Seed didn’t germinate in soil, should I put it back in a paper towel?

5 days isn't long enough to wait... you need to check that OCD and not fiddle with them in future. shit or get off the pot... paper towel method or direct in substrate... your personality may be better with the paper towel method.. this way you know it's germinated as you plop it into substrate. it does inherently carry slightly more risk, but those risks must be very low percentages. touching taproot may transfer harmful bacteria etc... recently germinated plants are very sensitive, so handle with care... something you don't have to worry about planting directly. learning curve for direct too... the right depth and the right pressure to tamp down so that you don't get shell-heads popping out which increases risk by havingn to remove it... easy to damage a coty and that will significantly slow down the early development... kill the growth tip and it'll sit there a month or more before a new onen grows and that's only if it doesn't die from it, lol. i'd suggest the direct method and learn to stay the hell away from it... only check if it needs some moisture and stay away.. .i can't stress enough.. stop fiddling with it! LOL. after 9-10 days it's probably rotting.. don't fuck with it before. it won't change the outcome digging it up, so be sure it's WAY too layer.. 12-14 days even. if a seed has failed to open while moist for that long, it's probably never going to open... and like i said ill more likely be rotting. ensure pH is wildly off in either direction. extremely acidic will reduce germ rate as much as too alkaline. 6-7 is fine for germination. my tap is 7 and i don't bother to change it and still have a 100% germ rate expectation. i feed earlier than others and that is ph-balanced by the nutes to 6-6.2-ish. this may sound like i am teasing you a bit... i am not... i went through same process early on. you just have to learn to treat it like a 2nd child... LOL. Less is more in this case. you have no powe over what happens... simply provide a good environment and wait... if it doesn't sprout, toss it out. if you have masive failure, ensure pH is not off... make sure you aren't using "hot" soil (means high in nutes)... 1EC and lower is going to be safe fo seedlings. seedlings do not neeed much external things the first 7-10 days above ground, but i find i get much faster growth rates with a small charge of nutes to start, nonetheless. things like promix come with an 1EC charge. something like FF ocean forest will be much higher and potentially dangerous to seedlings. i've used it before and still got 75%... and that was my first try so my impatience likely caused at least 1 of those failures... i was digging around too early like you. stop that! lol. seriously. not being mean. don't be anxious over shit you cannot control.