How to Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account

Try this if you struggle with restricted ad accounts: learn the flags and their severity level that got you banned and remove them from your funnel. If you’re looking to find out how to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account – I worked in ads at Facebook and will use my expertise there to guide you to a solution without guesswork, but answers from the source even when Facebook goes silent.

Free eBook: Top 5 Reasons Agencies Fail at Facebook

An underrated trick to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account is to understand just how Facebook flags your funnel which I’ll be revealing further in this article.

You may feel like you’d have better luck uncovering the mystery of The Great Pyramid of Giza or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon than getting a straight answer from Facebook, if you’re trying to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

There are so many flags your ad account can get hit with that it’s challenging to quickly determine the reason for Facebook bans. Also, take a look at my blog, How to Recover A Facebook Ad Account That’s Been Disabled.

How to Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Tips

A lot of ad agencies are asking, “How do I recover Facebook ad accounts?” Or “How can I reactivate my disabled Business Manager?” And “Why is my Facebook ad rejected?”

The wall of silence from Facebook, the parent company now called Meta, frustrates business owners and advertisers alike. Money coming in from Facebook ads is suddenly stopped, and clients won’t stop screaming because their products aren’t selling.

Looking to start your own business, work from home, and not be micromanaged by a toxic boss? Learn more here.

You’re left holding the bag, without answers and just a nasty deadline before your clients drop you and hire another marketing firm who knows how to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account. Or your deadline for a product launch is making you sweat bullets while Facebook keeps you in limbo.

You’re waiting on Facebook to reply as you’re waiting on an ad asset that’s permanently restricted to get fully appealed. Fortunately, you’ve found this blog – I’ve worked at Facebook for years and can help you sort things out.

Whether you’re using Facebook ad expert Tim Burd’s Surfing Method of Scaling Ads or another tactic, Facebook ad policies will still need to be top of mind, or you’ll lose money with Facebook bans.
Just like I provided solutions for Boomerang, a marketing research firm, you’ll learn how to avoid the land mines that shut down millions of businesses a year on Facebook. Click here for a free discovery call.

If I decide you’re a good fit, we can work together and I’ll reveal why FB shut you down and how to get compliant again. (In a rush? Skip the line with prepaid funnel audits with VIP Access). You won’t have to guess again at learning how to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Guide

The ugly truth of Facebook ad account restrictions is very few have relevant experience to guide you to a solution. Here’s my 5 Step System to master Facebook bans and tips to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account:

how to remove restriction on facebook ad account guide

Your Facebook Advertising Got Restricted…Now What?

If you’ve been restricted from advertising on Facebook all your active ads will be paused and you won’t be able to create new ads. Often you’ll see “ad error” next to the ads that used to be live.

After reading my Facebook Ad Policies Checklist you may have started to see which ad policy applied to your Campaigns.

Now, the reason why you got shut down will be one of many. Each scenario is different.

You may be asking why each scenario is different. Well, there are many types of Facebook ads and Facebook’s ad policies apply differently to each industry which is important to know before you try to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

And I’m not even talking about Special Ad Categories (real estate, social issues, employment, loans etc).

How Facebook’s machines apply their striking automation really does depend on a number of factors which I’ll get into next.

You may not know this, but, being more or less compliant affects your CPC, CPL (cost-per-lead), and Cost of Acquisition. The less compliant you are – even if you’re not banned…yet – the more Facebook will charge you for distributing your ads, because they’ll feel it’s content Facebook users won’t want to see, if it isn’t fully compliant.

And, ad costs have been going up. On average, 91% of industries saw increases in CPL in 2023.

But, you don’t have to guess on compliance anymore, as I can help you diagnose and recover from Facebook ad account restrictions.
As Liana Lang, CEO of Power Up Strategy Inc. said, “Please meet Trevor, my ‘secret weapon’ for all things Facebook compliance. I highly recommend hiring him to help you out especially if you plan to be running ads.”

Want the same white glove treatment navigating Facebook shutdowns?

Click here, to schedule a discovery call.

How did I get myself restricted from advertising on Facebook?

You’d be surprised how many businesses are running ads based on what worked 5 years ago. Just like advances in technology rapidly change the social landscape, so do changes in Facebook’s ad policies.

Even if you went to the Social Media Strategies Summit, David Velez, Head of Social at Amazon, wouldn’t be able to explain to you how you got banned – none of the experts could, because they haven’t worked side-by-side with the software engineers who operate the automations that ban you. I happened to have this experience, from my work at Meta, and one common theme was how fast facebook ad policies change, the and effect this has on businesses like yours.

