# Workflow Pause > Pause and Unpause a Workflow Execution to stop new progress without terminating the Workflow or losing state. This page discusses the following: - [Pause](#pause) - [Unpause](#unpause) - [Observability](#observability) - [What Workflow Pause is not](#what-workflow-pause-is-not) - [Important considerations](#important-considerations) - [Limitations](#limitations) Workflow Pause is an operational control that stops a specific [Workflow Execution](/workflow-execution) from making new progress until it is Unpaused. Use Workflow Pause when you need to hold a Workflow in place without terminating the Workflow Execution or losing Workflow state. For example, during an incident, investigation, or dependency outage. You can Pause and Unpause Workflow Executions through the [CLI](/cli/command-reference/workflow), the UI, or directly through the gRPC API. > **Pre-release** > In Temporal > Cloud, Pre-release access is invite-only; contact your Temporal account team or > [open a support ticket](/cloud/support#support-ticket). For self-hosted Temporal, Workflow Pause requires Temporal > Server v1.30.0+ with `frontend.WorkflowPauseEnabled` enabled. The Temporal CLI requires v1.6.0+. Self-hosted UI support > requires v2.47.2+. ## Operations summary | Operation | What it does | CLI | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Pause](#pause) | Stops a Workflow Execution from making new progress. | [`temporal workflow pause`](/cli/command-reference/workflow#pause) | | [Unpause](#unpause) | Resumes a Paused Workflow Execution. | [`temporal workflow unpause`](/cli/command-reference/workflow#unpause) | ## Pause Pause stops a Workflow Execution from making new progress until it is Unpaused. ### When to pause - A downstream dependency is unhealthy, and you want to stop the Workflow from continuing until the dependency recovers. - You need time to inspect or fix an issue before the Workflow schedules more work. - You're rolling out a Worker change and want to hold specific Workflow Executions until the deploy is complete. - You want to prevent a Workflow from continuing without terminating it or losing its current state. ### What happens when you Pause a Workflow - No new Workflow Tasks are dispatched. Workflow code doesn't make progress while the Workflow is Paused. - No new Activity Tasks are dispatched. Activity retries and newly scheduled Activity Tasks don't start while the Workflow is Paused. - In-flight Activity attempts aren't interrupted. Activity attempts that are already running can complete, fail, time out, and Heartbeat normally. - Activity completion, failure, and timeout events can be recorded. Workflow code doesn't process those events until the Workflow is Unpaused. - Signals are accepted and recorded. Signal handlers run after the Workflow is Unpaused. - Timers keep advancing. Timers that fire while Paused are processed by Workflow code after the Workflow is Unpaused. - Updates and Queries are rejected. - Cancel requests are recorded. Cancellation takes effect after the Workflow is Unpaused. - Terminate requests still terminate the Workflow immediately. - Pause is recorded in Event History. The Event includes the identity, reason, and request ID. ### CLI usage ```bash temporal workflow pause \ --workflow-id YourWorkflowId \ --reason "Pausing while downstream service recovers" ``` See the [CLI reference for `temporal workflow pause`](/cli/command-reference/workflow#pause) for all options. ## Unpause Unpause resumes a Paused Workflow Execution. ### When to unpause - The dependency or service that caused the Pause has recovered. - Investigation is complete and the Workflow can continue. - A deploy or configuration change is complete. - You're ready for queued Signals, recorded cancellation, or blocked work to proceed. ### What happens when you Unpause a Workflow - Workflow Tasks and Activity Tasks can be dispatched again. - Signals received and Timers that fired while Paused are processed by the Workflow. - Pending Activity retries can proceed unless the Activity itself is Paused. - The Workflow continues from its existing state. - Unpause is recorded in Event History. The Event includes the identity, reason, and request ID. ### CLI usage ```bash temporal workflow unpause \ --workflow-id YourWorkflowId \ --reason "Downstream service recovered" ``` See the [CLI reference for `temporal workflow unpause`](/cli/command-reference/workflow#unpause) for all options. ## Observability Paused Workflow Executions have `ExecutionStatus="Paused"`. You can find Paused Workflow Executions with a [List Filter](/list-filter): ```sql ExecutionStatus = "Paused" ``` You can also inspect a Workflow Execution with: ```bash temporal workflow describe \ --workflow-id YourWorkflowId ``` Pause and Unpause are recorded in [Event History](/workflow-execution/event#event-history) with the identity, reason, and request ID. ## What Workflow Pause is not - Workflow Pause isn't Activity Pause. To interrupt a Heartbeating Activity attempt, use [Activity Pause](/activity-operations#pause). - Workflow Pause isn't bulk Workflow Pause. It applies to one Workflow Execution at a time. - Workflow Pause doesn't pause [Schedules](/schedule), Task Queues, or Namespaces. - Workflow Pause isn't an auto-pause policy. Operators must Pause and Unpause manually through an operational interface. ## Important considerations ### Scope - Workflow Pause applies to a single Workflow Execution. - It doesn't pause [Child Workflows](/child-workflows), Activities, Schedules, Task Queues, or Namespaces. ### Timeouts and in-flight work - Workflow Pause doesn't stop time from passing. Workflow Execution timeouts, Workflow Run timeouts, Activity timeouts, and Timer deadlines continue to advance. - Activity attempts that are already running aren't interrupted. They can complete, fail, Heartbeat, or time out while the Workflow is Paused. ### Messages and lifecycle operations - Signals are accepted while Paused and processed after the Workflow is Unpaused. - Updates and Queries are rejected while Paused. - Cancel requests are recorded while Paused, but cancellation takes effect after the Workflow is Unpaused. - [Terminate](/evaluate/development-production-features/interrupt-workflow) requests still terminate the Workflow immediately. - Resetting a Paused Workflow terminates the current Run and starts a new Run from the selected reset point. ### Schedules, cron, and operation timing - A Paused Run is still considered active for [Schedule](/schedule) overlap policy decisions. - For [Cron jobs](/cron-job), Pause affects the current Run. Missed cron intervals are not backfilled. - Pause and Unpause aren't a transactional boundary. Work can make progress while the Workflow is Unpaused. ### Billing In Temporal Cloud, pausing a Workflow Execution stops progress but doesn't end the Workflow Execution. Its Event History continues to count toward [Active Storage](/cloud/pricing#storage) until the Workflow Execution completes, fails, times out, is canceled, or is terminated. ## Limitations - Workflow Pause must be enabled before it can be used. - Workflow Pause applies to a single Workflow Execution. Bulk Workflow Pause is not supported. - Auto-pause policies are not supported. - Workflow Pause is an operational control. It isn't intended to be called from Workflow code. - There is no indicator that all in-flight Activity attempts have completed after a Workflow is Paused. ## Interaction with Activity operations Workflow Pause and [Activity Operations](/activity-operations) are separate controls. Workflow Pause stops progress for a Workflow Execution. Activity Operations act on a specific Activity Execution. If a Workflow is Paused, Activity retries in that Workflow are blocked. If an individual Activity is also Paused, both the Workflow and the Activity must be Unpaused before that Activity can proceed. Workflow Pause doesn't interrupt Activity attempts that are already running. To interrupt a Heartbeating Activity attempt, use [Activity Pause](/activity-operations#pause).