diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts b/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts
index 4b6c466cd41e7..f2eba2ad10543 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export class FullConfigInternal {
       updateSnapshots: takeFirst(configCLIOverrides.updateSnapshots, userConfig.updateSnapshots, 'missing'),
       updateSourceMethod: takeFirst(configCLIOverrides.updateSourceMethod, userConfig.updateSourceMethod, 'patch'),
       version: require('../../package.json').version,
-      workers: resolveWorkers(takeFirst(configCLIOverrides.debug ? 1 : undefined, configCLIOverrides.workers, userConfig.workers, '50%')),
+      workers: resolveWorkers(takeFirst(configCLIOverrides.pause ? 1 : undefined, configCLIOverrides.workers, userConfig.workers, '50%')),
       webServer: null,
     };
     for (const key in userConfig) {
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/common/ipc.ts b/packages/playwright/src/common/ipc.ts
index 8c20d80e97cfa..c6aa1b0a71f26 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/common/ipc.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/common/ipc.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export type ConfigCLIOverrides = {
   maxFailures?: number;
   outputDir?: string;
   preserveOutputDir?: boolean;
+  pause?: boolean;
   quiet?: boolean;
   repeatEach?: number;
   retries?: number;
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ export type TestInfoErrorImpl = TestInfoError;
 export type TestPausedPayload = {
   testId: string;
   errors: TestInfoErrorImpl[];
+  status: TestStatus;
 };
 
 export type ResumePayload = {};
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/program.ts b/packages/playwright/src/program.ts
index c48a605a8f57f..0df97a777ca29 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/program.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/program.ts
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ function overridesFromOptions(options: { [key: string]: any }): ConfigCLIOverrid
     updateSourceMethod: options.updateSourceMethod,
     runAgents: options.runAgents,
     workers: options.workers,
+    pause: options.pause ? true : undefined,
   };
 
   if (options.browser) {
@@ -323,10 +324,11 @@ function overridesFromOptions(options: { [key: string]: any }): ConfigCLIOverrid
     });
   }
 
-  if (options.headed || options.debug)
+  if (options.headed || options.debug || overrides.pause)
     overrides.use = { headless: false };
   if (!options.ui && options.debug) {
     overrides.debug = true;
+    overrides.pause = true;
     process.env.PWDEBUG = '1';
   }
   if (!options.ui && options.trace) {
@@ -401,7 +403,7 @@ const kTraceModes: TraceMode[] = ['on', 'off', 'on-first-retry', 'on-all-retries
 const testOptions: [string, { description: string, choices?: string[], preset?: string }][] = [
   /* deprecated */ ['--browser <browser>', { description: `Browser to use for tests, one of "all", "chromium", "firefox" or "webkit" (default: "chromium")` }],
   ['-c, --config <file>', { description: `Configuration file, or a test directory with optional "playwright.config.{m,c}?{js,ts}"` }],
-  ['--debug', { description: `Run tests with Playwright Inspector. Shortcut for "PWDEBUG=1" environment variable and "--timeout=0 --max-failures=1 --headed --workers=1" options` }],
+  ['--debug', { description: `Run tests with Playwright Inspector. Shortcut for "PWDEBUG=1" environment variable and "--timeout=0 --max-failures=1 --headed --workers=1 --pause" options` }],
   ['--fail-on-flaky-tests', { description: `Fail if any test is flagged as flaky (default: false)` }],
   ['--forbid-only', { description: `Fail if test.only is called (default: false)` }],
   ['--fully-parallel', { description: `Run all tests in parallel (default: false)` }],
@@ -417,6 +419,7 @@ const testOptions: [string, { description: string, choices?: string[], preset?:
   ['--output <dir>', { description: `Folder for output artifacts (default: "test-results")` }],
   ['--only-changed [ref]', { description: `Only run test files that have been changed between 'HEAD' and 'ref'. Defaults to running all uncommitted changes. Only supports Git.` }],
   ['--pass-with-no-tests', { description: `Makes test run succeed even if no tests were found` }],
+  ['--pause', { description: `Run tests in headed mode and pause at the end of test execution` }],
   ['--project <project-name...>', { description: `Only run tests from the specified list of projects, supports '*' wildcard (default: run all projects)` }],
   ['--quiet', { description: `Suppress stdio` }],
   ['--repeat-each <N>', { description: `Run each test N times (default: 1)` }],
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/base.ts b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/base.ts
index e3fde36e373cf..f94ffebf29bf2 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/base.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/base.ts
@@ -359,20 +359,42 @@ export class TerminalReporter implements ReporterV2 {
     return formatError(this.screen, error);
   }
 
