Troubleshooting issues in Power Editor
General issues with Power Editor
If you don't recognise activity on your advertising account, here are a few steps that you can take to learn more about charges that occurred and what may have caused them:
- View your payment history
- See if you reached your billing threshold or monthly bill date
- Check your daily budget or lifetime budget
- Check for other spenders on your account
View your payment history
The Billing section of Ads Manager is where you can find your ad account's billing information. There, you can view your payment history and get receipts for payments that you've made for your ads.
To learn more about a specific charge, go to the list of transactions in the Billing section of your Ads Manager and click the Transaction ID of the charge that you want to know more about. This will bring you to your receipt for that charge. Your ads receipt will show you things like how much you paid, when you paid, which payment method was charged and which ads you spent money on.
See if you reached your billing threshold or monthly bill date
Once you have your ads receipt, you can review the billing reason that's listed on it to find out why you were charged. This will let you know if a charge happened because you reached your billing threshold or your monthly bill date:
Bear in mind that it's normal to be charged for ads multiple times a month or even after you've stopped running them. This is because when you create ads on Facebook (e.g. boosting posts from your Page), you don't pay for them straight away. Instead, as they run and people see them, they accrue ad costs that you'll be charged for later.
There are two ways you'll be charged for these costs:
- Whenever your ad costs reach your billing threshold
- On your monthly bill date
A billing threshold is an amount that you can spend on ads before we charge you for them. Whenever your ad costs reach your billing threshold, we'll charge you that amount. Your monthly bill date is when we charge you each month for ad costs that don't quite reach your billing threshold.
Because of this, you may be charged multiple times or just once in a given month, depending on how much money you're spending on ads:
Learn more about your billing threshold and monthly bill date.
Check your daily budget or lifetime budget
A budget is a cost control tool. It helps control your overall spend for an ad set (or campaign). There are two types of budgets:
- Daily budget: This is the average amount that you're willing to spend on a specific ad set or campaign every day. Each ad set will have a separate budget, so bear this in mind if you have more than one active ad set in your account.
- Lifetime budget: This is the amount that you're willing to spend over the entire run-time of your ad set or campaign. Our system will automatically try to evenly spread the amount that you spend across the period of time that you've selected.
If you set a daily budget but meant to set a lifetime budget (or vice versa), you may be billed differently than expected.
Note: If you only want to spend a specific amount of pounds over the lifetime of your ad, double check to make sure that you set a lifetime budget, not a daily budget.
Check for other spenders on your account
If you share either your payment method or ad account with others, make sure that you check with them if you don't recognise charges on your account. Often, in this scenario, another person will have run separate ads using your payment method or ad account.
If you think this is the case, go to your account settings in Ads Manager. In the Ad account roles section, you'll be able to see who has access to your account. Contact anyone you know who may have placed an order for ads with your payment method.
You can also review your account history to see recent activity on your ad account:
Need more help?
If you've checked these things, still see purchases that you don't recognise and/or believe someone has hacked your ad account, please let us know.
Uploading, publishing and saving
Ads Manager has limits on the number of ads and accounts you can manage:
- A user can manage up to 25 ad accounts.
- An ad account can have a max of 25 users per account.
- A regular ad account can have up to 5,000 ads that aren't deleted.
- A regular ad account can have up to 5,000 sets that aren't deleted.
- A regular ad account can have up to 5,000 campaigns that aren't deleted.
- An ad account can have up to 50 ads that aren't deleted per ad set.
- A regular ad account can have up to 100,000 archived ads or ad campaigns.
If you have the ability to create larger accounts and campaigns (for example, through your account manager), these are the limits in Ads Manager:
- A large ad account can have up to 50,000 ads that aren't deleted.
- A large ad account can have up to 10,000 ad sets that aren't deleted.
- A large ad account can have up to 10,000 campaigns that aren't deleted
- A large ad account can have up to 50 ads that aren't deleted per ad set.
