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How to Open Print Queue on This Computer

To open print queue on Windows 11, select Start → Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners, choose your printer, then select Open print queue. On Windows 10 the path is Settings → Devices → Printers & scanners → your printer → Open queue. The printer queue on this computer shows only printers installed on this PC. Prefer one click? Make a desktop shortcut with the command below. On a Mac, the queue lives in Print Center, which opens automatically when you print.

Your printer queue is where you see, pause and cancel jobs, so it's worth knowing the fastest way to open print queue windows. Here's every route, from the standard one to a shortcut you can pin.

How do you open print queue on Windows 11?

This is the standard route, as described in Microsoft's print queue instructions:

1. Select Start, then Settings.
2. Select Bluetooth & devices, then Printers & scanners.
3. Select the printer you want to check.
4. Select Open print queue.

The queue window opens with that printer's jobs. Use the Printers list at the top of the window to switch to another printer without going back to Settings.

While a document is printing there's a shortcut: a printer icon appears in the notification area at the right of the taskbar. Double-click it to open print queue windows for the printer in use. The icon disappears once printing ends.

Can you open print queue with a keyboard shortcut?

Windows has no built-in key for it, but you can make one. A desktop shortcut that runs the command below opens one printer's queue directly:

1. Right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose New → Shortcut.
2. Paste the command below as the location, with your printer's name in quotes.
3. Name the shortcut, for example "Print queue", and select Finish.
4. Optional: right-click the shortcut, choose Properties, click in Shortcut key and press a letter. Windows sets it to Ctrl + Alt + that letter.

rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /o /n "Printer Name"

Replace Printer Name with the exact name in Printers & scanners.

You can also paste the same command into Windows key + R to open print queue windows for that printer once. If nothing happens, the name doesn't match — copy it exactly from Printers & scanners, including spaces and brackets.

Where is the printer queue on this computer?

The printer queue on this computer is a separate list for each printer installed on the PC. You won't find one combined list for everything, and printers that aren't installed on this PC never appear. That's why the print queue on this computer never shows a job sent from your laptop, even to the same printer.

Besides Settings, you can open print queue windows through the older Control Panel route. Press Windows key + R, type control printers and press Enter. Where Devices and Printers still opens, right-click a printer and choose See what's printing. This classic window shows more columns at once, which helps when you check current print jobs in queue windows.

Note that the print queue on this computer only shows jobs sent from this PC unless you manage a shared printer. On recent Windows 11 builds, control printers may open Settings instead; that's expected.

How do you open printer queue on this computer in Windows 10?

To open printer queue on this computer in Windows 10:

1. Select Start → Settings.
2. Select Devices, then Printers & scanners.
3. Select your printer.
4. Select Open queue.

The button label is the only real difference from Windows 11. The taskbar icon, the Control Panel route and the desktop shortcut all work the same way to open printer queue windows on Windows 10.

How do you open the queue on a Mac?

To open print queue lists on a Mac, use Print Center. Apple's Apple's Print Center guide describes it:

1. Print anything — Print Center opens by itself.
2. To open it without printing, go to Finder → Applications → Utilities and double-click Print Center.
3. Select a printer in the sidebar to see its jobs.

Drag Print Center to the Dock to keep it one click away. Choose Window → Completed Jobs to see what has already printed. What the Dock badges on the mac printer queue mean is covered in the status guide.

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Last updated October 29, 2026.