Illustration: Gordon McAlpin

Everyone hates how Windows handles printers. Often, a job will get stuck in the queue, and deleting the print job does nothing at all. Further print jobs can’t print, and the existing job is stuck. Here’s how to fix a stuck printer queue.

1. Click Start
2. Type CMD in the box
3. Hit ENTER
4. At the prompt, type net stop spooler
5. Hit ENTER
6. Wait ten seconds, then type net start spooler
7. Hit ENTER

Close the window, and your printer queue should be clear.