The columns in the import/export template in Ads Manager are:
Ad level
The ID number for the ad. If you're creating a new ad, leave this blank.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| This is required for editing ads. |
The name of the ad.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| There's a 35-character limit. | This is required. |
The run status of an ad. If you're editing the status of your ad, make sure that your campaign status is the same as your ad status. For example, if your ad status is set to On, the campaign status should also be set to On.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| On, Off | The run status should be correlated between ad, ad set and campaign. |
The body copy for your ad.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| There's a 90-character limit for right column ads, and a 500-character limit for News Feed ads. The body copy must adhere to the ad guidelines. | This is required. |
The type of ad you're creating or editing.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| This should say "Page post ad" to be shown everywhere. You'll also need to enter the Page ID in the "Link object ID" column. This should say "Standard" if you only want to run a right column ad. |
The shorter, friendlier URL that's shown instead of a long website address.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| www.example.com (http://www.example.com/) | This is optional. |
The image file name and file extension.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Image file name (e.g. image1.jpg). | This is required. |
The unique identifier of the image for your ad. The image hash will appear in the exported file only after the image has been uploaded to the account.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| This is only required when you're making edits to ads. |
The destination URL.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| A complete URL. | This is required if you want to link to an external website. |
Additional text that's used to emphasise why someone may want to visit your website. Link descriptions only appear in News Feed.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| This is required. |
The ID number associated with the specific post.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| The story ID. | This is required if you're setting up a Page post ad or if you want to use an existing post. |
The title copy for your ad.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| There's a 25-character limit, and the title must adhere to the Facebook ad guidelines. | This is required. |
The way you identify what traffic is coming from specific ad campaigns you're running by letting you know which link a person clicked to get to your ad destination.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Key1=value1&key2=value2 | This is optional. |
Ad set level
The daily budget for your ad set.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| X.XX (a currency symbol isn't required) | A daily budget is only required if you're creating a new ad set that you want to use a daily budget for. You must either have a daily budget or a lifetime budget for your ad set. |
The ID number of the ad set.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Standard numbering format; don't use decimals or commas | Yes, if you're editing an existing ad set. If you don't specify an ad set ID, we'll try and match the ad set ID by the ad set name. If we can't find the ad set name, we'll create a new ad set ID with the specified name. Leave this blank if you're creating a new ad set. |
A lifetime budget for your ad set.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| X.XX (a currency symbol isn't required) | A daily budget is only required if you're creating a new ad set that you want to use a daily budget for. You must either have a daily budget or a lifetime budget for your ad set. |
The name of the ad set.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| 35-character limit | An ad set name is recommended for new and existing ad sets. If this is an existing ad set, we'll try to match it with its ad set ID. If we can't find an existing ad set ID with the same name, we'll create a new ad set. |
Whether the status of your ad set is active or paused. The status of your ad set should be the same as your ad. For example, if your ad is set to "active" and your ad set is set to "paused", your ad won't be able to run because it's part of an ad set that's paused.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Active; Paused | The run status of your ad set is recommended. |
The date and time you want your ad set to start running. You should enter a value if you're creating a new ad set or an existing ad set (if the start time is later than the current time).
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| MM/DD/YY HH:MM | If you don't want your ad set to run automatically once it's live, add in the date and time that you want it to start. If you specify a future start date, leave the ad set status and ad status columns blank. |
The maximum age you want to target. The oldest age you can target is 64. If you don't enter a maximum age, we'll default the maximum age to 64.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Standard number format | A maximum age is optional. |
The minimum age you want to target. The lowest age you can target is 13. If you don't enter a minimum age, we'll default the minimum age to 13.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Standard number format | A minimum age is optional. |
The ID number of the application. You can find the ID number of your application on the Facebook developer site: https://developers.facebook.com/. Bear in mind that you'll need to register your app before you can run any ads for it.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| The application ID. | This is only required for app install ads and app engagement ads. |
The maximum amount you are willing to pay per action taken on your ad.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| X.XX (no currency symbol) | A bid amount is required for CPC and CPM ads. |
The maximum amount you are willing to pay per action taken on your ad.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use one of the following: APP_INSTALLS, OFFER_CLAIMS, LINK_CLICKS, PAGE_LIKES, POST_ENGAGEMENT, IMPRESSIONS or VIDEO_VIEWS. | The amount you are charged based on the actual results of your optimisation goals in the ad auction. |
The broad categories from the targeting section that you want to target.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Find the ID and names of each broad category by creating an ad in Ads Manager (don't publish it) with the broad categories that you want selected, and export the ad to Excel. [ID]:[Broad Category Name]. | This is optional. |
The cities you want your ad set to target. Don't indicate a city if you want to target multiple countries or if you want to target all cities in a country.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a semicolon between cities (e.g. London, England; Edinburgh, Scotland) | City targeting is optional. |
Target people who finished university in a specific year. Leave this field empty to target all.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| YYYY (e.g. 2007) | A university end year is optional. |
Target people who started university in a specific year. Leave this field empty to target all.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| YYYY (e.g. 2007) | A university start year is optional. |
Target people who are already connected to your group, Page or app.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use the ID for the group, Page or app. To target multiple objects, separate the ID numbers by commas. | This is optional. |
The countries you want your ad set to target. If you want to target multiple countries, don't specify a region or city.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| ISO country code (e.g. GB for the United Kingdom) | Country targeting is required. |
Target a Custom Audience.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Find the ID and Custom Audience name by creating an ad in Ads Manager(don't publish it) with the Custom Audiences that you want to target, and export the ad to Excel. [ID]:[Custom Audience Name], separate each Custom Audience with a comma: 123:Customers, 321:Other customers | This is optional. |
The education degree and status you want to target your ad set to. Leave this field empty to target all.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a comma to separate degree statuses (e.g. University graduate, Doctoral degree) | An education status is optional. |
Target people who are not already connected to your group, Page or app.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Target people who are not already connected to your group, Page or app. | This is optional. |
Custom Audiences you don't want to show your ad to.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Find the ID and Custom Audience name by creating an ad in Ads Manager (don't publish it) with the Custom Audiences that you want to target, and export the ad to Excel. [ID]:[Custom Audience Name], separate each Custom Audience with a comma: 123:Customers, 321:Other customers | This is optional. |
This column targets people who don't engage with your videos.
