What Is Printer Spooling & Why It’s Important For Your Printers?

Printer spooling is not a new concept however it is unfamiliar to many of you out there because not everyone may need this feature.

But one thing is sure spooling has an extremely special role in places where loads of documents need to be printed. Especially for commercial spaces where official documents need to be printed in bulk now and then, spooling is a feature that makes the print job easy. 

This blog is an insight into the concept of spooling and its significance in our daily lives. You will also discover how to handle most common printer issues related to printer spooling as it can sometimes create confusion as well.  

What does spooling mean on a printer?

Spooling in printers is a software-driven function i.e spooler software that stores the documents temporarily in the Windows operating system. This feeds printer with the required document after receiving the printing instruction.

A printer has a much smaller memory than a computer, which is why, before giving the printing instruction, only the important documents are in print queue memory.

It also prevents the device from any confusion of taking multiple printing commands from various systems. 

Benefits of printer spooling 

For several reasons, printer spooling is useful and offers ease in daily work especially in places where printing happens regularly and in bulk.    

• Spooling is used to keep other documents in the Print queue until its printing process is complete. It means when one is getting printed the other one is waiting for its turn. (Printer Queues)

• It manages the printing job through various functions. It retrieves the location of the printer driver, loads the driver, and schedules the printing job.  

• When multiple computer systems are connected to the same printer, spooling acts as a significant help to take sequential printing instructions from every computer. 

• It is possible to conveniently delete, pause or reschedule the documents from the list of documents queued in the printer memory to be printed. 

Printer spooler errors – Types and causes ?

Yes, it happens sometimes when spooling acts as an obstacle in place of help. But there are several reasons for it that you should know to fix them properly. 

Printer spooler errors 

Spooler errors may happen in several ways, the most common ones are as follows. 

Computer or spooler crashes

Yes, it is the failure in which spooler or computer software crashes and rejects printing the documents in the queue.  

Error in sending printing job

Print job error if it is stuck in the Printer queue and not cannot pick the right document in a sequence. 

Corrupt data or document

Documents or images or data in the list may get corrupt causing an issue in the printer spooler, which ultimately causes malfunctioning.  

How to fix Printer spooler errors?

Before you feel worried about it, you should know one thing it is not rocket science to fix a printer spooler issue. Below are the ways to solve a spooling printer fix issue. 

Restart the system and spooler

Restart your spooler using control panel because it should normally fix the issue. This is normally the basic tactic that many times work. Just like a human body needs to rejuvenate to start working again, restarting a device helps it start the job again. 

(Note – Always save the documents before you restart the spooler)

Update the print software/driver

Outdated printer drivers and software always cause malfunctioning in the printing device. Install the latest version on your computer as this should immediately fix the issue. 

Stop the printer spooler

This removes the errors from the system because it will wipe the queue and normally fixes the issue in a short while. 

Here is how to stop the printer spooler – 

• Shut down the program that you are using such as word etc. to print with. 
• Now click on the start button and then type administrative tools 
• Now click on services. 
• You will see a list of windows administrative tools where you need to scroll down to find print spooler. Right-click on it and then select the option stop. 
• Go to My computer after that double click on local disk ( c ) and then select the windows folder 
• Now go to ‘System32’ folder> ‘spool’>’Printers’. Delete the print jobs shown in the folder 
• Now go back to services and find print spooler and then right-click after that and select start. 
• Now open the program that you closed down previously and try to print your desired document normally. 

Clear the printer queue 

Basically a printer queue is a list of print jobs and for this, you need to inform everyone who sent the documents to print to clear their document from the queue. The process required for it goes like this – 

• Go to the control panel > 
• Printers and devices > 
• Right-click the printer icon and select see what’s printing. 
• In the list of que documents, all individual items or documents has to be cancel by the person who sent them to the printer from his computer. 

How to fix spooler errors on Android?

It will take a few minutes and a few steps to fix the printer spooler issue on an Android device. Here are the steps that explain what is print spooler android and how to fix it.

Print spooler android – When a spooler is use with an android device, it is recognize as a printer spooler android. With the help of the procedure below, you can learn to fix the spooler error on an Android device. 

