Printer paused in Windows 11: how to resume it and stop it pausing again

When Windows 11 shows printer paused, your documents are sitting in a queue on the computer and nothing is being sent to the printer. It looks like a printer fault, but paused is a setting on the computer side: somebody, an app or the system itself told the queue to hold jobs. The fix takes a minute once you know where the setting lives, and this guide also covers why a printer keeps pausing on its own and what to do on a Mac.

If Windows says Offline rather than paused, go to the printer offline fix. If the queue shows Error next to the printer name, the printer in error state guide is the better starting point. For every other symptom, use the printer troubleshooting guide.

What “paused” actually means

Windows does not send documents straight to the printer. Each app hands its job to the print spooler, which stores it in a queue and feeds jobs to the printer one at a time. The queue for each printer can be paused, which tells the spooler to keep accepting jobs but not to send any of them. It is the same idea as pausing a download.

A paused queue usually comes from one of these:

• Someone paused it on purpose, for example to load paper or to stop a long job, and forgot to resume it.
• The printer’s own software paused it after the printer reported a problem such as a jam, an empty tray or a supply warning. Some manufacturer utilities do this so that jobs do not pile up while the printer cannot print.
• A failed job at the top of the queue, which leaves everything behind it waiting.
• On a Mac, the system stops the queue by itself when a job cannot be delivered, for example when the printer was switched off or unreachable.

None of these means the printer is broken. They do mean that resuming the queue without fixing the trigger can lead straight back to paused.

Step 1: Resume the printer in Windows 11

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Select the printer. The status line under its name may say Paused.
3. Choose Open print queue.
4. In the queue window, choose Resume or Resume all. Depending on your Windows 11 version, this is a button at the top of the window or an option in the … menu.

Some setups open the classic queue window instead, the one with Printer, Document and View menus. There, open the Printer menu and look at Pause Printing. If it has a tick next to it, click it once to remove the tick. The title bar of the window stops showing “Paused” straight away.

Print a short test document. If it comes out, you are done. If the queue still holds the job, continue.

Step 2: Make sure the printer is not also set to offline

In the same classic Printer menu there is a second option, Use Printer Offline. It is easy to confuse with pausing and has a similar effect: jobs stay on the computer. Make sure it is not ticked either. If the printer reports offline even with that option cleared, the computer cannot reach it, and the printer offline fix explains how to restore the connection.

Step 3: Clear the job that triggered the pause

Look at the jobs in the queue. If the first one shows Error, Deleting or a huge page count, it can block everything behind it, and some printer software pauses the queue again every time it fails.

• Right-click the job and choose Cancel, then resume the queue.
• If the job will not go away, stop and restart the spooler and clear the spool folder. The print spooler error fix walks through that safely.

After the queue is empty, resume it and send a new, simple test document such as a one-page text file.

Step 4: Deal with what the printer reported

If the queue was paused by printer software, the printer usually has a reason on its own display or status lights. Check for:

• A paper jam or a “paper jam” message with no visible paper; see how to clear a paper jam and printer paper jam but no paper.
• An empty or open tray, or a tray that the printer believes is empty; printer says out of paper covers false out-of-paper messages.
• A cartridge or toner warning; see printer cartridge not recognized if the printer refuses a cartridge.
• An open cover or door.

Clear the condition on the printer first, then resume the queue. Otherwise the software may pause it again within seconds.

Step 5: If the printer keeps pausing by itself

When the queue pauses again and again, work through these in order:

• Printer utilities. Manufacturer status monitors and ink utilities can pause the queue when they detect a problem, sometimes even a false one. Update the utility from the manufacturer’s support site for your model, or check its settings for an option to pause on errors. Removing it and keeping only the driver is another test.
• Driver. A damaged or outdated driver can make jobs fail, which pauses the queue. Remove the printer, reinstall the current driver and add it again. If Windows reports the driver as unavailable, follow printer driver is unavailable.
• Connection drops. A printer that disappears from Wi-Fi mid-job can leave a failed job behind. If the printer often drops off the network, see printer won’t stay connected to Wi-Fi.
• Duplicate printer entries. Windows sometimes creates a second copy of the same printer, for example “Printer (Copy 1)”. If you resume one copy but your apps print to the other, the job still waits. Delete the duplicates and keep the one that works.

Printer paused on a Mac

macOS uses its own printing system, and it pauses (stops) the queue automatically when a job fails, for example when the printer was asleep, switched off or on another network. To resume:

1. Click the printer icon in the Dock if a job is waiting, or open System Settings > Printers & Scanners, select the printer and choose Printer Queue.
2. Read any message at the top of the queue window; it often explains why the queue stopped.
3. Click Resume.

If the queue stops again, delete the stuck job, make sure the printer is awake and on the same network, and see printer not working on Mac for the full set of fixes.

Quick checks before you call it fixed

• The printer status in Settings no longer says Paused or Offline.
• A one-page test prints from two different apps.
• The printer’s display shows no error.
• Only one entry for the printer is listed.

Most paused printers are fixed at Step 1. When the pause returns, the cause is almost always a job, a utility or a printer condition, so treat the pause as a message rather than the problem itself.