0X00000922 NERR_QueueNotFound – Print queue missing fix

When you'll see this error

You're in the middle of printing, or trying to open a printer's queue, and boom — 0X00000922 pops up with the message "The queue you specified does not exist". This happens most often after someone renamed or deleted a network printer, but the print spooler still has jobs queued for the old name. I've also seen it on Windows Server 2016 and 2019 when a shared printer gets removed from an Active Directory print server, and clients still try to connect to the old share.

Root cause

The NERR_QueueNotFound error (that's the human-readable part) means the print spooler service is trying to process a print job for a queue it can't find. The queue's registry entry or print processor reference is gone, but the job isn't. It's a stale reference — the spooler's stuck holding a ticket to a theater that got demolished.

The culprit is almost always one of two things:

• Orphaned print jobs: A job got spooled to a queue that was then renamed or deleted. The spooler still has the job in its cache, but the target queue doesn't exist.
• Corrupted printer driver or port: A driver failed to install or uninstall cleanly, leaving a registry key pointing to a queue that's already been removed. This is common with third-party drivers that don't clean up after themselves — looking at you, HP and Kyocera.

How to fix it

Don't bother reinstalling drivers or messing with printer ports first. That rarely helps when the queue itself is missing. The fix is to clear the stale jobs and, if needed, wipe the queue references from the registry.

Step 1: Stop the print spooler

Open an elevated Command Prompt (Run as Administrator) and run:

net stop spooler

Or use services.msc, find "Print Spooler", and stop it. Don't close the window yet.

Step 2: Delete all queued jobs

Navigate to the spool folder and delete everything inside:

del /q /s %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*.*

This wipes all pending print jobs. If the spooler had jobs for a missing queue, they're gone now.

Step 3: Start the spooler again

net start spooler

Now try printing. If the error's gone, you're done. If it's still there, move to step 4.

Step 4: Remove the orphaned queue from the registry

I've had to do this maybe a dozen times. Open regedit.exe and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\

Look for a key with the name matching the missing queue. If you see one, right-click and delete it. Backup the key first — export it just in case. Then restart the spooler again and try printing.

Step 5: Check for leftover printer connections

Run this in PowerShell to list all network printers:

Get-Printer | Where-Object {$_.Type -eq "Connection"} | Format-List Name, PrinterHostAddress, PortName

If you see a printer pointing to a dead queue, remove it:

Remove-Printer -Name "Your Printer Name"

Then re-add the printer fresh from the print server.

What if it still fails?

If the error persists after all that, you've got one of three problems:

• Third-party print management software (like PaperCut or PrinterLogic) is holding a cached reference. Disable that software's service, repeat steps 1-3, then restart the service.
• The print processor is corrupted. Go to Printers & Scanners in Settings, click your printer, then Print server properties > Drivers tab. Remove any driver that's obviously broken (shows as "Unknown" or has a yellow bang). Reinstall the correct driver from the vendor's site — never use Windows Update for printer drivers, it always picks the wrong one.
• The spooler service account is hosed. Check if the spooler is running under LocalSystem (it should be). If someone changed it, revert it in services.msc properties.

I've never seen a case past step 5 that wasn't fixed by one of those three. If you're still stuck, check the Application event log for event ID 808 — that'll tell you exactly which queue and job is causing the problem.