The Pause all automations action in Manychat helps you temporarily stop automated messages, giving you precise control over when your system communicates with users. Whether a customer needs immediate human assistance, there's a sensitive interaction, or you're simply preventing automation from sending messages to close friends or family members, this action ensures your interactions remain respectful, relevant, and personalized.
You can easily implement the Pause all automations action directly in the Flow Builder, through Rules, and Sequences, selecting durations from as short as 30 minutes to indefinite pauses. This flexibility allows you to manage customer relationships thoughtfully, ensuring automated interactions enhance—not interrupt—the user experience.
In this article, you'll find comprehensive guidance on how the feature works, how to configure and manage it effectively, as well as key limitations and troubleshooting advice.
How to set up and use the Pause all automations action
There are multiple ways to use the Pause all automations action in Manychat, depending on how you structure your communication strategy. In this section, we’ll walk through the most common ways to implement it — in automations and sequences, and in rules — so you can choose the setup that fits your needs best.
Automations and Sequences
This is the most direct and flexible way to pause automations for specific contacts within your messaging journeys.
1. In the Automations section, open the automation where you’d like to add the Pause all automations action using Flow Builder, or create a new one specifically for this purpose.
2. Double-click anywhere on the canvas to add a new step, and select Action from the list of available options.
3. In the pop-up window, navigate to the Automation section and choose Pause all automations from the list of available actions.
4. Select the desired pause duration — available options range from 30 minutes to forever.
5. You may also add additional actions within the same node (e.g., notify assignees, assign a Live Chat agent, or apply a tag). All actions in this node will be executed before the pause takes effect.
6. Once your changes are complete, click Update or Publish to apply the changes to your automation.
⚠️ Note: You won’t be able to add any steps after this action node — the automation will end here due to system limitations.
To use it in a Sequence, simply create or edit an automation as described above, then assign it as a step in your sequence. The action will trigger at the scheduled time and pause further automations accordingly.
Rules
Rules are a great way to automate the pause of all automations based on specific triggers — such as tagging a contact, user opting in, or being followed from a business account.
1. Go to Automation → Rules. If the Rules section is not visible under Automations, you may need to enable it via Settings → Display.
2. Click + New Rule to create a new rule, following the steps outlined here.
3. Select a condition that will trigger the rule, such as “Tag is applied” or “Custom field is set”.
4. In the Actions section, choose Pause all automations, and specify the duration of the pause, ranging from 30 minutes to indefinitely.
6. After configuring the rule, click Save and toggle the switch in the upper-right corner to activate it.
This setup is especially helpful for automatically pausing automations for specific types of users, like VIPs, collaborators, or anyone entering a special automation or status.
Both methods allow you to make the most of the Pause all automations action—either embedded directly into customer journeys, or triggered automatically through business logic.
How to manage paused automations in the Live Chat
In Manychat's Live Chat, when a contact’s automations are paused, a clear system message appears directly in the conversation.
This message not only shows for how long the automations are on hold — for example, “x has paused automated replies in this conversation forever” — but also indicates how they were paused.
You’ll be able to see whether the pause was triggered manually by a team member or automatically through an automation. If it’s the latter, the system will display the name of the automation that paused the interaction along with the exact duration of the pause.
This transparency helps your team quickly understand the context and respond appropriately.
If you ever need to resume automations before the scheduled time, you can do it instantly within the same conversation. Just click Resume automations, and all automated messages and triggers for that contact will start running again right away.
This flexible setup ensures your agents are never in the dark. Even if a pause was originally set up in Flow Builder, authorized team members can override it in Live Chat, making it easy to step in, support the customer manually, and then get automations back on track with a single click.
Best practices and example use cases
The Pause all automations action in Manychat is a powerful tool for managing customer interactions with empathy, timing, and professionalism.
Whether you're responding to sensitive moments or creating space for personalized conversations, strategically pausing automations helps ensure every interaction feels relevant and respectful.
Here are several real-world scenarios where using this feature makes a meaningful impact:
1. Handling customer complaints proactively
When a system detects a complaint—whether through AI-powered intention recognition or clearly negative sentiment—it’s essential to de-escalate the situation. In this case, the automation can immediately respond with a calm, reassuring message such as “A manager will be with you shortly,” and then pause all further automations.