| Required? |
|---|
| No. |
Target people who are not already connected to your group, Page or app.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use the ID for the group, Page or app. To target multiple objects, separate the ID numbers by commas. | This is optional. |
The gender you want to target. Leave this blank if you want to target all genders.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Men, women | Specific gender targeting is optional. |
Target the genders that your target audience is interested in. Leave this field empty to target all.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a comma to separate genders (e.g. men, women). | This is optional. |
The ID number associated with your Page or event. To find your Page or event's ID number, click on the "Edit Page" link and copy and paste the string of numbers at the end of the web URL. This is normally a string of at least eight digits that can be found in your web address bar.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| The Page ID or event ID. | This is only required if you choose a "fan" or "rsvp" creative type. |
The languages you want to target your ad set to.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a comma to separate languages. | This is optional. |
The max bid you want to use for CPC or CPM ads.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| X.XX (no currency symbol). | A max. bid is required for CPC and CPM ads. |
The goal of your ad set (e.g. Page likes).
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Choose one of these options: IMPRESSIONS, APP_INSTALLS, PAGE_LIKES, OFFER_CLAIMS, LINK_CLICKS, POST_ENGAGEMENT, CLICKS, BRAND_AWARENESS, EVENT_RESPONSES, LEAD_GENERATION, OFFSITE_CONVERSIONS, PAGE_LIKES, REACH or VIDEO_VIEWS. | An optimisation goal is required. |
The regions you want your ad set to target. Don't indicate a region if you want to target multiple countries or if you want to target all regions in a country.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Enter the full name of the region or state. Use a comma between regions. | Region targeting is optional. |
Target people with a relationship status indicated in their profiles. Leave this field empty to target all.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a comma to separate relationship statuses (e.g. single, relationship, engaged, married). | This is optional. |
This column targets people who engage with your videos.
| Required? |
|---|
| No. |
The postcode of the regions you want your ad set to target.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a comma between postcodes. Please only enter valid postcodes for the countries you're targeting. | Postcode targeting is optional. |
Campaign level
The way you want to pay for your ad campaign. You'll use "Auction" to pay for your ad campaigns based on your target audience and duration.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Auction, Fixed. | Yes (for new campaigns). |
The ID number of the campaign.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Standard numbering format (don't use decimals or commas). | Yes, if you're editing an existing campaign. If you're creating a new ad, leave this blank. If you're editing an existing ad, a campaign ID is required. If you don't specify a campaign ID, we'll try and match the campaign ID by the campaign name. If we can't find the campaign name, we'll create a new campaign with the ID you've included. |
The name of the campaign.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| 35-character limit. | No, but a campaign name is recommended for new and existing campaigns. If you're editing an existing campaign, we'll try to match its name with its campaign ID. If we can't find an existing campaign ID with the same name, we'll create a new campaign. |
The advertising goal you want to optimise for in your campaign.
Required?: Yes (for new campaigns).
Format:
- Brand Awareness
- Traffic
- Conversions
- Lead Generation
- Page likes
- Page Post Engagement
- Desktop app installs
- Mobile app installs
- Desktop app engagement
- Mobile app engagement
- Offer claims
- Product Catalogue Sales
- Event responses
- Local Awareness
- Reach
- Store Visits
- Video Views
Maximum campaign spending limit.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Standard numbering (decimals up to two points). The currency symbol isn't necessary. | No, but it's recommended. |
Shows whether your campaign is active or paused.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Active; Paused. | No, but it's recommended. |
Any tags that you want to use to make it easier to find this campaign in Ads Manager.
| Format | Required? |
|---|---|
| Use a comma to separate tags. | Tags are optional. Tags don't have any impact on how your campaign runs. |
Adverts
Your ad objective is what you want people to do when they see your ads. For example, if you want to show your website to people interested in your business, you can create ads that encourage people to visit your website. When you create an ad, you first choose your objective. The objective you choose aligns with your overall business goals.