What was allowed last year may not be compliant this year. And if you’re still running ads that used to be compliant, Facebook will show no mercy in shutting you down ASAP. And even retroactively punishing your ad account by flagging old ads that aren’t even active, if they violate new current ad policies. This is what leads to ad bans marketers get, who then try to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

Also a good roadmap: What to Do After Violating Facebook’s Ad Policies

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Flag Type

You can get your ads rejected for violating the spam flags, the Personal Attributes policies, or Facebook could have flagged you as an MLM.

Your eyes would pop out if you knew the list of banned words Facebook has that associate you with a pyramid scheme. If you accidentally used one of these words, even 1 word would be enough to get you shut down.

Ideally, you’d have your ads prescreened for Facebook ad policy compliance before going live. Then, you’d never have to try to learn how to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

This can be problematic for many advertisers because you can read all the books on Facebook ads, read all of facebook ad policies and still not get answers.

You can study the top Facebook experts like Mari Smith (one of my clients), or events like Social Media Marketing World but even then, you won’t find anyone there who has worked with thousands of businesses recovering from ad account restrictions or who has worked at Meta with the engineers maintaining these ban bot automations like I have. 

That being said, if you want to skip the rest of the article, and get a solution today just book a free discovery call, and if you’re eligible, I’ll guide you every step of the way to get Facebook ads live again and money coming into your bank account from ads safe from the automations.

Just click my calendar link here and book your call now.

How can I tell if my account was restricted?

While Facebook is supposed to send you an email, you may not always get an email telling you that your account is restricted. But, going to Ads Manager, or Business Manager you’ll see this warning when your account is restricted:


And obviously, not being able to run ads and having all your live ads shut down is a pretty clear indicator your account is restricted on Facebook. Part of the ninja skill involved when successfully trying to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account comes down to accurately diagnosing what got you in Facebook jail – before FB bots have a chance to permanently restrict your ad account or Page.

If you haven’t read it, check out: How to Recover a Permanently Disabled Ad Account

What does having my account restricted mean?

If you have a restricted Facebook account, you are banned from using Facebook Ads, Facebook Pixel, Facebook Business Manager, and more. BUT…

The severity of your account restriction depends on:

• Your vertical | Type of Business
• The ad account history
• The type of ban
• The number of bans in the past 3 months
• The amount of approved ads

And a few other factors. Not all bans are the same, and not all Facebook restricted accounts have the same recovery process – or relaunching method when learning how to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account WARNING

Are people from Bangladesh promising you they can recover your restricted ad account? Don’t fall for it! Read How to Recover Facebook Ad Accounts now

If you’ve been shutdown a lot but never got answers, you’re like one of my clients, Steve Martinez, Vice President of Apollidon Learning.

“Trevor took us through the process of getting one of our University of Texas ad accounts reinstated (within minutes). He offered some critical insights to why our Facebook Ad Account was disabled and shared options to reduce our chances of future issues. We have a better understand of how the algorithm works and know exactly what to do and say if our account gets disabled again.”

Want to see how I can help you? Schedule a free discovery call here. Or, if you’re in a rush, prepay for your consulting call and skip the line.

What do I do if my Facebook account is restricted from advertising?

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Troubleshoot

To troubleshoot your restricted account:

The first step is to audit your funnel and identify the biggest risks when it comes to Facebook ad policy compliance. If you don’t know why you got flagged you won’t have very much to go on when attempting to appeal or remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

Review the Facebook ad policies that apply to your business specifically and determine which one the automations caught and flagged you for.

Still a little lost? I’ve created many Ad Guides on Facebook ad policy you can check out.

When you appeal, you gotta know WHY you were shut down FIRST. Most ad agencies have it BACKWARDS. They go in angry, demanding to be told why their accounts were restricted. And asking that their accounts get restored.

You really have to find out for yourself FIRST before appealing, because that will be the heart of your appeal: “I know what I may have done wrong and I’ve learned from it.” This will help when trying to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

On Appealing: Chat in with Facebook Ad Support and get the agent you contact to submit the appeal for you instead of clicking Request Review. This will up your chances by a factor of 100.

Already completely banned?

If you are running ads and spending $100K a year or more on ads, I can help with that.

Confirm your identity

I have one word for you: DON’T. Well at least, not before taken certain steps first.

You may be one of the lucky 2% that actually start confirming your identity and slip through the cracks. But most people?

Once you hit that button it’s game over. Facebook will never confirm your identity because their form is broken and doesn’t transfer the data (like your driver’s license) to Facebook itself. And that definitely isn’t a reliable method to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

There are other ways to get your ads live – all white hat – which are much better than trying to Confirm Your Identity. Well, at least, don’t try to confirm your identity without help from someone who knows how this system works, or you’ll end up in the endless loop.

Are you hacked or recovering from a cybersecurity hack from one of those bastards in Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, or the Philippines? Sadly, it is a HUGE epidemic right now from those specific locations, including Malaysia. Read my full guide on what to do if your Facebook account is restricted from being hacked here.