+  formatSingleResult(test: TestCase, result: TestResult, index?: number): string {
+    return formatSingleResult(this.screen, this.config, test, result, index);
+  }
+
   writeLine(line?: string) {
     this.screen.stdout?.write(line ? line + '\n' : '\n');
   }
 }
 
+function formatSingleResult(screen: Screen, config: FullConfig, test: TestCase, result: TestResult, index?: number): string {
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  const header = formatTestHeader(screen, config, test, { indent: '  ', index });
+  lines.push(test.outcome() === 'unexpected' ? screen.colors.red(header) : screen.colors.yellow(header));
+  if (test.outcome() === 'unexpected') {
+    const errorDetails = formatResultFailure(screen, test, result, '    ');
+    if (errorDetails.length > 0)
+      lines.push('');
+    for (const error of errorDetails)
+      lines.push(error.message, '');
+  }
+  return lines.join('\n');
+}
+
 export function formatFailure(screen: Screen, config: FullConfig, test: TestCase, index?: number, options?: TerminalReporterOptions): string {
   const lines: string[] = [];
-  const header = formatTestHeader(screen, config, test, { indent: '  ', index, mode: 'error', includeTestId: options?.includeTestId });
-  lines.push(screen.colors.red(header));
+  let printedHeader = false;
   for (const result of test.results) {
     const resultLines: string[] = [];
     const errors = formatResultFailure(screen, test, result, '    ');
     if (!errors.length)
       continue;
+    if (!printedHeader) {
+      const header = formatTestHeader(screen, config, test, { indent: '  ', index, mode: 'error', includeTestId: options?.includeTestId });
+      lines.push(screen.colors.red(header));
+      printedHeader = true;
+    }
     if (result.retry) {
       resultLines.push('');
       resultLines.push(screen.colors.gray(separator(screen, `    Retry #${result.retry}`)));
@@ -455,6 +477,12 @@ function quotePathIfNeeded(path: string): string {
   return path;
 }
 
+const kReportedSymbol = Symbol('reported');
+
+export function markErrorsAsReported(result: TestResult) {
+  (result as any)[kReportedSymbol] = result.errors.length;
+}
+
 export function formatResultFailure(screen: Screen, test: TestCase, result: TestResult, initialIndent: string): ErrorDetails[] {
   const errorDetails: ErrorDetails[] = [];
 
@@ -469,7 +497,8 @@ export function formatResultFailure(screen: Screen, test: TestCase, result: Test
     });
   }
 
-  for (const error of result.errors) {
+  const reportedIndex = (result as any)[kReportedSymbol] || 0;
+  for (const error of result.errors.slice(reportedIndex)) {
     const formattedError = formatError(screen, error);
     errorDetails.push({
       message: indent(formattedError.message, initialIndent),
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/line.ts b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/line.ts
index 3c34f22308d3e..4bcda258f6154 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/line.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/line.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { TerminalReporter } from './base';
+import { markErrorsAsReported, TerminalReporter } from './base';
 
 import type { FullResult, Suite, TestCase, TestError, TestResult, TestStep } from '../../types/testReporter';
 
@@ -78,6 +78,23 @@ class LineReporter extends TerminalReporter {
       this._updateLine(test, result, step.parent);
   }
 
+  async onTestPaused(test: TestCase, result: TestResult) {
+    // without TTY, user cannot interrupt the pause. let's skip it.
+    if (!process.stdin.isTTY && !process.env.PW_TEST_DEBUG_REPORTERS)
+      return;
+
+    if (!process.env.PW_TEST_DEBUG_REPORTERS)
+      this.screen.stdout.write(`\u001B[1A\u001B[2K`);
+
+    this.writeLine(this.formatSingleResult(test, result, test.outcome() === 'unexpected' ? ++this._failures : undefined));
+    markErrorsAsReported(result);
+    this.writeLine(this.screen.colors.yellow(`    Paused ${test.outcome() === 'unexpected' ? 'on error' : 'at test end'}. Press Ctrl+C to end.`) + '\n\n');
+
+    this._updateLine(test, result, undefined);
+
+    await new Promise<void>(() => {});
+  }
+
   override onTestEnd(test: TestCase, result: TestResult) {
     super.onTestEnd(test, result);
     if (!this.willRetry(test) && (test.outcome() === 'flaky' || test.outcome() === 'unexpected' || result.status === 'interrupted')) {
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/dispatcher.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/dispatcher.ts
index dd8defedda16a..db5873fec3913 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/dispatcher.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/dispatcher.ts
@@ -615,6 +615,7 @@ class JobDispatcher {
       }
     };
 
