What does ⏸️ Pause Button mean?
Two vertical bars, the universal pause symbol. It asks for a break: hold that thought, wait a moment, a project on hold or a social-media hiatus. It can be a gentle way to say “let’s stop and think” in a heated discussion. Unlike ⏹️, which ends something, a pause implies you will pick it up again.
⏸️ Pause Button is an emoji from the Symbols category (audio & video controls), added in Emoji 0.7 in 2014. People use it in messages about bar, double and vertical.
Example messages
⏸️ Pause Button on Apple, Google, Microsoft & more
The code is the same everywhere, but every company draws its own artwork. This is how Pause Button looks on each platform.
More audio & video controls emojis
See all 25 →Collections with ⏸️
Pause Button emoji: questions & answers
How do I copy and paste the Pause Button emoji?
Press the Copy button at the top of this page and ⏸️ is copied to your clipboard. Then paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V, Cmd+V or a long press on your phone. In Slack, Discord and GitHub you can also type the shortcode :double_vertical_bar:.
When was the Pause Button emoji added?
⏸️ Pause Button was added in Emoji 0.7, released in 2014. It is supported on all current versions of iOS, Android, Windows and macOS.
Why does ⏸️ look different on my phone?
Every platform draws its own artwork for Pause Button. The underlying code (U+23F8 U+FE0F) is the same everywhere, so the person you send it to always gets the same emoji, just in their device’s style. Compare the designs in the platform section above.