Quick answer: Facebook ad account restricted? Check Business Support Home, fix the cause, then request a review. Admins have about 180 days to appeal.
Few things stop a business’s marketing faster than a message saying your ad account has been restricted. The good news is that a restriction is often reversible if you handle it calmly and in the right order.
Restricted, disabled or rejected: know which you have
- An ad was rejected: one ad broke a policy. Edit it or request a review of that ad. The account is fine.
- The ad account is restricted or disabled: that ad account can’t run ads until the issue is resolved.
- The business portfolio is restricted: everything inside it is affected. This is the most serious and slowest to fix.
- Your personal profile is restricted from advertising: you can’t run ads from any account until it’s resolved.
Step 1: Read the actual reason
Go to Meta Business Support Home (it replaced the old Account Quality page; facebook.com/accountquality still takes you there). It shows which asset is restricted, the policy involved and whether a “Request review” option is available. Don’t guess and don’t appeal before you’ve read this.
Step 2: Fix the likely cause first
Common causes include:
- Policy issues in ads: before-and-after claims, personal attributes (“Are you struggling with debt?”), exaggerated income or health claims, or restricted categories such as finance, housing and employment without the right settings.
- Landing page problems: pages that don’t match the ad, broken pages or pages that look misleading.
- Payment problems: failed payments, a card that doesn’t match the business, or many failed charges.
- Unusual activity: logins from new devices or countries, sudden big budget increases, or a hacked profile.
- Connection to previously restricted accounts or people.
Fix what you can before requesting a review: pay any outstanding balance, edit or delete problem ads, secure your profile with two-factor authentication and remove admins you don’t recognise.
Step 3: Request a review properly
Only admins can request a review. In Business Support Home, select the restricted asset and choose “Request review”. Meta’s process allows a limited window (around 180 days) to submit, so don’t leave it.
- Keep your explanation short, factual and polite.
- Say what you believe happened and what you’ve already fixed.
- Provide identity documents if asked, and make sure details match your business.
- Submit one request, then wait. Repeated or duplicate requests don’t speed it up.
What not to do
- Don’t create a new ad account to keep advertising. Getting around an enforcement is itself a policy breach and can escalate a single restriction into a restricted business portfolio.
- Don’t keep making changes while it’s under review.
- Don’t pay people who promise to “unban” accounts. They can’t, and some are scams that ask for your login.
Preventing it next time
- Use two-factor authentication on every admin profile.
- Keep a stable set of admins and payment methods.
- Read Meta’s advertising standards before writing ads in sensitive areas such as finance, health, housing or employment.
- Increase budgets gradually rather than all at once.
- Make sure landing pages match your ads and work properly.
Sources and further reading
Written by Gregory
20 years building websites and running lead generation, mostly with my own money on the line. Based in Sydney, working with clients worldwide. How I work →