A star wheel releasing mechanism for a printing apparatus is described. The star wheel releasing mechanism comprises a base, the exit wheels disposed at the base, a star wheel module, a pair of supporting plates and a front cover. The base includes a first side and a second side. The star wheel module having a plurality of star wheels is movably disposed on the base. The supporting plates are oppositely disposed at the first side and the second side of the base. Each supporting plate has an arc slot. Two ends of the star wheel module are respectively slidable within the arc slots of two supporting plates. The front cover pivoted on the supporting plates and connected to the star wheel module is movable between a first position and a second position.