cancel – Cancel and existing print job

The cancel command is used to cancel an existing print job. This command is helpful when a user has accidentally sent a print job to a printer, or when a print job is stuck in the queue and cannot be removed using traditional methods.

Detailed Overview

The syntax for the cancel command is as follows:

cancel [options] [job ID(s)]

The options argument is optional and can be used to specify various settings for the command. The job ID(s) argument is also optional and can be used to specify the ID number of the print job(s) to be canceled.

Examples

To cancel a specific print job, use the following command:

cancel 123

To cancel multiple print jobs, use the following command:

cancel 123 456 789

To cancel all print jobs, use the following command:

cancel -a

Specific Use Cases

• Cancelling a print job that has been sent to the wrong printer
• Removing a print job that is stuck in the queue and cannot be removed using traditional methods
• Cancelling a print job that contains sensitive or confidential information

Options

The following table lists all available options for the cancel command:

Troubleshooting Tips

• If the cancel command does not work, try using the kill command to terminate the print job instead.
• If the print job is still not being cancelled, try stopping and restarting the cups service.

Notes

• The cancel command is only available on systems that use the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS).
• The cancel command requires root privileges to run.