Awareness
Objectives that generate interest in your product or service.
Reach people more likely to recall your ads and increase awareness for your brand.
Which platforms support the Brand Awareness objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about brand awareness.
Show your ad to the maximum number of people in your audience.
Which platforms support the Reach objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Consideration
Objectives that get people to start thinking about your business and look for more information about it.
Increase the number of visits to your website or get more people to use your app. With traffic as your objective, you can:
- Send people to your website.
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collection
Learn more about traffic.
Send people to an app store where they can download your app.
Which platforms support the App Installs objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about mobile app ads.
Get more people to see and engage with your post or Page. With engagement as your objective, you can:
- Boost your posts (Post engagement)
- Promote your Page (Page likes)
- Get people to claim an offer on your Page (Offer claims)
- Raise attendance for an event on your Page (Event responses)
- Facebook
- Instagram (event ads are not available on Instagram)
- Single image
- Single video
- Slideshow
Note: Some ad formats and platforms may not be available for selection depending on the type of ad you create. For example, if you choose to promote your event in the Engagement objective, you can only create a single image, single video or slideshow ad and show your ad on Facebook.
Promote videos that show behind-the-scenes footage, product launches or customer stories to raise awareness about your brand.
Which platforms support the Video Views objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about video ads.
Collect lead information, such as email addresses, from people interested in your business.
Which platforms support the Lead Generation objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about lead ads.
Get more people to have conversations with your business to generate leads, drive transactions, answer questions or offer support.
Which platforms support the Messages objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Conversion
Objectives that encourage people interested in your business to purchase or use your product or service.
Get more people to use your website, Facebook app or mobile app. To track and measure conversions, use the Facebook pixel or app events.
Which platforms support the Conversions objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collection
Learn more about conversions.
Show products from your catalogue based on your target audience
What platforms support the Catalogue Sales objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Audience Network
- Single image
- Carousel
Learn more about catalogue sales and dynamic ads.
Promote multiple business locations to people who are nearby.
Which platforms support the Store Visits objective?- Facebook
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collections
Learn more about store visits.
Advert sets
Advert sets are where you can set your budget, targeting and how long your adverts run.
You may get this error when creating a Page post ad from a post if the targeting for the ad doesn't match the targeting on the Page post. The location and language targeting for the ad needs to match the location and language targeting on the Page post.
For example, if you're targeting "United States" for location and "English" as your language in your post location targeting, and you want to create a Page post ad with this post, your post's targeting must also be set to "United States" as the location and "English" as the language.
If you've matched the targeting of your Page post ad with the post and are still receiving this error message, file a task. To file a task, click Help in the top-right of Power Editor and select Report a Problem.
Manage your AdsCampaigns
Your ad objective is what you want people to do when they see your ads. For example, if you want to show your website to people interested in your business, you can create ads that encourage people to visit your website. When you create an ad, you first choose your objective. The objective you choose aligns with your overall business goals.
Awareness
Objectives that generate interest in your product or service.
Reach people more likely to recall your ads and increase awareness for your brand.
Which platforms support the Brand Awareness objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about brand awareness.
Show your ad to the maximum number of people in your audience.
Which platforms support the Reach objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Consideration
Objectives that get people to start thinking about your business and look for more information about it.
Increase the number of visits to your website or get more people to use your app. With traffic as your objective, you can:
- Send people to your website.
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collection
Learn more about traffic.
Send people to an app store where they can download your app.
Which platforms support the App Installs objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about mobile app ads.
Get more people to see and engage with your post or Page. With engagement as your objective, you can:
- Boost your posts (Post engagement)
- Promote your Page (Page likes)
- Get people to claim an offer on your Page (Offer claims)
- Raise attendance for an event on your Page (Event responses)
- Facebook
- Instagram (event ads are not available on Instagram)
- Single image
- Single video
- Slideshow
Note: Some ad formats and platforms may not be available for selection depending on the type of ad you create. For example, if you choose to promote your event in the Engagement objective, you can only create a single image, single video or slideshow ad and show your ad on Facebook.
