Another Computer Is Using The Printer

The “another computer is using the printer” message clears after you cancel stuck jobs, restart Print Spooler, and reconnect.

You hit Print, nothing comes out, and Windows throws the same line again and again. It feels like your printer is “taken,” even when nobody else is printing. This guide walks you through the fixes that clear the lock fast, then the deeper repairs that stop repeat lockups on shared or network printers today.

Why This Message Shows Up

Windows printing runs through a service called Print Spooler. The spooler holds jobs, talks to the driver, then sends pages to the printer. When the spooler thinks a different PC still owns a job, Windows can block new jobs and show the lock message.

The trigger is usually boring. A job gets stuck mid-send, a laptop sleeps while printing, a Wi-Fi drop breaks the connection, or a shared printer host PC goes offline at the wrong moment. The queue still shows the old job as active, so Windows acts like another machine has the printer.

You’ll get farther faster if you treat this as a queue or connection problem first. If the basics don’t clear it, then move to spooler cleanup, driver repair, and share settings.

Another Computer Using The Printer Error With Shared Devices

If your printer is shared from one “host” PC, the host controls the queue for everyone. A stuck job on the host can block every client. The same thing happens with some office printers that keep a server-side queue even when you connect by IP.

Start by figuring out where the queue lives. If you added the printer by browsing “Network” and double-clicking a shared printer name, the host PC owns the queue. If you added it as a TCP/IP printer by IP, your PC often owns the queue.

Once you know the owner, you can clear jobs in the right place instead of chasing settings on the wrong computer.

Fix Another Computer Is Using The Printer On Windows

Work through these in order. Stop when printing works again. Each step is safe, fast, and easy to undo. Then print again.

Fast Steps That Clear Most Locks

Power cycle the printer — Turn it off, unplug it for 30 seconds, plug it back in, then wait until it finishes its warm-up.
Cancel stuck jobs — Open the printer queue, delete anything paused or erroring, then try a fresh one-page test print.
Restart the Print Spooler service — Open Services, restart Print Spooler, then re-open the queue and print again.
Reboot the computer that owns the queue — If it’s a shared printer, reboot the host PC, not only the client.

Clear The Queue The Right Way

Use the queue window first. In Windows 11, open Settings, go to Bluetooth & devices, then Printers & scanners, choose your printer, and pick Open print queue. In Windows 10, you can also open Control Panel, then Devices and Printers, then double-click the printer.

Resume the queue — If the printer shows Paused, click Resume and watch whether jobs start moving.
Delete each job — Remove jobs, then close the queue and open it again to confirm it stayed empty.
Print a tiny test page — Use a one-page document so you can see a clear pass or fail.

If jobs refuse to delete, the spooler is still holding them. That’s when you do a spooler reset and clean the spool folder.

Reset Print Spooler And Empty The Spool Folder

This is the most reliable fix for stubborn locks. It clears half-sent jobs that the queue can’t remove.

Stop Print Spooler — Press Windows + R, type services.msc, press Enter, then right-click Print Spooler and choose Stop.
Open the spool folder — In File Manager, go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS.
Delete spool files — Remove the files inside the PRINTERS folder, then close the folder window.
Start Print Spooler — Go back to Services, right-click Print Spooler, and choose Start.
Retry a test print — Print one page and watch the queue clear to zero.

If Windows says you don’t have permission to delete the spool files, open File Manager as an administrator or sign in with an admin account on that PC.

Check Settings That Quietly Block Printing

Some toggles make Windows act like the printer is busy when it’s only offline, paused, or routed to the wrong port.

Turn off “Use Printer Offline” — In the queue window, open the Printer menu and uncheck Use Printer Offline.
Set it as default — In Printers & scanners, set the correct printer as default so jobs don’t go to a stale copy.
Confirm the port — In Printer properties, check Ports and pick the port that matches your connection.

Remove And Re-Add The Printer

If the error comes back after each reboot, the install may be corrupted. Removing the printer clears stored queue data and forces a clean handshake.

Remove the device — In Printers & scanners, select the printer and choose Remove.
Restart the computer — A reboot clears leftover driver hooks and queue handles.
Add the printer again — Use Add device, then print a test page.

Shared Printer Hosts And Office Networks

When a printer is shared, two different queues can exist. The host PC can keep its own queue, and each client can also keep a local queue view. A mismatch is where lockups hide.

