Pausing TikTok: How To Do It

Here at iDigic, we get lots of reader questions about all social media platforms, including TikTok. We do our best to help, and we also try to address the common questions here in the iDigic FAQ section.

One that we hear relatively frequently is: “How do you pause TikTok?”

We often have to respond to questions like that with our own question. In this case, it’s “Exactly what are you trying to pause?” It turns out that people are asking more specific questions — they just don’t give us the details when they reach out to us.

You’re able to pause the TikTok content that you watch, the TikTok videos that you record, or the TikTok Live session that you’re running. You can even put your entire TikTok account on “pause.”

Here’s a comprehensive rundown, answering all of the questions readers are really asking.

How To Pause TikTok Videos

This is a simple action that most brand-new TikTok users figure out by accident.

When you scroll your feed and stop to watch an interesting-looking TikTok post, it begins playing automatically. To pause it, just tap the screen and the video will stop immediately. To resume, tap a second time and playback will continue.

How To Pause a TikTok Recording

This one’s just as simple.

When you’re shooting a new video in TikTok, you have to hit the red “Record” button to start filming. If you want to pause the recording — whether you’ve gotten a text or phone call, the baby’s started crying, or you want to shift the camera to shoot from another angle — just hit the “Record” button again (it will be gray with a red square in the middle at this point).

Whenever you’re ready to resume filming, tap the button once more. Your recording will continue with only a slight “hiccup,” which you can edit out later if you’d like.

How to Pause a TikTok Live Stream

One clarification: as a viewer, you can’t pause a Live session that you’re watching.

If you’re the host, however, you can pause the stream briefly if you have to take a phone call (or go to the bathroom). Just tap the “Tools” button at the bottom right of the screen, and scroll down to “Pause LIVE.”

Hitting that option lets you pause the session for as many as five minutes, and you can use the feature a maximum of three times during the stream.

How to Pause a TikTok Account

The social media platform calls this action “deactivating,” but users often call it pausing. You’re able to put your TikTok account on a temporary hold without deleting it; this allows you to stop all activity on the account without losing any of your data.

Why would you do that? You might want to take a breather from social media for a while, for example, or you might be tied up with a big project or moving to a new city, and you don’t want to be tempted to jump onto the app to see what you’re missing.

To pause your account, open your TikTok profile and tap the “Menu” icon (three horizontal lines at the top right of the page). Choose “Settings and privacy” from the popup, click on “Account,” and select “Deactivate or delete account.”

Then tap “Deactivate account,” follow the prompts, and your account will be on hold until you decide you want to get back onto TikTok.

Are there any other types of “TikTok pauses” that we haven’t addressed? Let us know!