Promote videos that show behind-the-scenes footage, product launches or customer stories to raise awareness about your brand.
Which platforms support the Video Views objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about video ads.
Collect lead information, such as email addresses, from people interested in your business.
Which platforms support the Lead Generation objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Learn more about lead ads.
Get more people to have conversations with your business to generate leads, drive transactions, answer questions or offer support.
Which platforms support the Messages objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
Conversion
Objectives that encourage people interested in your business to purchase or use your product or service.
Get more people to use your website, Facebook app or mobile app. To track and measure conversions, use the Facebook pixel or app events.
Which platforms support the Conversions objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Audience Network
- Messenger
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collection
Learn more about conversions.
Show products from your catalogue based on your target audience
What platforms support the Catalogue Sales objective?- Facebook
- Instagram
- Messenger
- Audience Network
- Single image
- Carousel
Learn more about catalogue sales and dynamic ads.
Promote multiple business locations to people who are nearby.
Which platforms support the Store Visits objective?- Facebook
- Single image
- Single video
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collections
Learn more about store visits.
Budgets and spending
Advert sets are where you can set the budget for your adverts and control how quickly you spend money on a campaign.
Targeting
Advert sets are where you set up targeting for your adverts.
You may get this error when creating a Page post ad from a post if the targeting for the ad doesn't match the targeting on the Page post. The location and language targeting for the ad needs to match the location and language targeting on the Page post.
For example, if you're targeting "United States" for location and "English" as your language in your post location targeting, and you want to create a Page post ad with this post, your post's targeting must also be set to "United States" as the location and "English" as the language.
If you've matched the targeting of your Page post ad with the post and are still receiving this error message, file a task. To file a task, click Help in the top-right of Power Editor and select Report a Problem.
Manage your AdsPage posts
You can only create unpublished video Page posts if you're the admin of the Page that you're creating them for.
If you want to create an unpublished video Page post in Ads Manager, bear in mind that it may take up to 15 minutes for the video to process and appear in the list of Page posts below Ads posts.
If you don't see the video Page post appear in the Manage Pages drop-down after 15 minutes:
- Refresh your browser.
- Download your ad accounts in Ads Manager again. The video Page post should appear.
If you want to schedule a video Page post to run in the future, you can schedule a Page post directly from your Page. Bear in mind that this post will be live.
Report a problem:
Note: You may encounter an issue with some videos where they don't upload because they have been flagged for copyright issues. In this case, you'll get an email notifying you of the issue and what steps you can take.
If you're a Page admin and still can't create an unpublished video Page post to run as an ad in Ads Manager after following these steps, report a problem. To report a problem, click Help on the top right-hand side of Ads Manager and click Report a problem.
When a Page post is unpublished, it's given an unofficial ID because it's not published yet. When you publish the Page post, the ID is given an official ID.
Under Manage Pages, you can see the unofficial post ID next to an unpublished Page post and the official post ID next to a published Page post.
Importing and exporting adverts and campaigns
If you're using a custom Excel sheet (an Excel spreadsheet that's not the Ads Manager Excel template), you'll want to make sure that it has the same columns as the Ads Manager Excel template and that you've removed any existing ad IDs from the custom spreadsheet.
To compare your custom Excel sheet to the Ads Manager Excel template:
- In Ads Manager, click Export & import and select Download template.
- Compare your custom Excel spreadsheet with the exported Ads Manager Excel template.
- All the columns in the exported Ads Manager Excel template should be in your custom Excel spreadsheet.
- If there are existing ad IDs in your custom Excel spreadsheet, delete them.
- Save your custom Excel spreadsheet as a Unicode .txt file.
- Click Export & import and select Import ads in bulk to import your custom Excel spreadsheet back to Ads Manager.
Learn more about using bulk import in Ads Manager.
Troubleshooting
Here are some tips to help you import changes in Ads Manager:
- Best practices for importing in Ads Manager
- Troubleshooting issues with bulk importing new ads using a custom Excel spreadsheet
- Troubleshooting issues with bulk importing new ads into the Ads Manager Excel template
If you're having trouble importing the Ads Manager Excel template into Ads Manager:
- Make sure that all the ad IDs are deleted in your Ads Manager Excel template
- Make sure that you haven't deleted any of the columns from the original Excel template.
- Save the spreadsheet as Unicode .txt file and upload it back to Ads Manager
- If you're still having trouble, try creating the ad directly in the Ads Manager interface. If it publishes successfully, export the ad and use the spreadsheet for any similar ads that you want to create.
Learn more about using bulk import in Ads Manager.
