command Prompt" on the list of search results and click "Run as Administrator." The command prompt opens.

2. Type "sc stop spooler" and press "Enter." A list of attributes for the Print Spooler service is displayed. After "State," either "STOPPED" or "STOP_PENDING" is displayed.

3. Type "sc start spooler" and press "Enter" to restart the Print Spooler service if desired, then close the command prompt.

Tips & Warnings

• The startup type for a service can also be changed using the "sc" command. To do this, type "sc config spooler start=" followed by a space and the word "auto," "demand" or "disabled." Unless you do not have a printer installed, the startup type for the Print Spooler service should usually be "auto."

References

• The Command Line in Windows: Managing Windows XP Services