> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.baza.chat/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pausing

> Stop your assistant answering everywhere, or on one channel.

Pause your assistant when you'd rather answer customers yourself for a while. Or pause it on one channel and keep it answering on the rest.

## Pause your assistant

The switch at the top of your assistant's page shows whether it's **Answering** or **Paused**.

**1. Turn the switch off**

On your assistant's page, turn off the switch beside **Answering**.

**2. Confirm**

Press **Pause**. To turn it back on, use the same switch and press **Turn it
on**: it starts answering again straight away.

While it's paused:

* It stops answering on every channel until you turn it back on.
* Customers see you're unavailable, with your phone and email.
* Messages sent while it's paused aren't saved, and you can't reply from the inbox.

> [!WARNING]
>
> If your WhatsApp number isn't in the WhatsApp Business app, its messages
> aren't kept anywhere while your assistant is paused. They aren't in Baza, and
> they aren't on a phone.

Does the switch say **Stopped** instead, such as **Stopped: add a card** or **Stopped: monthly limit**? Then your assistant stopped because of payment or credits, not a pause. Press it to go to [**Settings → Plan & billing**](https://baza.chat/dashboard/settings?tab=billing). See [Credits](https://docs.baza.chat/billing/credits.md).

Only owners and admins can pause an assistant.

## Pause one channel

On your assistant's [**Channels**](https://baza.chat/dashboard/channels) tab, each channel has its own switch. Turn one off, and this assistant stops answering there. It keeps answering on the others.

While a channel is paused, Baza doesn't keep new messages from it. Its conversations stay in your inbox to read, but you can't reply to them until you turn the channel back on.

What customers see depends on the channel:

| Channel | While paused |
| - | - |
| Website chat and chat page | Customers see you're unavailable, with your phone and email. |
| Instagram, Gmail, and WhatsApp on the Business app | Messages still reach those apps, so you can answer there. |
| WhatsApp not on the Business app | Messages aren't kept anywhere. Baza asks you to confirm first. |

When your whole assistant is paused, you can't change the channel switches. Turn it back on at the top of the page first.


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