Troubleshooting
Here are some tips to help you import changes in Ads Manager:
- Best practices for importing in Ads Manager
- Troubleshooting issues with bulk importing new ads using a custom Excel spreadsheet
- Troubleshooting issues with bulk importing new ads into the Ads Manager Excel template
If you can't bulk import updates to your existing ads in Ads Manager:
- Make sure that all the columns from the original Ads Manager Excel template are there
- Make sure that you don't delete the ad IDs, as you're editing ads and not creating new ones.
- Save the Excel file as a Unicode .txt file.
- Click Export & import in Ads Manager and select Import ads in bulk to import your Excel template back to Ads Manager.
If you still can't import updates to your existing ads in Ads Manager, file a task by clicking Help on the top right-hand side of Ads Manager and select Report a problem. In the task, include your account ID, .xls or .csv file that you're trying to import (not a .txt file) and, if possible, a video screencast.
Learn more about using bulk import in Ads Manager.
Troubleshooting
Here are some tips to help you import changes in Ads Manager:
- Best practices for importing in Ads Manager
- Troubleshooting issues with bulk import updates to existing ads
Conversion tracking
After you've created a conversion-tracking pixel, you'll have to install it on your website and then verify that it's working properly.
Installing a conversion-tracking pixel on your website
You can choose whether you want to add it to your website yourself or have someone else (e.g. your website developer) do it.
To add the conversion-tracking pixel to your website yourself:
Copy and paste the JavaScript code snippet between and on the web page where you want to track conversions. For example, if you want to track checkouts, put the conversion-tracking tag on the checkout confirmation page that people see after completing a purchase. If you're using a third-party platform, such as Shopify or WordPress, check this guide for more specific instructions.
To give someone else the conversion-tracking pixel to add to your website:
- Go to the Conversion Tracking tab of your Adverts Manager.
- Hover over the pixel name that you want to send to someone to add to your website.
Click the
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email icon that appears.![]()
- Add the email address of the person you want to send the conversion-tracking pixel to. You can also include a message in the email.
- Click Send Pixel.
email icon that appears.
Bear in mind that you should only use one pixel for each page on your website where you want to track conversions. For example, don't include a registration pixel and a key_page_view pixel on the same registration confirmation page – it may affect how your conversions are reflected in reporting.
If you'd prefer your pixel to fire on in-page events, such as clicks, ask your developer to follow these instructions.
Check that your pixel is working properly
To check that your pixel is working properly, navigate to the web page that the pixel has been placed on. If it's working, the pixel will send information back to Facebook and you'll be able to see activity on the Conversion Tracking tab of your Adverts Manager. If it has worked, your pixel's status will be set to Active.
Bear in mind that the activity column reports all conversion events regardless of whether or not these events happened because of your Facebook advert. To see which conversions happened as a result of your advertising, check your reports.
If it hasn't worked (pixel status unverified), use the Facebook Pixel Helper to troubleshoot the problem. Bear in mind that you have to be using the Chrome browser for it to work. Once the Pixel Helper has been installed, a small icon 
will appear next to your address bar. Navigate to your website in your Chrome browser and click the Pixel Helper icon.
The pop-up will show which pixels have been found on the page and whether they have loaded successfully. If not, it will give you tips on why it may have failed.
Common errors and how to troubleshoot them:
Pixel did not load: There's a Facebook pixel on the site, but it hasn't fired. While this is usually caused by an error in the code, it could also appear if the pixel fires on a dynamic event, such as a button click. If that's the case, the error will disappear when you click the button.
Pixel activated multiple times: A pixel with the same ID and event name has been sent to Facebook multiple times. This is typically an error, and we'll be able to count these as a single event.
Pixel took too long to load: This indicates that it has taken a long time to activate the pixel, which may be due to its location. We recommend that you place the pixel code at the top of your web page, preferably just before the closing tag in the HTML, so that it is the first part of the page that is loaded. If you place it lower on the page, the conversion may not be tracked.
Pixel is not the only conversion: This is due to multiple conversion events, which will result in inefficient optimisation and tracking. Conversion pixels should be reused across multiple adverts and campaigns, so we recommend that you use a single conversion-tracking pixel for each page or event that you want to track. Bear in mind that if a secondary conversion event occurs based on a person's interaction with the web page (such as clicking a button), you can ignore this warning.
On your Facebook pixel page, you'll see your pixel and what status it's in:
No activity yet: This means that we haven't received any events from this pixel. Visit the web page that the pixel was placed on and use the Pixel Helper Tool to make sure that it's been properly installed. Learn more.
