List Your Printers and Print Queue with lpstat

01Command

$ lpstat -p -d && echo '--- pending jobs ---' && lpstat -o

02What it does

lpstat is the standard CUPS status tool that ships with macOS. The -p flag lists each printer and whether it is idle, processing, or disabled; -d adds the system default printer; and -o lists every queued job as printer-jobnumber, such as Office_Printer-142. A printer stuck at 'disabled' after a paper jam will not resume by itself — re-enable it in System Settings > Printers & Scanners or with the cupsenable command.

03Risk

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

• lpstat — print status information (macOS man page)
  SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
  Evidence: Documents lpstat -p (list printers), -d (default printer) and -o (pending jobs) as used in the command.
• cancel — cancel print jobs (macOS man page)
  SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
  Evidence: Cross-references how pending lpstat -o job IDs can be removed with cancel.

Last verified: 2026-09-18 · Category: System & Settings

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