Manage Printers and Print Queues

Problem

You want to clear pending print jobs from a printer.

Solution

To manage printers attached to the system, use the Win32_Printer WMI class. By default, the WMI class lists all printers:

PS >GetWmiObject Win32_Printer | SelectObject Name,PrinterStatus

Name PrinterStatus

Microsoft Office Document Image Wr... 3 Microsoft Office Document Image Wr... 3 CutePDF Writer 3 Brother DCP1000 3

To clear the print queue of a specific printer, apply a filter based on its name and call the CancelAllJobs() method: PS >$device = GetWmiObject Win32_Printer Filter "Name='Brother DCP1000'" PS >$device.CancelAllJobs()

__GENUS : 2 __CLASS : __PARAMETERS __SUPERCLASS : __DYNASTY : __PARAMETERS __RELPATH : __PROPERTY_COUNT : 1 __DERIVATION : {} __SERVER : __NAMESPACE : __PATH : ReturnValue : 5

Discussion

The example in the solution uses the Win32_Printer WMI class to cancel all jobs for a printer. In addition to cancelling all print jobs, the Win32_Printer class supports other tasks:

PS >$device | GetMember MemberType Method

TypeName: System.Management.ManagementObject#root\cimv2\Win32_Printer

Name MemberType Definition

CancelAllJobs Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Can... Pause Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Pau... PrintTestPage Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Pri... RenamePrinter Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Ren... Reset Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Res... Resume Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Res... SetDefaultPrinter Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Set... SetPowerState Method System.Management.ManagementBaseObject Set...