In some cases, Meta can cut off your ability to advertise without giving you any heads-up. One day your ads are running fine, the next you’re hit with a restriction. Since there are so many ad policies, it’s not always clear what triggered the restriction or what you should do next.

In this guide, we’ll answer the common question, “How can I fix my restricted Facebook account?” by breaking down what might have gone wrong and walking you through how to get your account back up and running. 

We’ll also show you how to prevent it from happening again and explain why using a tool like Bïrch (formerly known as Revealbot) to monitor your ads and spot issues before they lead to restrictions can help.

Key takeaways  

• A restricted account limits your ability to advertise and may affect multiple assets, each with its own specific impact and recovery steps.
• Common causes include policy violations, negative feedback, low feedback scores, suspicious activity, unverified accounts, and repeated disapproved ads.
• Fixing a restriction involves following Meta’s prompts in Business Support Home, which may require identity verification, enabling two-factor authentication, or submitting an appeal with new evidence.
• Severe or repeated violations can lead to permanent restrictions, while minor issues are often resolved in 24 to 72 hours once corrected.

What does it mean if your Facebook ad account is restricted?

A restricted ad account means Meta has limited your ability to run ads. Account restrictions can happen due to policy violations, payment issues, authentication issues, or suspicious activity.

Meta can apply advertising restrictions to the following:

• Business portfolio: a central hub for businesses that lets you connect and manage various assets, including Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, ad accounts, and product catalogs across Meta technologies
• Ad account: where advertisers create and manage their ads, set up advertising campaigns, make payments for ads, and gain insights and analytics on ad performance
• Page: represents your business on the platform and lets you connect with your audience—essential for running ads
• User account: a restricted user account means you lose access to business assets and can’t use Meta products to advertise

Each asset type comes with different restrictions. If your personal account is restricted, you won’t be able to advertise—but your business can still run ads through another user. If the Business Manager account is restricted, no one with access to it will be able to advertise until it’s resolved.

How can I fix my restricted Facebook account?

To fix your restricted Facebook account, go to Business Support Home and follow the steps shown under “What you can do.” The steps you’ll need to take depend on what caused the restriction.

‍You may be asked to follow these steps:

Confirm your identity

Provide details like your email, phone number, ID, or payment method to prove the account is yours.

Go to Business Support Home, click Account status overview, choose the restricted account, and follow the on-screen steps. Your account will be reinstated if no further action is required.

Complete verification

If unusual activity is detected, you’ll need to verify it’s really you before the account can be reinstated.

In Business Support Home, click Start verification in the What you can do section and follow the steps. You may need to provide your email, ID, or payment method.

Enable two-factor authentication

Add this extra security step to meet Meta’s requirements and protect your account.

Go to Account status overview, select your restricted account, click Secure your account, and complete the steps.

Request a review 

If you believe the restriction is a mistake, ask Meta to recheck your account.

In Business Support Home, click Account status overview, select your restricted account, then choose Request review in the What you can do section. Appeals must be submitted within the timeframe shown in your notification. Accounts cannot be reinstated if they were disabled for severe violations or have been restricted for more than 180 days.

Why is my Facebook account restricted from advertising?

There are several reasons why Meta might restrict an account. Let’s look at the most common ones.

Violating community and advertising standards

Meta’s advertising policies are based on a core set of values. Your account might be restricted if your ads violate these rules.

Here are the values behind the policies:

• Protecting people from unsafe and discriminatory practices: Advertisers are expected to follow local laws, avoid discrimination, and not promote illegal or unsafe products.
• Protecting people from fraud or scams: Ads that mislead, scam, or manipulate users are not allowed.
• Promoting positive user experiences: Ads must not include shocking, violent, or overly sexual content, or use language meant to provoke or offend. Content that promotes negative self-image to sell products, especially around health or weight loss, is also not allowed.
• Promoting transparency: Meta sees transparency as a core principle, which is why all active ads are public in the Ad Library. In line with that, advertisers are expected to clearly identify who is behind the ads, especially for political or issue-based content.

Negative ad feedback

Whenever an ad is shown on Facebook, users can give feedback. Facebook also asks users about ad relevance, selecting ads at random.

Negative ad feedback can hurt your ad performance and can even lead to account restrictions if it happens often. If they’re not interested, users can click the “…” on any ad to hide it or stop seeing ads from that advertiser.

Proper audience setup and putting out relevant ad content help reduce the number of people who hide your ads. 

