How do you pause or stop a campaign?

Pausing or stopping a campaign in Google Ads is fairly straightforward. Here's how you can do it:

To Pause a Campaign:
Pausing a campaign will stop it from showing ads, but it allows you to keep the campaign in your account, so you can reactivate it later if needed.

Sign in to your Google Ads account.

In the left-hand navigation panel, click on "Campaigns".

Find the campaign you want to pause.

Select the checkbox next to the campaign name.

At the top of the page, click on the "Edit" drop-down menu.

From the menu, select "Pause".

This will immediately stop ads from showing under that campaign, but the campaign will still exist in your account. You can always unpause it later if you want to resume it.

To Stop (Delete) a Campaign:
If you want to completely stop a campaign and remove it from your account, you'll need to remove or delete it. This is a more permanent action than pausing.

Sign in to your Google Ads account.

Click on "Campaigns" in the left navigation panel.

Select the campaign you want to delete.

Click on the three-dot menu (often found next to the campaign name or at the top of the page).

Choose "Remove" or "Delete" from the drop-down options.

Note: Deleting a campaign removes it entirely from your account, including historical data. You won't be able to recover it later, so make sure this is really what you want before taking this action. Pausing is a safer option if you're not sure.

Why Pause Instead of Delete?
Pausing allows you to keep all the data and settings intact. You can resume the campaign at any time, and all your previous performance data will still be available for analysis.

Deleting is more drastic and can be useful if you're certain you won't need the campaign anymore and want to clean up your account.