How to Clear a Stuck Print Queue on a Mac

Why Do Print Queues Get Stuck on a Mac?

When you send a document to your printer, macOS places that job into a digital waiting line known as the print queue. Under normal circumstances, the job clears itself once the physical printing is complete. However, if the printer runs out of paper, loses its Wi-Fi connection, or encounters a driver error, the job gets stuck. Because macOS processes print jobs sequentially, one jammed job will block all subsequent documents from printing.

Method 1: Manually Clear the Print Queue

The first and simplest troubleshooting step is to open the print queue interface and manually delete the offending jobs. This method works perfectly for minor communication hiccups.

1. Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings.
2. Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Printers & Scanners.
3. Click on the specific printer that is causing the problem.
4. Click the Printer Queue… button. A new window will appear showing a list of all pending documents.
5. Identify the stuck job at the top of the list. Click on the document, then click the small X icon or Delete button to remove it.
6. If there are multiple jobs, you may need to delete all of them to ensure the queue is completely clear.

Once the queue is empty, restart your physical printer and attempt to print your document again.

Method 2: Reset the macOS Printing System

If the manual deletion method fails—perhaps the “X” button is unresponsive, or the deleted jobs immediately reappear—you will need to perform a hard reset of the entire macOS printing system. This is a powerful diagnostic tool that deletes all active print jobs, removes all configured printers, and flushes corrupted cache files.

Note: This method will require you to re-add your printer to the Mac afterwards.

1. Navigate back to System Settings > Printers & Scanners.
2. Instead of clicking on your printer, Control-click (or right-click) anywhere in the empty space of the Printers list.
3. A hidden context menu will appear. Click on Reset Printing System…
4. A warning prompt will ask you to confirm that you want to reset the printing system and remove all printers. Click Reset.
5. You will be prompted to enter your Mac administrator password to authorise the change.

The Printers list will now be completely empty, confirming that the corrupted queues have been destroyed.

Re-adding Your Printer

Now that the printing system is fresh, you must reconnect your device.

1. Ensure your printer is powered on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac (or connected via USB).
2. In the Printers & Scanners menu, click the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax… button.
3. Your Mac will automatically scan the network. Select your printer from the list and click Add.

macOS will automatically download the necessary drivers and set up the fresh queue. You should now be able to print your documents without them getting endlessly stuck in the pipeline.