> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.aviator.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.aviator.co/mergequeue/concepts/paused-queues.md).

# Paused Queues

Read about the paused queues feature and how MergeQueue works when a queue is paused. Pausing a queue allows you to control whether devs can merge PRs.

There are cases where you want to pause the queue. For example, during the holiday season, you do not want to get PRs merged. Pausing a queue allows you to control whether devs can merge PRs.

You can pause queues per repository or per base branch (e.g. `main`). This allows you to pause the queue for the `release` branch, while allowing devs to merge PRs into `main`. The control is on the Web UI and provided via [API](/mergequeue/how-to-guides/pause-unpause-queues-via-api.md).

<figure><img src="https://273246003-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FOAPqUQVbLbsfI5YESl32%2Fuploads%2FlsSbMMooQ35XYoMKV6Sc%2FSCR-20241125-pvax.png?alt=media&amp;token=2b82c688-5eb2-41f0-b339-38aca47fa781" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

When a queue is paused, MergeQueue works processes the PRs up to the merge timing. This includes creating a draft PR for [<mark style="color:blue;">the parallel mode</mark>](/mergequeue/concepts/parallel-mode.md). The [<mark style="color:blue;">instant merge action</mark>](/mergequeue/concepts/priority-merges/instant-merges.md) also stops working when a queue is paused.

***

Deactivating a repository will halt most of the Aviator features on the repository. By deactivating a repository, any queuing actions won't be processed nor any comments are posted from Aviator. The only exception to this is changesets and you can create them in a deactivated repository.


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