Troubleshooting Printer Says Documents Are Waiting

Thanks to modern technologies such as cloud storage, the need to print documents have significantly dropped. Users can now store documents in the cloud and access them whenever they need them.

But there are certain situations when users really need to print their documents. If the printer fails to print, that’s really annoying, especially if you’re in a hurry.

This guide will focus on a specific printer error that says your documents are waiting to be printed.

Why Do My Printer Say Documents Are Waiting?

The main reason behind the ‘Documents Waiting’ error is a problem with the print queue. Most likely, the print queue got stuck. As a result, the printer is unable to print the next document.

What Do I do When My Printer Says Document Waiting?

Quick Fix: Try power cycling both your computer and printer. Refreshing the connection between your devices may solve this problem much quicker than you had anticipated.

Check Your Printer’s Status

Make sure your printer’s status is not set to offline. This will make the printer undetectable for your computer. As a result, your PC won’t be able to communicate with the printer.

Navigate to Settings.
Then select Devices.
Next, go to Printers & scanners.
Select your printer and then click on Open queue.
The Use Printer Offline option should not be selected.

Run the Printer Troubleshooter

You can try to troubleshoot this issue by running Windows 10’s built-in Printer troubleshooter. The tool can automatically detect and repair general printing issues.

Go to Settings.
Then select Update & Security.
Click on Troubleshoot (left pane).
Scroll down and locate the Printer Troubleshooter.
Select the tool and hit the Run the troubleshooter button.

Restart the Print Spooler

If the troubleshooter could not solve your problem, try restarting the Print Spooler service.

Press Windows + R to open a new Run window.
Type services.msc and press Enter.
Scroll down to Print Spooler.
Right-click on the service and select Stop. The service should no longer be running now.
Then go to Properties again and select Disabled under Startup Type.
Launch File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\printers.
Delete the content of the folder. By doing that, you’ll delete the printing queue. But don’t delete the folder itself.
Restart your computer.
Then, go back to Print Spooler and restart the service. Set the Startup Type to Automatic.
Check if your printer still says documents are waiting to be printed.

If you find the steps above too complicated, you can clear the printing queue using Command Prompt.

Launch Command Prompt as admin.
Run these commands and press Enter after each one:
- net stop spooler
- del /Q %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*
- net start spooler
Check if the error is gone.

Update or Reinstall the Print Drivers

Every device you connect to Windows 10 needs a driver to work properly. Think of that driver as the middle man.

If your print drivers got corrupted, are missing, or are running outdated drivers, you may not print your documents. That’s why you need to update your drivers. Or reinstall them if they got corrupted.

Launch the Device Manager.
Go to Print Queues and expand the list.
Select Update driver and check if the problem is gone.
If it persists, select Uninstall device to remove your current print drivers.
Then restart your computer. Your device will automatically install the latest print drivers.

Check if your printer still says documents are waiting to be printed.

Re-Add Your Printer

If nothing worked, maybe re-adding your printer to your computer will do the trick.

Go to Settings.
Select Devices.
Then click on Printers & scanners.
Select your printer.
Click on the Remove device option. Confirm your choice.
Restart both your computer and printer.
Go back to Printers & scanners.
Select Add a printer or scanner.
Simply follow the on-screen instructions to re-connect your printer to your Windows 10 computer.