Spoolsv.exe causing high CPU usage

If spoolsv.exe is causing 99% cpu usage then it may have a corrupted print file stuck in the system32 folder. To fix it do the following
Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services and stop the Print Spooler services
Turn off the printer.
Now go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete the files there. You may find some '00002.SHD' and '00020.SPL'. or something similar.
Now turn your printer back on and restart the print spool service.
Spoolsv.exe should be at 2% or less.

Comments

[pcdaveh]

I hope that whoever made this post gets this message. Your suggestion works! I've been trying to get this machine unhosed for the last 8 months and couldn't figure out what was wrong. I then noticed that the spoolsrv.exe was eating up 100% of the CPU time. I did some searchs on the internet for a fix. Your suggestion was the one that fixed my problem. So, thanks!

David Harris (pcdaveh) Not politically correct (pc) Personal Computer David Harris (pcdaveh)

[Nostradamus]

Many thanks. Looks like this did the trick. I tried to share this on Facebook, but your JavaScript didn't seem to work.

[typekey42]

thank you very much.
Your solutions worked like a charm .

[Mo]

Wow! How clearly put, how easy to follow! Thank you.
I've spent hours trying to fix this problem with most links wanting to sell me registry cleaning software. I love you - take a bow!
Mo

[wonderful]

Wow. Whoever posted this is great. It worked perfect. Easy to follow. Now I am not waiting as if I had a Commodore 64!!!
;-)

[Ken Jenkins]

Thank you for this post. This just goes to show haw valuable knowledge an information is. This post was submitted 1/31/06 and today three years later I have been helped by the post. I had spent at least an hour deleting any and all printer/fax data, unnecessary user accounts and restarting the printer spool service; all were unsuccessful until finding the root file as mentioned above. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!
Ken J, network admin for healthcare group.

[Petr Jandík]

Wow, good suggestion. But I have none files in C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS so is nothing to delete. After starting the Print spool services is CPU consuption od spoolsv some time on 00, but after sopme minutes on 99% again...

[Henry Stuckey]

I have the same issue as Petr Jandik. No files in the PRINTERS directory, but spoolsv still eats up anywhere from 18 to 100% of CPU. Any thoughts on next steps would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[Karin Jamotte]

Neal, thanks for the useful, simply written and easy-to-follow instructions for solving what seemed to be a maddeningly intractable problem. One minute after reading your advice, the problem was solved. I salute you! And by the way, thanks for sharing your knowledge so generously.

[Matthew Watts]

This was of invaluable help. My computer fan has been running non-stop for 2 days, and I went through all the processes trying to figure out why. Turns out, when that printer got stuck on a piece of paper the other day, it was enough to screw up Windows.

What a great operating system. Glad I've switched to Mac as my primary computer.

[Lone Wolf]

Unbelieveable!!!!!!
01/15/2010 and still going. I had a hosed up emachine that this put back in service...

(to the author) MUCHO GRACIOUS, THANKS, YOU ARE GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Reo On]

I am another of the grateful readers. To read this article paid off. For more then a two weeks I was unable to print on any of the installed printers, all due the crashing Spooler. By the procedure here described, I was able to restore its function.

Thank You very much

[Mr.WW]

I was definetly worried I was going to have to take drastic measures to make my computer work properly again. You saved me so much time, money and headache. I hope you still read these. My many thanks.

[Tim Vorce]

Fantastic, I was thinking I'd have to buy a new laptop!!!

[Gabriel Chavigny de Lachevrotiere]

Woooa!
Thanks man, that did the trick!
The creepy accountant from my client's office is finally happy!

[Dave Hamer]

Thanks so much!

[First]

I was having problems with the spoolsv.exe service, but only with one network printer. It was high CPU but not 100%. A submitted job would eventually print, but it took a very long time.

I should note that I am running Windows Vista. I stopped the Print Spooler service and checked the C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS directory. It was empty!

I did notice that there were a couple of files (spooler.xml and SpoolerETW.etl) that had recent CREATE times in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\ directory. One of them was pretty big, at least a few megabytes. I deleted both of them, restarted the Print Spooler process and voila, we're back in business.

[At]

You are my pc guru of choice today. Thanks for the fix.

[Keith Hudson]

Thanks for this post! Saved me from having to reimage my laptop.

[David Moltrup]

My computer has been running very slowly and after discovering it was the spoolsv service, I found your suggestion. I discovered there are over 90,000 shockwave and SHD files in the PRINTERS folder. Insane!

[me.yahoo.com/a/cVJFVRY93N28EkzuNASPv5utgaRGrUM-]

Thanks a lot
My sisters laptop was getting too hot with that idiotic service i shut it down from msconfig

[Sachinaxn]

Thanks Dear It Wored very good...

sachin

[A Facebook User]

To whoever posted this 6 years ago, I love you!!!! I've just transformed the performance of several laptops in our house by using this fix.