+    result.status = params.status;
     result.errors = params.errors;
     result.error = result.errors[0];
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/testRunner.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/testRunner.ts
index c75f75a815172..564347ac780fe 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/testRunner.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/testRunner.ts
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ export async function runAllTestsWithConfig(config: FullConfigInternal): Promise
     ...createRunTestsTasks(config),
   ];
 
-  const testRun = new TestRun(config, reporter, { pauseAtEnd: config.configCLIOverrides.debug, pauseOnError: config.configCLIOverrides.debug });
+  const testRun = new TestRun(config, reporter, { pauseAtEnd: config.configCLIOverrides.pause, pauseOnError: config.configCLIOverrides.pause });
   const status = await runTasks(testRun, tasks, config.config.globalTimeout);
 
   // Calling process.exit() might truncate large stdout/stderr output.
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts b/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts
index 4d99313c05c1a..db8a4d6e2ec5e 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ export class TestInfoImpl implements TestInfo {
     const shouldPause = (this._workerParams.pauseAtEnd && !this._isFailure()) || (this._workerParams.pauseOnError && this._isFailure());
     if (shouldPause) {
       await Promise.race([
-        this._callbacks.onTestPaused({ testId: this.testId, errors: this._isFailure() ? this.errors : [] }),
+        this._callbacks.onTestPaused({ testId: this.testId, errors: this._isFailure() ? this.errors : [], status: this.status }),
         this._interruptedPromise,
       ]);
     }
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/pause-at-end.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/pause-at-end.spec.ts
index 6e47a38fa3f0c..60f27758640ae 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/pause-at-end.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/pause-at-end.spec.ts
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ test('--debug should pause at end', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
         console.log('%%teardown');
       });
     `
-  }, { debug: true });
+  }, { pause: true });
   expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
     'onTestPaused at end',
     'teardown',
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ test('--debug should pause at end with setup project', async ({ runInlineTest })
         console.log('main test started');
       });
     `
-  }, { debug: true });
+  }, { pause: true });
   expect(result.outputLines).toContain('onTestPaused at end');
 });
 
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ test('--debug should pause on error', async ({ runInlineTest, mergeReports }) =>
         console.log('%%after error');
       });
     `
-  }, { debug: true });
+  }, { pause: true });
   expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
     'onTestPaused on error at :4:24',
     'result.errors[0] at :4:24',
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ test('SIGINT after pause at end should still run teardown', async ({ runInlineTe
         console.log('%%teardown');
       });
     `
-  }, { debug: true }, { SIGINT_AFTER_PAUSE: '1' });
+  }, { pause: true }, { SIGINT_AFTER_PAUSE: '1' });
   expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
     'onTestPaused at end',
     'SIGINT',
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ test('SIGINT after pause on error should still run teardown', async ({ runInline
         console.log('%%teardown');
       });
     `
-  }, { debug: true }, { SIGINT_AFTER_PAUSE: '1' });
+  }, { pause: true }, { SIGINT_AFTER_PAUSE: '1' });
   expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
     'onTestPaused on error at :4:19',
     'result.errors[0] at :4:19',
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-line.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-line.spec.ts
index cd6fc6a65c26a..43c42c7081963 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-line.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-line.spec.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import path from 'path';
-import { test, expect } from './playwright-test-fixtures';
+import { test, expect, stripAnsi } from './playwright-test-fixtures';
 
