How to Pause Your Plenty of Fish Profile with Take a Break

Tap My Profile, then Manage Account, then Delete My Account, and on that screen choose Take a Break instead, then pick how long you want to be away. The option works only in the app or on mobile web, and only in certain regions. Your profile stays intact, and using the app again ends the break.

POF puts the option on the same path you would follow to delete your account. That catches men out. They look for a pause setting, find nothing obvious, and assume deleting is the only choice.

It is not. Follow the steps as far as Delete My Account, then choose Take a Break and set how long it should last. Nothing gets deleted on the way.

If you cannot see the option, check two things. Are you in the app or on mobile web, rather than a desktop browser? And is Take a Break offered where you live? It is only available in certain regions.

While you are on a break, three things change:

• You cannot like members.
• You cannot send or receive messages.
• You do not appear on the Discovery page.

The second one matters most. Nobody can reach you while you are away, and you cannot answer anyone either. A break really does take you off the app, which is the whole point of it. It is also the reason to tidy up before you start one.

Nothing on the Take a Break page says it changes your membership. If you pay for an upgrade, check when it renews before you step away for long.

Take a Break asks how long you want to be away, so decide before you tap.

Most breaks need less time than men think. Ten days away is often enough to miss the app a little, and that is exactly the mood you want to come back in. Pick the shortest break that does the job.

A long break has two costs. POF clears conversations older than 30 days, so a break that runs past a month can cost you chats you meant to come back to. And women you were talking to will not wait forever. If you are pausing because you have met someone, a longer break makes sense. Give that a fair chance before you look again.

Using the app again ends the break, and your profile is still intact when you come back.

That makes a break easy to end, which cuts both ways. Opening the app out of habit on day two ends the break you meant to take. If the point is a real rest, move the app off your home screen for as long as the break lasts.

A break makes sense in a few situations:

• You have started seeing someone and want to give it a fair chance.
• You have a heavy stretch at work or a trip coming, and you would not answer anyone anyway.
• The app has started to feel like a chore, and your writing has gone flat because of it.

That last one is more common than men admit. A dating app works best as a small, regular part of your week, not a second job. Men who set targets they cannot keep, like hours every night, tend to wear themselves out and then do nothing at all. A short break followed by an easy routine of half an hour a day does more than grinding on while you dread every session.

Because you cannot send or receive messages on a break, deal with your conversations before you start one.

Begin with the women closest to a plan. If a date is nearly set, set it, and get her number so the plan does not depend on the app. For everyone else, one short line is enough: you are stepping away for a couple of weeks, and you would still like that drink when you are back. She will not hold a place for you forever, but she is far more likely to answer later if she knows you did not simply vanish.

A break is the best time to fix whatever was not working, because nobody is looking while you change it.

Get one or two new photos taken in daylight by a friend, with your face clear and nobody else in the frame. Drop the photo you have always had doubts about. Rewrite one vague line in your bio into something specific she could reply to, like the place you go on Sunday mornings instead of "I love to travel".

Then come back with something new for women to react to. A page that changed while you were away gives the break a purpose beyond rest, and it gives you your best chance to stand out from the first day back.