Fix It From The Host PC

If clients keep seeing the lock message, clear the host queue even if the host prints fine. The host is the traffic cop.

Open the host queue — On the host PC, open the printer queue and delete jobs.
Restart Print Spooler — Restart the service on the host, then try printing from a client.
Disable and re-enable sharing — In printer properties, Sharing, unshare the printer, apply, then share it again.

Re-Connect Clients Cleanly

Clients can cache old share details. If a host PC name, IP, or driver changed, clients may keep a broken connection that looks like a lock.

If the host is a laptop, the lock often shows up after sleep, hibernate, or a Wi-Fi hop. Keep the host awake and on power while other PCs send jobs.

Remove the shared printer — Delete it from each client PC.
Forget old credentials — In Credential Manager, remove saved entries for the host PC name.
Add it again from the host — Browse to the host PC and add the shared printer fresh.

Use A Direct IP Connection When Sharing Is Flaky

If the printer has a stable IP, adding it as a TCP/IP printer can avoid share-based locks. Your PC then owns the job flow. This works well for many Wi-Fi printers and most office printers.

Find the printer IP — Print a network status page from the printer panel or check your router’s device list.
Add a TCP/IP printer — In Printers & scanners, choose Add device, then add manually by IP.
Pick the right driver — Choose the maker’s driver if available, then print a test page.

Common Causes And The Fastest Fix

This table helps you match the symptom you see to the shortest fix path. Start with the row that fits what you’re seeing in the queue.

What You Notice	Most Likely Cause	Fast Fix
Jobs won’t delete	Spooler is holding a stuck file	Stop spooler, clear PRINTERS folder, start spooler
Printer shows Offline	Wi-Fi drop or wrong port	Disable Offline mode, confirm port, reboot printer
Only shared clients fail	Host queue is stuck	Clear queue and restart spooler on the host PC
Error returns each day	Driver or queue install is corrupted	Remove printer, reboot, add it again
One app can’t print	App-level job is stuck	Close the app, clear queue, then reopen and print

Drivers, Ports, And Updates That Trigger Repeat Lockups

If the lock message returns after you clear the queue, the job may be getting stuck during driver handoff. This can follow a Windows update, a driver change, or a move from USB to Wi-Fi. It’s common on busy shared printers.

Update Or Roll Back The Printer Driver

A fresh driver can fix broken rendering. A bad driver release can also create new hangs. If the timing lines up with a recent change, try both directions.

Update from the maker — Download the latest driver package from the printer brand’s site and install it.
Roll back a recent driver — In Device Manager, open the printer device, try Roll Back Driver if it’s available.
Switch to a class driver — If the maker driver keeps hanging, try Microsoft’s class driver as a test.

Match The Port To The Connection

A printer added over Wi-Fi can end up pointing at a stale WSD port. USB printers can also move ports when you change sockets. When the port is wrong, jobs sit in the queue, then Windows blames another computer.

Open Printer properties — In Devices and Printers, right-click the printer and open Printer properties.
Check Ports — Pick the port that matches the printer, like a Standard TCP/IP port for IP printing.
Re-test printing — Print a test page and confirm the queue drains.

Turn Off Sleep And Power Saving During Large Jobs

Big PDFs and photo prints keep the spooler busy for a while. If the PC sleeps mid-send, the spooler can leave a half-sent job that blocks the next one.

Keep the PC awake — Plug in laptops and stop sleep during large prints.
Use smaller batches — Split big documents into a few smaller print runs.
Print from a stable host — On shared setups, print large jobs from the host PC.

Stop The Error From Coming Back

Once printing is working, a few habits keep the spooler clean and reduce lock messages. They take minutes to set up and save hours later.

Keep one “main” print path — Use either a shared printer name or a direct IP install, not both, so jobs don’t bounce between queues.
Give the printer a reserved IP — Use your router’s DHCP reservation so the printer IP stays the same across reboots.
Clear the queue after a crash — If an app freezes while printing, cancel the job before you try again.
Limit who can pause jobs — On shared printers, set permissions so random clients can’t leave the queue paused.
Run one monthly test print — A short test page keeps drivers and ports “awake” on machines that rarely print.

If the message shows up again, repeat the fast steps first. If you land back at the same stuck behavior, go straight to the spool folder cleanup. It’s the most direct way to clear the lock that makes Windows say another computer is using the printer.