How to pause Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels has become one of the app’s most popular features, as it allows users to share videos on top as well as images. But if you’re new to the feature, it can be confusing to figure out how to pause a reel on Instagram.

Instagram Reels make up a huge portion of the content on the social media platform, with users constantly creating and uploading new videos to share with their friends and followers.

The feature is similar to TikTok in its focus on vertical short-form videos and has proven to be popular among millions of users.

Naturally, as with any video content, you may at some point be inclined to pause an Instagram Reel. But you have probably already noticed that a standard single tap on the screen doesn’t pause the video like it might on other platforms.

How to pause Reels on Instagram

If you want to pause a Reel video, you need to press your finger on the screen and hold it down. The Reel stays paused for as long as you hold your finger down, and as soon as you lift it, the video starts playing again.

While pressing down your finger on the screen, you will notice that the menu on the side of your screen will disappear, creating an ideal opportunity to take a screenshot.

As mentioned above, a standard single tap on the screen doesn’t pause an Instagram Reel like it would on TikTok or other similar apps, so you need to make sure to keep your finger pressed down until you want to continue to watch it.

Instead, when you tap a Reel, it only mutes the audio. This can be good if you just want to scroll through the comments, for example, and don’t want the distraction of the video repeating on a loop as you read them.

If you want to know more about how to use Instagram, you can check out our other guides including how to link your Instagram account to TikTok and how to see your first-liked Instagram post.