Google Microsoft Twitter/X
A button used for pausing audio or video content.

A button used for pausing audio or video content. Emoji

Symbols

Two bold, vertical parallel bars set against a square or rounded square background. This icon acts as a universal visual cue for stopping playback on media players.

Usage Context

Used globally to tell someone to wait, hold a thought, or stop a recording. It is the go-to icon for digital media controls, often found right next to ▶️ or ⏹️ on remote controls and app interfaces.

History

The double-bar symbol emerged in the mid-20th century on analog tape recorders to denote the pause function, distinguishing it from the stop button. It was standardized in early digital software interfaces to ensure users could immediately recognize playback controls without reading text labels.

Details

Glyph
⏸
Unicode
U+23F8
Shortcode
:emoji_u23f8:
HTML Entity
⏸

Specifications

Vendor Google
Category Symbols
Subcategory av-symbol
Unicode Version 6.0
Emoji Version 1.0
License CC-BY 4.0
Tags
barbuttondoublepauseverticalmediaplaybackstopholdaudiovideocontrols

Google Noto License

Emoji graphics by Twitter/X, licensed under CC-BY 4.0

Noto Color Emoji graphics are copyrighted by Google Inc. and licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. Font files may also be subject to the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.

Apache 2.0SIL OFL 1.1Noto Repository

Related Symbols Emojis

Cinema Vibration mode Mobile phone off Antenna bars A button used for shuffling tracks in a playlist. A button used for repeating a track or playlist. A button used for repeating a single track. Dim button Bright button Upwards button Downwards button Wireless