 for (const useIntermediateMergeReport of [false, true] as const) {
   test.describe(`${useIntermediateMergeReport ? 'merged' : 'created'}`, () => {
@@ -225,3 +225,151 @@ for (const useIntermediateMergeReport of [false, true] as const) {
     });
   });
 }
+
+test.describe('onTestPaused', () => {
+  test.skip(process.platform === 'win32', 'No SIGINT on windows');
+
+  test('pause at end', async ({ interactWithTestRunner }) => {
+    const runner = await interactWithTestRunner({
+      'a.test.ts': `
+        import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+        test('foo', async ({}) => {
+        });
+
+        test.afterEach(() => {
+          console.log('Running teardown');
+        });
+      `,
+    }, { pause: true, reporter: 'line' }, { PW_TEST_DEBUG_REPORTERS: '1' });
+
+    await runner.waitForOutput('Paused at test end. Press Ctrl+C to end.');
+    const { exitCode } = await runner.kill('SIGINT');
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(130);
+
+    expect(stripAnsi(runner.output)).toEqual(`
+Running 1 test using 1 worker
+
+[1/1] a.test.ts:3:13 › foo
+  a.test.ts:3:13 › foo ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    Paused at test end. Press Ctrl+C to end.
+
+
+[1/1] a.test.ts:3:13 › foo
+a.test.ts:3:13 › foo
+Running teardown
+
+  1) a.test.ts:3:13 › foo ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    Test was interrupted.
+
+
+  1 interrupted
+    a.test.ts:3:13 › foo ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+`);
+  });
+
+  test('pause at end - error in teardown', async ({ interactWithTestRunner }) => {
+    const runner = await interactWithTestRunner({
+      'a.test.ts': `
+        import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+        test('foo', async ({}) => {
+        });
+
+        test.afterEach(() => {
+          throw new Error('teardown error');
+        });
+      `,
+    }, { pause: true, reporter: 'line' }, { PW_TEST_DEBUG_REPORTERS: '1' });
+
+    await runner.waitForOutput('Paused at test end. Press Ctrl+C to end.');
+    const { exitCode } = await runner.kill('SIGINT');
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(130);
+
+    expect(stripAnsi(runner.output)).toEqual(`
+Running 1 test using 1 worker
+
+[1/1] a.test.ts:3:13 › foo
+  a.test.ts:3:13 › foo ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    Paused at test end. Press Ctrl+C to end.
+
+
+[1/1] a.test.ts:3:13 › foo
+  1) a.test.ts:3:13 › foo ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    Test was interrupted.
+
+    Error: teardown error
+
+      5 |
+      6 |         test.afterEach(() => {
+    > 7 |           throw new Error('teardown error');
+        |                 ^
+      8 |         });
+      9 |       
+        at ${test.info().outputPath('a.test.ts')}:7:17
+
+
+  1 interrupted
+    a.test.ts:3:13 › foo ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+`);
+  });
+
+  test('pause on error', async ({ interactWithTestRunner }) => {
+    const runner = await interactWithTestRunner({
+      'a.test.ts': `
+        import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+        test('fails', async ({}) => {
+          expect.soft(2).toBe(3);
+          expect(3).toBe(4);
+        });
+      `,
+    }, { pause: true, reporter: 'line' }, { PW_TEST_DEBUG_REPORTERS: '1' });
+
+    await runner.waitForOutput('Paused on error. Press Ctrl+C to end.');
+    const { exitCode } = await runner.kill('SIGINT');
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(130);
+
+    expect(stripAnsi(runner.output)).toEqual(`
+Running 1 test using 1 worker
+
+[1/1] a.test.ts:3:13 › fails
+  1) a.test.ts:3:13 › fails ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    Error: expect(received).toBe(expected) // Object.is equality
+
+    Expected: 3
+    Received: 2
+
+      2 |         import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      3 |         test('fails', async ({}) => {
+    > 4 |           expect.soft(2).toBe(3);
+        |                          ^
+      5 |           expect(3).toBe(4);
+      6 |         });
+      7 |       
+        at ${test.info().outputPath('a.test.ts')}:4:26
+
+    Error: expect(received).toBe(expected) // Object.is equality
+
+    Expected: 4
+    Received: 3
+
+      3 |         test('fails', async ({}) => {
+      4 |           expect.soft(2).toBe(3);
+    > 5 |           expect(3).toBe(4);
+        |                     ^
+      6 |         });
+      7 |       
+        at ${test.info().outputPath('a.test.ts')}:5:21
+
+    Paused on error. Press Ctrl+C to end.
+
+
+[1/1] a.test.ts:3:13 › fails
+
+
+  1 failed
+    a.test.ts:3:13 › fails ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+`);
+  });
+});