diff --git a/invokeai/app/services/config/config_default.py b/invokeai/app/services/config/config_default.py
index 496988e853..1dc75add1d 100644
--- a/invokeai/app/services/config/config_default.py
+++ b/invokeai/app/services/config/config_default.py
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ class InvokeAIAppConfig(BaseSettings):
         force_tiled_decode: Whether to enable tiled VAE decode (reduces memory consumption with some performance penalty).
         pil_compress_level: The compress_level setting of PIL.Image.save(), used for PNG encoding. All settings are lossless. 0 = no compression, 1 = fastest with slightly larger filesize, 9 = slowest with smallest filesize. 1 is typically the best setting.
         max_queue_size: Maximum number of items in the session queue.
+        clear_queue_on_startup: Empties session queue on startup.
         allow_nodes: List of nodes to allow. Omit to allow all.
         deny_nodes: List of nodes to deny. Omit to deny none.
         node_cache_size: How many cached nodes to keep in memory.
@@ -186,6 +187,7 @@ class InvokeAIAppConfig(BaseSettings):
     force_tiled_decode:            bool = Field(default=False,              description="Whether to enable tiled VAE decode (reduces memory consumption with some performance penalty).")
     pil_compress_level:             int = Field(default=1,                  description="The compress_level setting of PIL.Image.save(), used for PNG encoding. All settings are lossless. 0 = no compression, 1 = fastest with slightly larger filesize, 9 = slowest with smallest filesize. 1 is typically the best setting.")
     max_queue_size:                 int = Field(default=10000, gt=0,        description="Maximum number of items in the session queue.")
+    clear_queue_on_startup:        bool = Field(default=False,              description="Empties session queue on startup.")
 
     # NODES
     allow_nodes:    Optional[list[str]] = Field(default=None,               description="List of nodes to allow. Omit to allow all.")
diff --git a/invokeai/app/services/session_queue/session_queue_sqlite.py b/invokeai/app/services/session_queue/session_queue_sqlite.py
index 467853aae4..a3a7004c94 100644
--- a/invokeai/app/services/session_queue/session_queue_sqlite.py
+++ b/invokeai/app/services/session_queue/session_queue_sqlite.py
@@ -37,10 +37,14 @@ class SqliteSessionQueue(SessionQueueBase):
     def start(self, invoker: Invoker) -> None:
         self.__invoker = invoker
         self._set_in_progress_to_canceled()
-        prune_result = self.prune(DEFAULT_QUEUE_ID)
-
-        if prune_result.deleted > 0:
-            self.__invoker.services.logger.info(f"Pruned {prune_result.deleted} finished queue items")
+        if self.__invoker.services.configuration.clear_queue_on_startup:
+            clear_result = self.clear(DEFAULT_QUEUE_ID)
+            if clear_result.deleted > 0:
+                self.__invoker.services.logger.info(f"Cleared all {clear_result.deleted} queue items")
+        else:
+            prune_result = self.prune(DEFAULT_QUEUE_ID)
+            if prune_result.deleted > 0:
+                self.__invoker.services.logger.info(f"Pruned {prune_result.deleted} finished queue items")
 
     def __init__(self, db: SqliteDatabase) -> None:
         super().__init__()