# Controlling the playback of an experience

When you load an Experience, it begins to play automatically. Users with host permissions can pause, jump to a specific time, or cancel the Experience. How you control the playback of Experience depends on how the it was created.

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On desktop and VR devices, when an Experience is loaded, a blue dot appears underneath the Experiences icon in the menu. If the Experience controls the playback of media, a blue dot also appears underneath the Shared Screen icon.
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<figure><img src="https://3460182399-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FwVx6bvwqEE7tD0TYOcfj%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-b1de96be94646f7b2f7af6df502f881b129ff338%2Fcontent_active_icon.jpg?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption><p>Active Experiences icon</p></figcaption></figure>

To access the Active Experience panel, complete the following steps:

1. Open your menu or tablet, and then select **Experiences** <img src="https://3460182399-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FwVx6bvwqEE7tD0TYOcfj%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-0c355486b381ad473de201d4f1a1dee506898d92%2Fmenu_i_content.png?alt=media" alt="" data-size="line">.
2. On the **Experiences** page, in the lower left corner, select **Active Experience**.

If the Active Experience panel includes playback controls, as shown in the following image, then you can use those to control playback of the Experience.

<figure><img src="https://3460182399-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FwVx6bvwqEE7tD0TYOcfj%2Fuploads%2FBQAfZraUQ9Ecy49oDXVE%2Factive_content_panel.png?alt=media&#x26;token=b0622579-6621-45ed-98e0-45bbd0690d68" alt=""><figcaption><p>Active Experience panel with playback controls</p></figcaption></figure>

If the Active Experience panel doesn't include playback controls, as shown in the following image, see [controlling-video-playback](https://docs.engagevr.io/engage/essential-features/sharing-media/videos/controlling-video-playback "mention") for instructions on how to control playback of the Experience.

<figure><img src="https://3460182399-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FwVx6bvwqEE7tD0TYOcfj%2Fuploads%2FV3xsILfmGGZDxGZolGYB%2Factive_content_media_control.png?alt=media&#x26;token=c240158b-274d-40dd-ba13-10a8483914da" alt=""><figcaption><p>Active Experience panel when playback is controlled by a video</p></figcaption></figure>