# 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.

{% hint style="info" %}
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.
{% endhint %}

<figure><img src="/files/8pBtyTUBISyyVdYAuMyo" 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="/files/i7sNV1Tmp5tjx9aPSTxb" 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="/files/UjQpboe1ukGUWUdBFbi4" 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](/engage/essential-features/sharing-media/videos/controlling-video-playback.md) for instructions on how to control playback of the Experience.

<figure><img src="/files/4Bvc9OSQh5NwuaM9RAxz" alt=""><figcaption><p>Active Experience panel when playback is controlled by a video</p></figcaption></figure>


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.engagevr.io/engage/essential-features/accessing-engage-content/controlling-the-playback-of-content.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.