Low business portfolio feedback score

Meta assigns a feedback score to your business portfolio based on customers’ experiences with your shops or product ads.

If customers report issues like delays or poor product quality, your score can drop. A score below 1 could lead to your business losing the ability to advertise or sell products on Meta platforms.

You can check your score by heading to Business Support Home, selecting Business portfolios, and looking for the Business portfolio feedback score section.

Unusual activity 

Meta may temporarily restrict your account if it detects suspicious activity, such as logins from unfamiliar locations or unexpected changes to your business assets. 

Restrictions can include losing the ability to add users, create new ad accounts, or access certain features. You can check for next steps in Business Support Home.

Using fake or unverified accounts

Meta expects advertisers to use real accounts tied to their actual identity. Using a fake profile or creating a new one just to get around a restriction can lead to enforcement.

Accounts can also be flagged for missing verification steps—ID verification or two-factor authentication—which are required to access and manage certain business portfolios. Without verification, you could lose access to advertising tools, payment methods, or shop permissions.

Links to problematic or banned business assets

Meta restricts accounts that are connected to problematic assets, such as pages or business accounts that have been involved in scams, fraud, or prohibited activities.

Your account may be restricted if any linked activity matches that of assets that have already been taken down.

Repeatedly submitting disapproved ads

If you keep resubmitting ads that have already been disapproved, even with small changes, Meta may see it as an attempt to circumvent the review process. This can cause your account to be restricted, especially if the ads break the same policies each time.

Intellectual property or privacy violations

Meta doesn’t allow ads that use copyrighted or trademarked material—brand logos, product images, music, videos, or any other protected work—without permission.

Ads can also be restricted if they misuse someone’s personal information or violate privacy rights.

Repeated violations of intellectual property rules can lead to further enforcement, including losing access to advertising tools.

What if my ad account restriction is not lifted?

There are three things you can do if the restriction is not lifted.

Appeal again with new information

If your first appeal is denied and you still believe the restriction is a mistake, you can request another review in Business Support Home. Here’s some of the new information you might send:

• Proof of identity or business legitimacy, such as a government-issued ID, business license, or tax document
• Evidence that you’ve fixed the issue, like screenshots of updated ad creatives, a compliant landing page, or removal of prohibited content
• Any other documentation or explanation that directly addresses the reason for the restriction

When you fill out the appeal form, use the text field to clearly explain your updates and why your account should be reinstated. Then, attach your supporting files. It’s best to be specific and keep it relevant to Meta’s stated reason for the restriction.

Avoid sending repeated appeals without adding anything new. Meta only allows a limited number of reviews, and resubmitting the same request without changes can reduce your chances of a reversal.

Contact Meta support directly

After the review, if you still believe your account is wrongfully restricted, you can always try contacting the Meta Support team.

• From Business Support Home, go to Account overview in the left menu.
• Click on Help at the bottom.
• The help menu will appear on the right, with a button to contact the support team.
• Submit your issue, attach screenshots or documents if you can, and include your ad account ID to help speed things up.

Create a new ad account

If your restriction is not lifted and you still need to run ad campaigns, you could consider creating a new ad account in Meta Business Manager. However, this comes with serious risks.

Meta can link your new account to the restricted one through shared assets like Pages, payment methods, or user profiles. If it picks up on the connection and believes you’re trying to bypass enforcement rather than fix the original problem, it can also restrict the new account. In some cases, this can extend restrictions to other assets in your Business Manager.

Before creating a new account, address the issue that caused the first restriction. Use the new account for fully compliant campaigns and, if you can, avoid re-using creatives, audiences, or tactics that led to the previous enforcement.

How long does a Facebook restriction last?

Restriction length depends on the type of violation and Meta’s review process.

• Minor violations: These are small policy breaches, such as ad text errors or unclear landing page content. Once the issue is corrected, Meta often resolves these quickly and lifts them within 24 to 72 hours.
• Repeat or severe violations: This includes ongoing policy breaches, prohibited content, or attempts to bypass enforcement. These can result in a permanent restriction with no option to reinstate the account.
• Manual reviews: When Meta needs to investigate further, reviews typically take about 48 hours—although complex cases or high appeal volumes can lengthen the process.

How to avoid Facebook ad account restrictions in the future

Running effective Meta ads involves staying compliant and keeping your account healthy. Here are practical tips to avoid future restrictions:

Follow Meta’s advertising policies carefully

Make sure every ad you run follows Meta’s Advertising Standards and related policies. It’s a good idea to review the guidelines before launching new campaigns and check them again if you’re introducing a new product or targeting a new audience.

