Brother Printer Spooling But Not Printing – 7 Fixes

When your Brother printer shows jobs as spooling but never actually prints, the issue usually lies with the Print Spooler service or corrupted print queue. Here's how to fix it.

Why Is My Brother Printer Stuck Spooling?

The print spooler is a Windows service that manages print jobs. When it gets corrupted or overloaded, jobs pile up in the queue and never reach the printer.

Fix 1: Clear the Print Queue

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, press Enter
2. Find Print Spooler, right-click and select Stop
3. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
4. Delete all files inside this folder (not the folder itself)
5. Go back to Services, right-click Print Spooler and select Start
6. Try printing again

Fix 2: Restart the Print Spooler via Command Prompt

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

net stop spooler
del /Q /F /S "%systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*.*"
net start spooler

Fix 3: Set Spooler to Automatic

1. In services.msc, double-click Print Spooler
2. Set Startup type to Automatic
3. Click Start then OK

Fix 4: Update Brother Printer Driver

Outdated drivers cause spooler conflicts. Download the latest driver from Brother's official support site for your specific model.

Fix 5: Remove and Re-add the Printer

1. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners
2. Select your Brother printer and click Remove
3. Click Add device and re-add it
4. Test printing

Fix 6: Check USB or Network Connection

If using USB, try a different port or cable. If on Wi-Fi, ensure the printer and computer are on the same network.

Fix 7: Run the Printer Troubleshooter

Go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters and run the Printer troubleshooter.