Having your Facebook ad account suddenly disabled can be incredibly stressful and damaging for your business. But there is hope! In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through how to get your disabled Facebook ad account reinstated, even if you did nothing wrong.

As an agency managing over 100 client ad accounts, we deal with improper disables regularly. But by using the right tactics, we can recover accounts quickly. Whether you’re a Facebook ads novice or a veteran, this step-by-step game plan will equip you to get your account back working ASAP.

Don’t Panic – Disables Happen Frequently

The first thing to remember if your Facebook ad account is disabled is – don’t panic! As frustrating as it is, improper disabling happens frequently on Facebook. Even if you carefully follow all policies, accounts often get caught up in Meta’s flawed auto-disabling system.

This is one of the worst things about meta-advertising. It’s an incredible pain, but in most cases, you can get your meta ad account reinstated.

So take a deep breath when you receive the disable notification. This is a common occurrence, and it’s a common issue advertisers face. The situation is likely salvageable, especially if you did nothing intentionally wrong. So, let’s walk through the exact steps to take for reinstatement.

Submit a Review Request Right Away

In the notification email or Facebook message informing you that your ad account is disabled, there will nearly always be a link to request a review. Go ahead and click on that link immediately to submit a review request.

You’ll be prompted to provide some basic information explaining that you believe your account was disabled incorrectly and need to be reinstated.

Take a minute to succinctly convey that you have not intentionally violated any Facebook advertising policies. You can say something like, “My advertising account was disabled, but I didn’t break any of the meta-rules for advertising. Can you help me get my account reinstated, please?”

Requesting a review is a quick first step that you should always take. However, don’t rely solely on this review request to resolve your issue. Unfortunately, The review process can sometimes take weeks or even months. Most businesses cannot afford to have their accounts disabled for that long, so move on to the next steps simultaneously.

Leverage the Business Help Center

After submitting a review request, you should visit the Facebook Business Help Center, Meta’s hub, for business support information and contact options.

Look for the box that says “Find Answers or Contact Support” and click “Get Started.” Scroll past the basic troubleshooting articles. You’re looking for the “Need More Help With Advertising” section. Click on “Contact Advertising Support.”

Select your disabled ad account from the dropdown. Then, fill in the box with more info to explain your situation. Emphasise again that you did not intentionally violate policies, and having your account disabled is severely impacting your business. Provide any helpful context about your ad campaigns.

The key here is to click “Start Chat” after submitting your info. This will get you into a live chat with a Meta support rep, which is hugely beneficial. But more on that soon…

Persist with Live Chat for Faster Resolution

Connecting with a live support rep is the most effective way to get action on your disabled Facebook ad account fast. Here are some tips to get your issue resolved quickly through live chat:

1. Be Persistent. Not all reps can or will help reinstate accounts. If the first person you chat with won’t help, end the chat and start over. It’s a numbers game. We’ve often had to talk with several reps to find one willing to help. Some reps will tell you they can’t help, but this isn’t true.
2. Politeness is Key: Always be polite, even if frustrated. Ending conversations will help you restart the chat with another rep without negative baggage.
3. Highlight Your Knowledge: Demonstrate your knowledge of Facebook’s advertising policies to make a strong case for re-enabling.
4. Stress Business Impact: Emphasise how the disablement is affecting your business. Lay it on thick if you need to! Explain how crucial the account is for your operations.
5. Request Escalation: The goal is to get the rep to escalate your review so it gets prioritised faster by the internal team.

We’ve reinstated client accounts through persistent chatting in about 2 hours. So don’t give up on live support, even if the first few reps seem unhelpful. This is a numbers game. Be patient, be polite, be persistent.

Email Your Meta Representative Directly

Contact them directly about expediting your review if you’ve been assigned a Facebook marketing representative. Not everyone has this option. You usually spend a lot on ads to get a Meta representative. But if you do have this option, make sure you use it.

Usually, Meta reps will give you their email after a call or meeting. Send them a follow-up explaining that your account was incorrectly disabled and severely hurt your business. Ask them if they can help prioritise getting it reinstated ASAP.

Again, be persistent if they first respond that they can’t get involved with reviews. Keep politely pressing them on this, highlighting the business impact. Marketing reps can accelerate certain account reviews. Make your case compelling.

Know When to Call It Quits

As frustrating as it is, if you go through the complete review process and Facebook upholds disabling your ad account, you’re likely out of options for that specific account. Continued efforts to get it reinstated will ultimately be futile.

In that unfortunate scenario, the only real option is to start over. Create a new ad account or Facebook business manager and profile if needed. Examine what may have triggered the disablement so you can avoid repeats.

Avoiding Future Disables

Once you finally get your account back online or have started a new one, avoid getting disabled again. Here are some tips:

• Study and follow Facebook’s advertising policies meticulously. The grey areas that can trigger disables include earnings, diet/health claims, and before/after imagery.
• Have someone periodically audit your ad accounts, copy, landing pages, and creatives to prevent policy violations.
• Adjust targeting to avoid sensitive segments like politics, health conditions, or ethnicity. Stick to interest and behavioural targeting.
• Avoid pushing boundaries too much with your ad messaging – cheeky, controversial, or misleading messaging can backfire.
• Use Facebook’s ad review tools to have creatives approved before running them at scale.

Staying on the right side of Facebook’s policies takes vigilance. Still, it’s well worth it to avoid the headache of account disablement. However, remember that you can follow ALL the meta ad policies and still get your account banned. If that happens, follow the steps we’ve used successfully in my agency to get accounts reinstated quickly.

Keeping Things in Perspective

Having your Facebook advertising suddenly stripped away can be panic-inducing. However, approaching the situation strategically using the steps above can get your account reinstated quickly, especially if you did not intentionally break Facebook’s rules.

If possible, leverage the review request, Business Help Center chat, and your Meta rep. Be politely persistent and convey the business impact of having your account disabled. Ensure you are familiar with Meta ad policies and assure the reps you speak with that you haven’t violated any of them.

With the right combination of tools and tenacity, you can have your account back up and running soon. Just be sure to respect Meta’s advertising policies. Those policies aren’t always self-evident, so you must review and understand them to keep your account compliant. That way, if you get an automated disable, you can nearly always reinstate your account.