Printer history is a recorded log of activity sent to the printer from the computer. This activity may include active print jobs, previously printed documents, and potential documents that have been purged, paused or canceled. Some users opt to monitor this activity and history, as duplicate print jobs may be sent to the printer and some activity may be unsuccessful. Printer history can be accessed from the computer's Control Panel, with viewing capability in the Windows Explorer. Print history can be deleted once the activity log is accessed in the Windows Explorer.
Step 1
Open the computer's "Control Panel" from the system menu icon on the taskbar.
Step 2
Click the "Hardware and Sound" link in the Control Panel options. Select the "Printers" link in the Hardware and Sound sub-menu.
Step 3
Locate your printer's icon link in the pop-up window that appears.
Step 4
Click the printer's icon link once to highlight it, and select the "See What's Printing" tab option in the menu across the top of the window. A pop-up window will appear, and display all of the printer's history.
Step 5
Right-click over the printer history and/or activity you want to delete. The printer history tabs will be located directly below the "Document Name" column.
Step 6
Select the "Cancel" or "Cancel All Documents" action in the drop-down menu in order to view and delete printer history items and activity. The Cancel action will enable you to delete selected printer history items. The Cancel All Documents action will delete all of the printer history simultaneously.
Warning
Only current printer history will be visible. Inactive printer history and activity will not be accessible, because these items delete automatically once the printer has completed the printing process for the document.