On Hold is the reading status for manga you’ve paused but plan to return to. It’s the fifth standard status alongside Currently Reading, Plan to Read, Completed, and Dropped — and the one that captures the most honest reality of reading many series at once: sometimes you simply pause.
On Hold vs. Dropped
The difference is whether you intend to come back:
- On Hold — paused, with intent to resume
- Dropped — abandoned for good
Because On Hold implies a return, trackers usually keep its titles in your unread counts and continue sending new chapter alerts, unlike dropped titles which are filtered out.
Common Reasons to Pause
Readers set a title On Hold when they:
- Catch up to the latest chapter and are waiting for more
- Need a break from a very long series
- Are waiting out a publishing hiatus — when the series itself stops releasing
Reading Status vs. Publication Status
It’s worth separating the two: On Hold describes your reading, while a hiatus describes the series’ publication. A series on hiatus often prompts readers to set their own status to On Hold until chapters resume. In MangaTime, On Hold keeps a paused series in your manga library and your stats while clearing it from your active queue — ready to reactivate the moment you’re back.