There are multiple reasons why you might want to cancel Facebook ads, ad sets or entire Facebook ad campaign. In this Facebook ads tutorial, we are going to show you how to cancel (delete) a Facebook ad, ad set or campaign and everything related to this topic.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Why you should cancel Facebook ads and campaigns?
There are two main reasons why you want to cancel a Facebook ad, ad set or campaign.
- you mess up something and want to completely get rid of that ad, ad set or campaign from Facebook Ads Manager
- you exceeded the Facebook Ad Account limit so you need to delete some campaigns, ad sets or ads.
As we explain later, if you want to just stop a Facebook ad campaign temporarily, you shouldn’t cancel the Facebook campaign, you should turn it off.
What does cancelling or deleting a Facebook ad, ad set or ad campaign mean?
When you delete or cancel or archive (all three mean the same thing) a Facebook ad, it means that the Facebook ad will not only be paused but you won’t be able to run that Facebook ad ever again. So once it is deleted, you won’t be able to restart that ad or campaign.
Also, duplicating the deleted ad, ad set or campaign is not possible either.
Turn off vs deleting Facebook
Deleting (cancelling) a Facebook ad is completely different from turning off a Facebook ad. When you turn off a Facebook ad, you can restart the ad any time you want. You can also duplicate the ad or the campaign easily.
More about turning off Facebook ads here:
- How to turn off Facebook ads?
How to cancel Facebook ads, campaigns, or ad sets?
Here is how you can cancel a Facebook ad:
- Open the Facebook Ads Manager.
- Go to the Campaign, Ad sets or Ads tab.
- Select the Campaigns, Ads or Ad Sets you want to cancel.
- Click on the trash icon.
- Confirm that you want to delete the campaign or the ad.
Your Facebook ads, campaigns or ad sets should be deleted now. Keep in mind that this is an irreversible decision, so once you cancelled a Facebook ad or campaign, you no longer will be able to run or duplicate that Facebook ad.
You can also check out this video on cancelling Facebook ads here:
How to check the cancelled Facebook Ads?
The good thing about cancelled Facebook ads and campaigns is that although you can’t cancel the deletion, you can always check the performance of cancelled campaigns and ads. All you have to do is to apply the right Ads Manager filter:
Here is how to check cancelled Facebook campaign in Ads Manager:
- Open the Facebook Ads Manager
- Click into the Filter area
- Select ‘Delivery’
- Select Campaign, Ad Set or Ad Delivery.
- Select ‘Deleted’
- Click ‘Apply’.
Now, only the deleted Facebook ad campaign should appear in the Ads Manager.
Can’t cancel Facebook ads
If you can’t cancel a Facebook ad, ad set or campaign, there are two main reasons that might prevent you from that:
- You have already deleted the ads, ad sets campaigns, there is some UI glitch with Facebook Ads Manager
- You don’t have to right access level to the Facebook ad account that would allow you to cancel the Facebook ad or campaign. We would suggest contacting the Business Manager admin and asking him to grant you the necessary access level to the Facebook ad account.
Related articles – How to cancel Facebook ads
Here are some related articles you might want to read als
- How to block Facebook Ads
- How to pause Facebook ads
- How to turn off Facebook ads
- How to delete a Facebook Ad Account?