No recent activity: This means that conversion events have been recorded in the past from this pixel, but there have been none in the past week. If your Facebook pixel has no recent activity and you want to test that it still works, visit the web page that the pixel is on to get it to record an event.
Active: This means that we've received events from this pixel in the past week.
If you're using third-party publishing or e-commerce platforms, you may not be able to edit the website's code to add the pixel. Please check with your website/provider to see what their policy is.
If your website allows you to edit its code, you should paste the pixel between the and tags of the page that you want to track.
Check the partial list of common platforms below for specific instructions.
Common supported platforms
Note: The pixel is available only on self-hosted Wordpress.org sites, not Wordpress.com sites. Visit WordPress.
- From your dashboard, click Plug-ins > Add New to add the Facebook Conversion Pixel plug-in.
- From the Settings section, click Facebook Conversion Pixel.
- Select the post types that you want to enable conversion tracking on, then click Save Changes.
- Go to your WordPress page and click Edit Page.
- Scroll down to the Facebook Pixel Conversion Code box.
- Tick the box next to Insert Facebook Conversion Pixel Code.
- Paste in the code and click Update.
To set up Facebook Pixel for your Shopify store:
- From your Shopify admin, click Settings, then click Online Store (shortcut G S W)
- Find the Facebook Pixel section, and then enter your Facebook Pixel ID
- Click Save.
- From your admin page, click Lead Page Options > Tracking Codes.
- In the Head-Tag Tracking Code box, paste the code.
- Click Done.
- Click Publish.
- Only copy the pixel ID on Facebook, not the whole code.
- Go to your campaign settings and click Conversion Pixels.
- Paste the pixel ID under This Campaign or All Campaigns, depending on which one you prefer.
- Click Update.
- Edit your website.
- Create an HTML box.
- Paste the pixel code into the text box and click Update.
- Drag the HTML box to attach it to the header at the top of the page.
- Save and publish.
- Click Embed Code and drag it to the top of the page.
- Click Edit Custom HTML.
- Paste the code.
- Click Publish.
- Go to Setup & Tools > Customize your store > Conversions.
- Paste the code in the Conversion Tracking Code area.
- Save your changes.
- Log in to your Website Builder account.
- Click Edit Site.
- Click the three-bar icon in the top right-hand corner of your screen and select Site Settings.
- Select Site-wide Code.
- Paste the pixel code between the tags.
- Click OK and close the Site Settings window.
- Click Publish.
To stop sharing a conversion-tracking pixel that you are sharing with someone:
- Go to the Conversion Tracking tab in your Adverts Manager.
- Go to the Sharing column.
- Hover over the account number of the person you want to stop sharing the conversion-tracking pixel with
- Click the x that appears next to the account name.
- Click Stop Sharing Pixel in the pop-up window that appears.
To delete a conversion-tracking pixel:
- Go to the Conversion Tracking tab in your Adverts Manager.
- Go to the Pixel name column.
- Hover over the name of the conversion-tracking pixel that you want to delete.
- Click the x that appears next to the pixel name.
- Click Delete Pixel.
You may not be able to access a conversion-tracking pixel that has previously been shared with you, because the person who shared it with you has stopped sharing it or deleted it. If you delete a shared pixel yourself, you will no longer be able to access it, but it will still be available to the person who created it.
If the person you share the conversion-tracking pixel account with has unshared or deleted it, you should receive an email notifying you of this change.
You can go to your Adverts Manager to view your existing conversion-tracking pixels.
Troubleshooting reports
There are a few reasons why you may not be seeing data or metrics for your ads:
- Your ad has just started running and metrics aren't yet available due to a short delay. These delays are normal.
- The date range that you're viewing is set to a time period when your ad wasn't running. Learn how to update the date range for what you're viewing in Ads Manager.
- Your ad isn't delivering. Get troubleshooting help on ads that aren't getting results.
- You've altered your tracking specs or copied an ad containing altered tracking specs.
If your ad is new, try checking again a bit later to view your metrics. Ad delivery/results may not happen straight away.
If you use a third-party reporting tool to gather insights about your ads, your reporting may not match Facebook ads reporting.
The following are ways that Facebook ads reporting conversion counts may differ with a third-party reporting tool:
- Use of people-based measurement: Third-party reporting platforms aren't able to measure cross-device conversions well due to cookie-based measurement. Mobile conversions tend to be under-reported by third-party platforms that measure with cookies. Facebook conversion tracking allows you to understand people's behaviour across devices through the use of cross-device reports.
