Pausing and Resuming Recording While Live

How to pause and resume the recording during a live show: for off-record moments, breaks, and clean recordings without stopping the broadcast.

M. Emin
··4 min read

Introduction

Pause and Resume let you control what's captured in your recording without affecting the live broadcast. Pause when something off-record happens; resume when you're back to broadcast-worthy content. The saved master file is one continuous recording with the paused section omitted.

This guide covers when to use it, how to use it cleanly, and how it interacts with the live broadcast.

When to Use Pause

Off-record guest moments

A guest opens up about something personal or sensitive. You're happy to broadcast it live but don't want it preserved in the recording for replay distribution. Pause the recording.

Pre-show / post-show

The first minute of "is this thing on?" and the last minute of "phew" don't belong in the saved file. Pause before, resume when you're ready.

Sensitive corporate content

Your audience watches live, but the saved recording goes wider (employees, customers, public). Pause during sections that shouldn't make the public cut.

Breaks

Long shows have human moments. Bathroom break, water refill, off-camera prep. Pause.

Pickup recording

You messed up a 30-second segment and want to redo it cleanly. Pause, regroup, resume with a fresh take.

When NOT to Use Pause

  • For light editing. Aggressive cuts and tightening should happen in post-production, not during the live show.

  • To "fix" a bad live show. If the show is going badly, the live audience saw it. Pausing the recording doesn't change what was broadcast.

  • For routine breaks in a 3-hour stream. Frequent pauses make the recording feel chopped up. Better to record straight through and trim in post.

How to Pause

  1. Confirm the recording is active, you'll see a REC badge on the canvas

  2. Click Pause in the toolbar

  3. The badge changes to PAUSED

  4. The recording is now paused; the live broadcast continues unaffected

Screenshot suggestion: Toolbar with Pause Recording button highlighted, REC badge visible on the canvas.

How to Resume

  1. Click Resume in the toolbar

  2. The badge returns to REC

  3. Recording picks up; the saved file continues from where it paused

The paused interval is not in the saved file. The recording is one continuous file with that section omitted.

What Happens to the Live Broadcast

Nothing. Pause and Resume affect the recording only. The live broadcast to your destinations continues normally.

If you want to also stop the live broadcast (for example, going off-air for a sensitive moment), use the broadcast controls separately:

  • Click End Live to stop broadcasting (this is a hard stop, not a pause)

  • Or pause individual destinations

Pause vs. End Recording

These are different actions:

  • Pause Recording: temporarily stops recording. The session continues. Resume picks up the same file.

  • End Recording: fully ends the recording session. Starting again creates a new, separate recording.

For mid-show breaks, use Pause. For finishing the show, use End Recording.

Pro Tips

  • Tell your guests. "I'm pausing the recording for a moment, feel free to share off-record." Sets expectations.

  • Tell the live audience too. "The recording is paused for a second; we'll be right back to broadcast-mode."

  • Don't pause for routine moments. A water sip, a notification dismissal, let those happen on camera. Pausing for trivial moments makes the recording feel artificial.

  • Use the PAUSED badge as a reminder. It's visible on your canvas, glance at it before saying anything important. If it's PAUSED, that thing won't be saved.

  • Resume promptly. Forgetting to resume means the rest of your show isn't recorded. Set a mental cue.

Common Issues

I paused but the recording kept going. Refresh the toolbar, sometimes the click registers slowly. Confirm with the badge state.

My recording is shorter than expected. Check if you paused and forgot to resume. The badge state shows current status.

I want to delete a section that wasn't paused. Trim it in post-production. Pause only affects future recording, not already-captured content.

Can I pause and resume multiple times in one session? Yes. The recording stitches together as one file with all paused sections omitted.

Next Steps

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Pausing and Resuming Recording While Live - Help Center | playout.video