The Problem
A print job gets stuck, the queue locks up, and nothing prints. It doesn't matter if it's a home inkjet or a managed MFP on a corporate network — the Windows Print Spooler just decides it's done for the day. Deleting the job from the queue hangs at "Deleting…" forever.
The standard fix is either a reboot or a manual trip through services.msc: stop the spooler, navigate to the spool folder, delete the stuck files, restart the service. SpoolMedic wraps that whole sequence into a single tray-icon click.
What It Does
When you click Fix Print Spooler from the tray icon, SpoolMedic runs a complete repair sequence:
- Stops the Print Spooler service — gracefully, with a timeout fallback
- Clears the spool folder — deletes all
.SPLand.SHDfiles fromC:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS - Restarts the Print Spooler service — confirms it's running before reporting success
- Shows a toast notification — tells you how many stuck jobs were cleared
Network Printer Extras
Resets TCP/IP printer ports and re-registers network printers after a spooler reset — for the cases where a crash leaves them disconnected.
No UAC Nag
Uses a scheduled task to run elevated, so there's no UAC prompt every time you click. The installer sets it up automatically.
Auto-Fix on Startup
Optional health check at launch — if stuck jobs are detected, they're cleared before you even notice.
Built-In Log
Every fix is logged with a timestamp, jobs cleared, and service state — handy for spotting a printer that jams the queue repeatedly.
Install
SpoolMedic is free and open source. It requires Python 3.10+ on Windows 10 or 11.
git clone https://github.com/VAROIndustries/SpoolMedic.git
cd SpoolMedic
pip install -r requirements.txt
python spoolmedic.py
Source and documentation: github.com/VAROIndustries/SpoolMedic
FAQ
Why is my print job stuck in the queue?
When the Windows Print Spooler service wedges, jobs sit in the queue forever and deleting them hangs at "Deleting…". The reliable fix is to stop the spooler service, delete the stuck spool files from
C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, and restart the service. SpoolMedic runs that exact sequence for you in one click.Do I need to reboot to fix the print spooler?
No. SpoolMedic stops the Print Spooler service, clears the stuck
.SPL and .SHD files, and restarts the service — the whole repair takes about two seconds, with no reboot and no trip through services.msc.Does SpoolMedic work with network printers?
Yes. SpoolMedic can also reset TCP/IP printer ports and re-register network printers after a spooler reset, which handles the cases where a spooler crash leaves network printers disconnected even after the service comes back up.
Is SpoolMedic free?
Yes — SpoolMedic is free and open source. It runs on Windows 10 and 11 and requires Python 3.10+. The full source is on GitHub.
Will I get a UAC prompt every time I use it?
No. SpoolMedic uses a scheduled task to run with elevated privileges, so there is no UAC prompt each time you click the tray icon. The installer sets this up automatically.