• Tap on the settings on the Android device 
• Now select the Apps button 
• Now select the option Show System Apps shown in this section 
• Scroll down in this section to find and select print spooler. On several devices, you may need to click on the option storage to reach the print spooler. 
• Now press on clear cache and clear data 
• Now open the document that you need to print
• Select the menu then press the print option
• The print preview screen will appear to select the required printer

What is the process to reset Printer spooler ?(On Windows OS)

Resetting a printer spooler normally immediately fixes any functioning issue and ensures the smooth printing of documents and images. Here is how you can reset a printer spooler. 

• Go to start menu 
• Now type services 
• Scroll down the screen to find the option to print spooler service 
• Right-click on the option of printer spooler service and then select stop 
• It will take a minimum of 30 seconds before the service stops 
• Now right-click again on the print spooler service and then select start. 
• Lastly, close the services app. 

What do you mean by “Printer spooling status”? 

Printer spooling status means that another document is printing and the other documents are waiting to be printed and listed in the queue.

It happens because a printer does not have a spacious memory like a computer system and it always needs a bridge or intermediary to perform the printing job.

The computer stores the documents in the queue and the printer takes over when any of the documents has left the queue and is forward for printing. 

“Printer spooling status” – When does it act as a problem?

The printer spooling status shows when the connection between the printer and the computer fails. This happens for a variety of reasons and you should know about them.

Reasons why printer spooling status happens?

• Due to any technical error, the print job is not able to forward the print instruction to the printer, and hence it gets jam up in the spooling status. 

• Sometimes the printer does not remember the print job, as it does not have a memory as big as a computer system. In such a case, the connection to be re-establish. 

• When multiple users are using the same printer, too many documents get place in the queue and thus the spooling status may show. 

“Spooling printer Epson” What does it mean? 

Whether it is an Epson or any other printer, print spooling means the same on every printer. A printer spooler is a software install into the Windows operating system.

It is destined to store the printing jobs temporarily in computer memory until the printer does not start printing. This shortens the printing time as it increases the printer efficiency.

Print spooling remains useful because it allows users to continue work while printing in the background.

Sometimes, it may be require to restart /or stop the spooling service for which same can be done from Local Services Console. 

What are the steps to stop the Printer Spooler service on Windows Operating System ?

• Click on the start button and left-click on the option Run that shows in the menu that appears on the screen.
• Now type services.msc in the box and then click on OK
• Now scroll down the list of services shown on your screen and click on print spooler. 
• Go to the top-left of the window and tap on the option stop the service 
• Your windows system will stop the service. 
• When the print spooler service is stopped, you can check it because the status gets blank, which means, it is confirmed that the printer spooler service has been stopped. 

How to restart the print spooler service on Windows Operating System ?

• Scroll down the list and click on the option of print spooler 
• Now click on the option to restart the service. 
• Your windows will now restart the service. 
• Once you see the printer spooler service status running, it means the print spooler service has been started. 

How long does Printer spooling take?

The time consumed in printer spooling can take a few seconds to a few hours because it all depends on several factors that may not be in your control. 

Factors that affect printer spooling time – 

• The computer needs to first convert the document or file into the driver-specific format to turn it into a spool file. 
• The document transformed into a spool file needs to be stored in a proper location in the computer memory. 
• The spool file is sent to the printer where it may need to wait for its turn until the printer accepts more data. 

Other factors that slow down the printer spooling are – 

• Network or connectivity issue 
• High-resolution images 
• Outdated printer drivers
• Print server overload 
• Too many Apps in use 

How can I fix slow Printer spooling?

Slow printer spooling is common and thus has some generic solutions that usually apply to all types of operating systems and also printers.

Below are the suggestions you should try if your printer spooling is taking too much time. 

• Close all the apps on the system that are not in use currently 
• Select the images with a lower resolution 
• Update the device with the latest software and print driver 
• Switch from a centralized print server to distributed server to localize print traffic. 
• Call a printer technician as the last resort if you cannot manage the issue 

Also Read:

How To Make Printer Default For All Users In Windows 7, 8 and 10 ?

How To Fix a Printer That Is In An Error State ?

Conclusion 

You can solve all the spooling errors with the help of the information/list of services given above while understanding the concept of printer spooling.

Also, you will discover that normally people consider it a complicated thing to handle but in reality, it is not.

Leave your comment in the comment box below and let us know your feedback on the blog.  You can mention any topic on printers that you want us to write on.  

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