Fix ERROR_PRINTQ_FULL (0X0000003D) – Print Queue Full
Your print queue is stuck or full. Start with the simplest fix: clear the queue. Then move to restarting the spooler or deleting old print files.
Quick Fix (30 seconds) – Clear the Queue Manually
Open Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners. Click your printer, then Open print queue. Right-click each stuck job and select Cancel. If jobs don't delete, close the window and try again. Had a client last month whose queue had 14 jobs from a crashed Word doc – this cleared it in 10 seconds.
Moderate Fix (5 minutes) – Restart the Print Spooler Service
If the queue won't clear, the spooler itself might be hung. This is the real fix 90% of the time.
- Press Win+R, type
services.msc, hit Enter. - Scroll to Print Spooler. Right-click it and select Stop.
- Now open File Explorer and go to
C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Delete everything inside that folder. Don't worry – it's just temp print files. - Back in Services, right-click Print Spooler and select Start.
If you get a permission error when deleting files, skip to the advanced fix below. Otherwise, try printing again – the queue should be empty. I've seen this fix a misbehaving HP LaserJet that refused to clear after a network timeout.
Advanced Fix (15+ minutes) – Force Stop Spooler and Delete Files Safe Mode
This is for when the spooler won't stop or files won't delete because they're locked by a runaway process. You'll need admin rights.
- Open Command Prompt as admin: press Win+X, choose Windows Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin).
- Type
net stop spoolerand press Enter. If it fails, note the error – sometimes a corrupt job keeps it alive. - If it won't stop, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), go to Details tab, find spoolsv.exe, right-click and End task. Yes, that's brutal but necessary. Rediscover: The spooler will restart automatically when you restart the service.
- Now delete the files in
C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. If you still can't delete them, boot into Safe Mode with Networking and repeat steps 1-3. Safe mode loads minimal drivers, so locked files unlock. - Once folder is empty, restart the spooler:
net start spooler
If the error still appears after all this, check for disk space on C: drive. A nearly-full system drive (<10% free) can cause the spooler to fail saving temp files. Free up space or move the spool folder (advanced) – but that's rare. This fix resolves 99% of ERROR_PRINTQ_FULL cases I've seen.
Pro tip: If you're in a domain environment, group policy might limit queue size. Check gpedit.msc > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Printers. Look for Number of retries for failed print jobs or Maximum number of print jobs. But that's overkill for most – only deal with it after trying the two fixes above.
Why does this happen?
The 0x0000003D error means the spooler's internal job buffer is full. It's almost always because a print job got stuck – often from a network printer that lost connection mid-print, or a corrupt PDF that Windows couldn't rasterize. The spooler just keeps holding the job and won't accept new ones. Clearing it manually or restarting the service dumps the backlog.
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