Spooling is the process of temporarily STORING data so that it can be used and processed by a device, program, or system. Data is delivered to and held in memory or other volatile storage until it is requested for execution by a program or computer. SPOOL is an acronym that stands for "Simultaneous Peripheral Operations ONLINE." The spool is usually kept in the computer's physical memory, buffers, or interrupts for Input / Output devices. The FIFO (first-in, first out) method is used to process the spool in ascending order. Spooling is the process of collecting data from many Input / Output tasks and storing it in a buffer. This buffer is a section of memory or hard disc that Input / Output devices can access. An operating system performs the following tasks in a distributed environment:

• Handles data spooling for Input / Output devices, which have various data access rates.
• Maintains the spooling buffer, which serves as a holding area for data while the slower device catches up.
• Because a computer can do Input / Output in parallel order, the spooling process maintains parallel computing. It is now feasible for the computer to read data from a tape, write data to disc, and print data to a tape printer all at the same time.

Printing is the most obvious example of spooling. The papers to be printed are STORED in the SPOOL before being added to the printing queue. During this time, SEVERAL programs can run and utilise the CPU without having to WAIT for the printer to complete the printing process on each paper individually. Many additional features can be added to the Spooling printing process, such as establishing priorities, receiving notifications when the printing process is complete, and choosing different types of paper to print on based on the user's preferences.