If you’re printing on a Bambu Lab printer and need the machine to stop mid-print to insert a magnet, nut, colour swap, or any other manual step, the good news is that it’s really easy once you learn how.
You don’t need some weird custom G-code or anything complicated. Bambu Studio already has a built-in pause function, and once you know where it is, adding one takes about ten seconds.
When a Pause is Useful
Adding a pause makes sense any time you need to intervene during a print without cancelling the whole job.
Common examples:
- Inserting magnets into a print
- Dropping in nuts or threaded hardware
- Pausing for a filament colour change
- Embedding a label, mesh, or another part
- Checking that a tricky section printed properly before it gets sealed in
This is one of those features that sounds more complicated than it is.
How to Add a Pause in Bambu Studio
Before you send the file to the printer, do this in the slicer preview:
- Slice the model as usual
- Open the Preview tab
- Use the layer slider on the right side to move to the layer where you want the printer to stop
- Right-click the layer marker or the layer line at that point
- Choose Add Pause
That’s it! Bambu Studio will insert the pause at that layer, and the printer will stop when it reaches that point in the job.
Pick the Right Layer
This is the part that requires a bit of extra thought.
You usually want the pause to happen **just before** the printer closes over the area where you need to do something manually.
For example:
- If you’re embedding a magnet, pause right before the next layers would cover the cavity
- If you’re changing colours, pause at the exact layer where you want the new colour to begin
- If you’re dropping in hardware, make sure the part has enough clearance before the print resumes
If you place the pause too late, the opening may already be sealed.
In this case, I’m inserting some nuts into a spider for my 3D printed telescope, the Hadley.
What Happens During the Pause
When the printer reaches the pause layer, it stops and waits for you.
At that point you can:
- Insert the part
- Swap filament if needed
- Inspect the print
- Clear any small issue before continuing
Then resume the print from the printer interface.
The important thing is to avoid bumping the model or leaving debris on the surface before restarting.
A Couple of Practical Tips
This works better if you plan for the pause while designing the part.
A few things help:
- Leave enough tolerance for magnets or hardware so you’re not forcing parts into a tight cavity
- Make sure the inserted object sits below the next printed layer
- If you’re using strong magnets, double-check that they won’t interfere with the nozzle path or get pulled into the metal nozzle as it passes by, not only can this ruin your print but it may damage the machine
- For colour changes, purge enough filament after the pause so the new colour is actually clean
A pause is simple. Recovering from a nozzle collision or run away magnet is much less simple.
Final Thoughts
Adding a pause in Bambu Studio is one of those little features that makes a printer much more useful.
Once you know it’s there, you start using it for all kinds of practical things – embedded hardware, cleaner multi-colour parts, and prints that would otherwise need awkward glue-and-assemble work later.
A seasoned Senior Solutions Architect with 20 years of experience in technology design and implementation. Renowned for innovative solutions and strategic insights, he excels in driving complex projects to success. Outside work, he is a passionate fisherman and fish keeper, specializing in planted tanks.