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Discover how to pause a reel on Instagram with our step-by-step guide
If you need to pause a reel on Instagram to get a closer look, it’s a straightforward process. While tapping on a video to pause it works on TikTok, it doesn’t on Instagram. Keep reading, and we'll show you how to pause a reel whether you're using your phone or computer, and how to fix any issues you might encounter.
Quick Steps
- Launch Instagram on your device and open the reel you want to pause.
- Press and hold your finger on the screen to stop the video.
- Release your finger to resume playing the video.
- Swipe up to open the app switcher and pause the video without holding your finger down.
Detailed Steps
How to Pause Instagram Reels on iPhone and Android
Press and hold your finger on the reel to pause it. Find the reel on Instagram and open it. Then, simply press your finger onto the screen to pause the video. Once you lift your finger, the video will resume playing.
- Tapping on an Instagram reel will mute or unmute the audio, rather than pause the video. Double-tapping will like the video instead.
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to pause a reel without holding your finger. Hold your finger at the bottom of the screen to pause the reel, then swipe up to open the app switcher on your device. The reel will remain paused even after you lift your finger.
- As soon as you tap on the app to open it again, the reel will start playing automatically.
How to Pause Instagram Reels on Desktop
Click anywhere on the reel to pause it. Log in to your Instagram account on your computer and click on the Reels icon in the sidebar. To stop the reel, click anywhere on the video and it will pause. Click again to resume playing from where you left off.
- To mute the reel, simply click the speaker icon at the top-right corner of the video.
Why can't I pause Instagram reels?
The video cannot be paused. Some business advertisements play automatically and do not allow skipping or pausing. Additionally, if the video is a live stream from a creator, pausing may not be possible.
Your Instagram app is outdated. If you haven’t updated Instagram recently, make sure you have the latest version. If not, head to the app store and update it. Once you do that, you should be able to pause videos again.
- Enable Instagram auto-updates by opening your profile, tapping the 3 horizontal lines in the top left, selecting “About,” and tapping “App updates.” Turn on auto-updates so your app is always up-to-date.
There's a glitch in the Instagram app. If you repeatedly face issues pausing Instagram reels, close the app, uninstall it, then reinstall Instagram. Log in again, and the latest version should allow you to pause the reel.
- This also resolves issues if Instagram reels aren’t working altogether.
Your phone isn’t registering your touch. If you’re having trouble pausing the video on certain parts of the screen or the app is unresponsive, it might be a hardware issue. Try restarting your phone first. If the issue persists, consider visiting your service provider or a repair shop to fix it.
- Open another app and test the same screen area. If it’s still unresponsive, the problem is likely with your phone’s touch screen.
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If you'd like to review the video frame by frame, tap the Share icon and save the reel to your device. You can then upload the video to editing software like iMovie or Adobe Premiere, allowing you to carefully scrub through the footage and pause at the exact frame you need.