Complete verification

Facebook’s ad policies will tell you to complete verification but like I said above, and admiral Ackbar reiterates:

Simply verifying a Facebook Business Manager will not remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Security

Secure your account

This is a new thing: If you’re a user of a Business Manager account that’s over 90 days old, you may need to enable two-factor authentication to meet Facebook’s security requirements. If you don’t, Meta may restrict your access to Business Manager tools for security purposes.

To reinstate your account, you’ll need to enable two-factor authentication.

If you haven’t submitted your IDs for the verify identity trap, enabling 2FA can sometimes restore your account. I’ve seen it happen – it isn’t reliable as the only solution, but it can help. As long as you don’t put a device, or email that you no longer have access to on your account! !

That’s another trap. Advertisers try to enable 2FA to get their ad accounts back but don’t realize they have an old email associated with their Personal Profile that they don’t have access to. Or an old phone number from a smartphone they no longer have.

You are royally @#$%&! if you do this because Facebook will show no mercy if you tell them, “I don’t have access to this email/device anymore.” Definitely not a solution to remove a restriction on a Facebook ad account.

It’s another good reason for you to make sure that your info is up to date before advertising, before appealing and before enabling 2FA.

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Content

Violating content

Evading enforcement

The evading enforcement Facebook ad polices are some of the newest Facebook ad policies to come out. Basically, these were created to prevent clickbait farms from creating new ads from fake facebook profiles.

BUT a big problem with this Facebook ad policy is that it doesn’t account for incorrectly shut down business owners, simply relaunching Facebook ads that are compliant.

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Authenticity

Account authenticity

Violating networks or associations

Advertising restrictions for unusual activity

How to appeal advertising restrictions

So, the dumbasses like SocialSurge Marketing that just copy and paste Facebook’s verbatim copy on their policies page are copying this text from Meta:

“If you believe your Business Account, ad account, Page or user account was incorrectly restricted, you may be able to request a review of the decision in Account Quality.”

Your best bet to appeal advertising restrictions if your ad account is restricted, is to audit your funnel first. Identify why you were shut down, which part of your funnel triggered it, then appeal to a person on Facebook ad support chat, not request review.

Speaking of which:

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Request a review

Request a review

More idiotic advice from Facebook:

“If your account is restricted due to a policy violation, you may be able to request a review.”

That’s like asking the original evil Terminator to review John Connor as he is hunting Connor.



Now – I’m not saying that it won’t ever work. About 1 percent of people who request review, DO get their accounts back. But, I’ve worked with 10s of 1000s of advertisers and the stats show requesting review just locks you into a permanently restricted status unless you know how to do it strategically in a way that gets real results. 

Learn more

Are you ready to stop second guessing Facebook bans and stop sitting on the edge of your seat worrying about shut downs? You definitely won’t find those answers from Facebook or taking a Coursera marketing course.

Even if you spent a week reading Facebook’s Ad Policies you’d still be at risk of a shut down simply because there are a 1000 more flags than you are actually told about.

Yet the machines still scan your ads according to these invisible Facebook ad policies.

BUT – don’t miss out on an opportunity to never have to get flagged again. I’ve worked in ads, tech and project management at Facebook and can help.

What if you had a guarantee that your ads were compliant before they went live on Facebook? What if you knew 100% without guessing why your ad account was disabled? What if you knew why your Facebook ads were blocked and had a path to get ads live again?

Keep reading for these answers and more: 

Remove a Restriction on a Facebook Ad Account Solution

Ad agencies: tired of getting the silent treatment from Facebook when all you want to do is get your Facebook ads live and revenue in the door?

I’m a Facebook ad policy specialist who worked at Facebook and I’m trusted by high level brands that take accuracy and results seriously.

I can show you how to resolve FB bans even if Facebook ad support is useless to resolve ad account restrictions.

Don’t lose any more money from Facebook bans and schedule your call with me now.

Don’t take my word for it, let my clients tell you what it was like working with me:

It shouldn’t be a mystery on what to do to recover from a ban. I strive for customer satisfaction, being a business owner myself.


My clients have included the social media marketing agencies of Tony Robbins, Harv Eker, and Dean Graziosi. How much is it costing you to have a disabled Facebook ad account? Talk today. 



I’m featured on the Queen of Facebook Mari Smith’s Marketing Essentials Course.

If you want to skip the line before this offer ends, immediately secure expert-level Facebook consulting. Book a call with me now!

If you’re ok with waiting a bit longer, and entering the waitlist to see if you’re eligible – Schedule a call or contact me via email.

Free eBook: Top 5 Reasons Agencies Fail at Facebook