Category: Symbols

⏸️pause button

⏸️ pause button belongs to Symbols. Copy it instantly, review its aliases and codepoints, and explore related emojis from the same set.

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Meaning

Represents pausing audio or video playback, or taking a temporary break from an activity.

Aliases

:pause_button:

Keywords

barbuttondoublepauseverticalpause button

What does ⏸️ pause button mean?

The pause button emoji depicts a standard media control symbol used to halt audio or video playback. In digital communication, it is often used metaphorically to indicate stopping or taking a break from an activity, conversation, or situation. Depending on context, it can also signal a need to hold off on a decision or wait for further information.

Often used for

Pausing a movie, song, or podcast
Taking a break from work or a conversation
Asking someone to wait or hold on
Signaling a temporary stop to a project or plan

Tone: Generally neutral and practical. It can sometimes come across as abrupt if used to shut down a conversation without explanation.

Illustrative message examples with ⏸️

These examples are illustrative, not observed messages.

hold that thought ⏸️ i'll be right back
brb taking a quick lunch break ⏸️
can we pause this discussion until tomorrow? ⏸️
wait ⏸️ did you send the email yet?
pausing the movie for a sec ⏸️

Combos, text art & scenes with ⏸️

Related text art & kaomoji

↻ ⏮⏸⏭ ↺

Browse all text art →

How ⏸️ pause button looks

Appearance varies by device and platform — your system font draws the native version below.

⏸️

Your device

OpenMoji

OpenMoji artwork CC BY-SA 4.0 — see attributions.

⏸️ pause button codes for developers

Every format below produces ⏸️ — click Copy on the one your stack needs.

Emoji	`⏸️`
Unicode codepoints	`U+23F8 U+FE0F`
HTML (decimal)	`⏸️`
HTML (hex)	`⏸️`
CSS	`\23F8\FE0F`
JavaScript	`\u{23F8}\u{FE0F}`
JSON	`\u23F8\uFE0F`
URL encoded	`%E2%8F%B8%EF%B8%8F`
Shortcode (GitHub)	`:pause_button:`