Fix ERROR_ALREADY_WAITING (0x00000770) on Print Jobs Stuck in Queue

That 0x00000770 error is a pain. Let's get your printer working again.

You go to print something simple — a PDF, an email, a Word doc — and Windows throws back ERROR_ALREADY_WAITING (0x00000770). The printer shows as idle, but nothing prints. Or maybe the job sits in the queue with a status like "Deleting" or "Error" and won't budge.

This error means the print spooler is holding a lock on the printer handle. Some other process started waiting on it, never finished, and now the handle is stuck. The real fix is to kill that lock and restart the spooler clean.

Step 1: Stop the Print Spooler Service

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.
2. Scroll down to Print Spooler. Right-click it and select Stop.
3. Wait 5 seconds — you should see the status change from "Running" to blank.

Once stopped, no print jobs will process. Don't worry, we'll restart it in a minute.

Step 2: Clear the Stuck Job Files

1. Open File Explorer and paste this into the address bar: %windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS
2. Select all files in that folder (Ctrl + A) and delete them. If any file says it's in use, skip it and move to the next step — we'll force it later.
3. Close that window.

Those files are the actual print job data. Deleting them removes any halfway-finished jobs that might be holding the handle.

Step 3: Restart the Spooler Service

1. Go back to the Services window.
2. Right-click Print Spooler and select Start.
3. You should see the status change to "Running" within a few seconds.

Now try printing something small — a test page from Devices & Printers works great. Right-click your printer, choose Printer properties, then click Print Test Page.

If that test page prints fine, you're done. If you still get the error, move to the advanced fix below.

Why This Works

Windows uses a single spooler process (spoolsv.exe) to manage all print jobs. When an application calls WaitForPrinterChange on a printer handle, the spooler marks that handle as "already waiting." If the app crashes or times out without releasing the handle, the spooler won't let any other process talk to that printer. By stopping the spooler and deleting the job files, you force Windows to release every lock. Starting the spooler fresh rebuilds the handle state cleanly. No more 0x00000770.

I've seen this most often after a user cancels a print job mid-printing, or when a third-party printer utility (like HP Smart or Brother iPrint&Scan) leaves a background thread hanging. The fix is always the same: kill the spooler, trash the temp files, restart.

Less Common Variations

Variation 1: The Spooler Won't Stop

If you right-click Print Spooler and select Stop but it hangs or errors, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Services tab, find Spooler, right-click and choose Stop. If that also fails, open an admin Command Prompt and run:

net stop spooler /y

The /y flag forces the service to stop even if there are dependent services running. It's brutal but effective.

Variation 2: Error Still Shows After Clearing Files

Sometimes a registry entry keeps the handle locked. Open regedit.exe as admin, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\

Look under each monitor key (like Standard TCP/IP Port) for any subkey pointing to your printer. Delete only that subkey. Then stop and restart the spooler again. This is rare — I've only seen it on older Canon printers.

Variation 3: Network Printer on a Shared Queue

If the printer is shared from another PC on your network, that host PC might have the same lock. You need to run the same steps on the host machine. Also check that the host's spooler isn't paused. On the host, open Services.msc, double-click Print Spooler, make sure the Startup type is Automatic and the service is Running.

Variation 4: Virtual Printers (PDF, XPS, OneNote)

The error can happen with virtual printers too — like Microsoft Print to PDF. The fix is identical: stop spooler, delete files in %windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS, restart spooler. The handle lock is on the spooler level, not the physical printer.

Prevention Tips

• Don't cancel print jobs mid-stream. If you need to stop a job, wait 5 seconds after clicking Cancel. Give the spooler time to finish its current operation.
• Close printer utilities fully. Programs like HP Smart, Epson Scan, and Brother iPrint&Scan often run background services that open handles. Exit them from the system tray after you're done printing.
• Update your printer driver from the manufacturer's site — not Windows Update. Old drivers are the #1 cause of hung handles. For HP, use the standalone driver, not the HP Smart app. For Brother, use the full driver package from their support page.
• Restart your PC once a week. I know it sounds stupid, but it flushes all those lingering handles. If you haven't rebooted in a month, you're asking for this error.

That's it. You should be printing again. If you're still stuck after all this, the printer hardware itself might have a firmware bug — check the manufacturer's support site for a firmware update. But 9 times out of 10, the spooler reset above fixes 0x00000770.