- Ability to attribute conversions to impressions: If a person sees a Facebook ad for your product and doesn't click, but later browses your website and decides to purchase, Facebook is able to attribute this conversion to the Facebook ad that the person saw. Third-party platforms are unable to capture these behaviours.
- Shows conversions based on time of impression: Facebook shows conversions in your reports based on the time of impression and not the time of conversion. For example, if someone sees your ad and then buys a product on your website a few days later, we show this purchase based on the time that someone saw your ad and not when they purchased your product. Depending on your attribution window, your results in Facebook ads reporting may differ from third-party reporting platforms, which show results based on when someone converted (e.g. purchased an item, added a product to a shopping basket or downloaded an app), and not when they saw the ad.
Actions represent the number of times people have taken an action (e.g. liked your Page or installed your app) after being shown your advert on Facebook. People who've seen your advert are able to take an action without clicking on your advert, which means that the number of actions and clicks are often different. Your advert could result in more clicks than actions, or vice versa.
To make sure that you're billed accurately, our detection systems may filter out repetitive, incomplete or abusive clicks before they ever appear in your charges or reports. Additionally, the number of times any person can see or click on your adverts in a day is capped. We monitor traffic and click patterns across Facebook so that you won't be charged for clicks that appear to be generated by bots or other automated systems.
If you're using third-party reporting tools and their data doesn't match Facebook's, learn why.
Manage your advertsIf you selected CPC as the bid type for your ad, we'll only charge you for clicks on your ad. You won't be charged for any other actions on your ad. This means that if someone sees your ad and then navigates to the advertised content without clicking on the ad itself, the action will be attributed to the ad, but since there was no click, we won't charge you for that action.
It's possible that your metrics may not add up when comparing totals to breakdowns or when comparing metrics at different levels in the campaign structure (e.g. account, campaign, ad set, ad).
Terms to know:
We recommend that you familiarise yourself with the following terms before reading on.
- Unique metrics: Metrics that refer to the number of unique people rather than the number of actions. Most unique metrics also contain the word unique (e.g. unique link clicks), which makes them easy to identify.
- Sampled data: Sampling is a widely used approach to data analysis. Rather than analysing an entire set of data, sampling looks at a portion of the data. This portion is considered to be a good representation of the larger population and provides similar results.
Now, let's take a look at some examples of where metrics may not add up and why this might be happening.
In Facebook's campaign structure, your ad set or ad metrics may not add up to the numbers that you may see at higher levels (e.g. ad to ad set, ad set to campaign). This may be because your reports aren't counting deleted ad sets or ads.
As the default view in Ads Manager shows only ad sets or ads that haven't been deleted, check for any that may have contributed to higher-level numbers.
Unique metrics are de-duplicated metrics. As these metrics are de-duplicated, you may see different numbers based on the level at which you're viewing data.
For example, because of de-duplication, campaign-level reach may not match the sum of your ad-set-level reach, as reach refers to unique people reached. If ad set one reached person A and B, and ad set two reached person B and C, each ad set would have a reach of two and the campaign would have a reach of three.
It's possible that your metrics may not be adding up because you're looking at unique metrics that may rely on sampled data. Learn more about sampled data and how it can affect the metrics you see.
Sampling may cause differences between the sum of your breakdowns and your summary row total
When you select Breakdown above the metrics table in Ads Manager, you may notice a difference between the sum of those metrics and the total. This difference may be caused by sampling.
To see the total, look at the first line on the table:
In the example, it looks like the total reach is 29,700. Now, let's look at the breakdown.
To see the metrics that are broken out, look at the columns below the total:
When we add up the metrics in the breakdown for the sum, we see:
| Age | Reach |
|---|---|
| 13-17 | 9,723 |
| 18-24 | 18,314 |
| 25-34 | 1,531 |
| Total = 29,568 |
As you can see, there may be a difference between the total you see in the summary row and the sum of your breakdown. In order to report the correct unique metrics, Facebook has to calculate the unique value for each breakdown from that of the summary row. This may cause a difference in totals because the breakdowns and total metrics are all based on different sample sets.
Sampling may cause differences in summary row totals you see at different levels:
You may also see a difference in totals for unique metrics when you view results at different levels. Let's use the reach example again to visualise this.
When we view total reach at the campaign level, the number we get is 29,780:
When we view total reach at the ad set level, the number we get is 29,700:
The reason you may see a difference between the total at the campaign level and the total at the ad set level is because there are different sample sets at different levels.
Note: Differences in ads metrics may be caused by de-duplication, sampling or both.
Additional resources
* Nguồn: Facebook