This avoids bombarding the customer with irrelevant or potentially tone-deaf responses, giving a Live Chat agent time to step in and address the issue with care.
2. Transitioning smoothly to human interaction
Automated messages can become disruptive when a customer is handed off to a human agent.
To create a smoother handover, automations can be paused as soon as the user indicates they want to speak with a person—whether by clicking a "Talk to an Agent" button or typing a relevant request.
This ensures the agent can begin the conversation without interruptions from ongoing automations, allowing for a more natural and respectful dialogue.
3. Maintaining personal touch with friends, family, and VIPs
Some users—like close acquaintances, loyal customers, or VIP clients—expect a more personalized interaction. In these cases, it makes sense to pause automations indefinitely.
For example, when someone is tagged as a VIP or followed by your business account on Instagram, automations can be paused to prevent awkward or generic messages. This helps preserve an authentic connection and ensures that messages always feel intentional and tailored.
5. Responding thoughtfully during public events or emergencies
During major events—such as natural disasters, sensitive political developments, or periods of public mourning—it’s important to strike the right tone. Pausing automations for 24 hours or more in response to these events allows your brand to show empathy and awareness.
Whether triggered manually or automatically, this action helps ensure that scheduled messages don’t appear tone-deaf or inappropriate, protecting your brand’s reputation and showing genuine respect for your audience.
In each of these scenarios, the Pause all automations feature helps you adapt to context, prioritize human judgment, and foster stronger, more thoughtful relationships with your audience.
💡 You can find a quick explanatory video with a couple of examples shared by our power user in the Manychat Community.
Limitations and troubleshooting
One key limitation is that no steps can follow a Pause all automations action. Once this action is added, the platform automatically disables the ability to add any subsequent steps.
Any existing arrows or connections to the next node will also be removed. If you hover over the action or attempt to link another step, you'll see a tooltip that explains the restriction: "Next steps are not allowed after a Pause Automation action due to system limitations."
Despite this limitation, it's worth noting that any additional actions placed within the same Action node will still function as expected. For instance, you can include both a Pause all automations and Assign conversation action in the same node, and both will execute successfully—allowing you to combine automation pauses with human intervention seamlessly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can I resume automations manually before the pause time ends?
Yes. You or a team member can manually resume automations at any time via the Live Chat interface, even if the originally set pause duration hasn’t expired yet.
2. Can I add other nodes after the Pause all automations action?
No. Due to system limitations, adding any steps after the Pause all automations action is not allowed. Once this action is added, the automation will block any next steps, and the node connection will be removed.
3. Can I combine the Pause all automations action with other actions in the same node?
Yes. You can include other actions like “Assign conversation” or “Notify assignees” within the same Action node. All actions in that node will be executed, including the pause.
4. What durations are available for pausing automations?
You can pause automations for:
- 30 minutes
- 1 hour
- 3 hours
- 6 hours
- 12 hours
- 1 day
- Forever (until manually resumed)
5. Does this affect Live Chat functionality?
No. The contact will still appear in Live Chat, and agents can continue chatting with them as usual. Automations are paused, not manual communication.
6. What happens if an automation is already running when the pause begins?
The current node (and any actions within it) will complete execution. Automations will be paused immediately afterward—future messages will not be triggered until the pause ends or is manually lifted.
7. Will contacts be notified that automations are paused?
Not automatically. However, you can pair the Pause all automations action with a custom message (e.g., “A human agent will be with you shortly”) to inform users before pausing automations.
8. Is the Pause all automations action available on mobile?
Yes, the action is fully available on mobile — you can add it to your automations just like you would on desktop, and it will function as expected.
However, the key difference lies in how the pause status appears inside Live Chat on mobile. Unlike the desktop version, which shows detailed system messages (including the name of the automation and duration of the pause), the mobile app displays simpler placeholder messages. Depending on the action, you might see:
Unsupported message: seq_paused – when all automations are paused indefinitely
Unsupported message: seq_paused_temporarily – when automations are paused for a limited time
Unsupported message: seq_resume – when automations are resumed, either manually or automatically
So while the feature is fully functional on mobile, for the most complete context and visibility, we recommend checking Live Chat on desktop when possible.
If you’re experiencing any issues with the Pause all automations action or have feedback to help us make the feature even better, feel free to reach out to our Support Team.