Pay special attention to rules around prohibited content, restricted industries, targeting criteria, and landing page quality. Even unintentional violations can trigger restrictions, so it’s worth taking the time to confirm that your ad creative and destination page comply.

Maintain a healthy business portfolio feedback score

Your feedback score reflects how satisfied customers are with their post-purchase experience when they buy from your shops or product ads. Low scores often come from complaints about product quality, misleading descriptions, or slow delivery.

Aim to keep your score above three by setting clear expectations in your ads, delivering products as described, and providing good customer service.

Monitor ad performance and user feedback

Keep an eye on how people are responding to your ads in Account Quality and ad relevance diagnostics. A high number of negative feedback reports, such as users hiding your ads from view, can increase the risk of restrictions.

Regularly review performance metrics and comments to spot potential issues early. If you see signs that an ad is frustrating or misleading users, update or pause it before it triggers enforcement.

Avoid associating with flagged business assets

Before accepting admin access or sharing payment methods, make sure the asset has a clean record in Account Quality. Working with flagged assets can put your own account at risk, even if you haven’t broken any rules yourself.

Don’t create duplicate or burner ad accounts

Opening extra ad accounts to get around a restriction can lead to further enforcement. Meta can link them to your existing profile, payment details, or Pages, and may apply the same restriction to the new accounts.

Only create a new account for legitimate reasons after resolving the original issue and making sure your ads comply with all policies.

Verify your identity early

Meta may ask you to enable two-factor authentication or provide proof like a government-issued ID, business license, or payment method details. Having these in place early can prevent disruptions to your advertising and speed up reviews if a restriction occurs.

Use tools to screen ad creatives 

Regularly reviewing your ad creatives is one of the simplest ways to protect your account from future restrictions.

As we’ve already seen, when ads perform poorly or are irrelevant to your audience, people may hide them or give negative feedback. Over time, that can lower your relevance scores and hurt your account quality. If this continues, or if the ads repeatedly violate policies, it can escalate into delivery restrictions or even a ban.

Reporting tools like Bïrch’s top creatives report show you which ads are bringing in the strongest results and which are falling behind. You can run a report to see what’s working and what needs replacing. That way, you spend more time scaling the creatives that keep your account in good standing and less time guessing what might work.

You can also set up a rule to pause underperforming ads before they hurt your account quality. This helps prevent issues from building up over time while keeping your budget focused on ads that deliver.

Stick to Meta’s rules and hit your goals

Facebook ad account restrictions can cost you time, money, and momentum. While some fixes are straightforward, prevention is always easier than recovery. That means knowing the rules, keeping your creatives and audiences compliant, and spotting potential problems before they escalate.

Bïrch makes that proactive approach possible. By automatically tracking account quality, surfacing top- and low-performing creatives, and pausing ads that could trigger negative feedback, it helps you stay in Meta’s good graces while keeping budgets focused on what works.

Get started with Bïrch with our 14-day free trial. 

FAQs

How can I fix my restricted Facebook account?

Identify the reason for the restriction in Account Quality, follow any steps listed there (such as verification), and request a review if you believe it’s a mistake.

What does it mean when your Facebook account is restricted?

It means Meta has limited or removed your ability to advertise, usually because of policy violations or security concerns.

Why is my Facebook ad account restricted?

Common reasons include violating ad policies, repeated disapproved ads, low feedback scores, suspicious activity, or linked assets with violations.

How long does a Facebook account restriction last?

Minor violations may last 24–72 hours, while repeated or severe violations can be permanent. Manual reviews typically take up to 48 hours.

Can I run ads if my personal Facebook account is restricted?

No, a personal account restriction usually stops you from managing or creating ads.

How do I appeal a Facebook account restriction?

Go to Account Quality, select the restriction, click “Request Review,” and submit any requested information or documents.

What happens if I create a new account after a restriction?

Meta may detect the link to your old account and restrict the new one. It’s best to resolve the original issue first and then create a new account only for legitimate reasons and in line with Meta’s policies.

Why was my advertising access permanently restricted on Facebook?

Permanent restrictions happen after repeated or serious violations, or if Meta believes your activity poses a high risk to users or the platform.

What happened to Revealbot?

Revealbot has a new look and a new name—we’re now Bïrch! The change highlights our focus on bringing together the best of automation and creative teamwork.