Facebook ad account disabled, restricted or banned: what to do

Do it on a computer, from Meta Business Support Home. The What you can do section tells you what Meta needs from you: confirm your identity, complete verification, secure the account or request a review. If an unpaid balance is the only problem, paying it should get your ads running again. In the meantime, don’t create another ad account to get around the block, and stay away from anyone who guarantees to get it back or asks for your login.

Menu names below come from Meta’s Help Center as of October 22, 2026. Meta may rename things, so if a label looks different on your screen, go with the closest one.

First, figure out what’s blocked

Meta can restrict four different things, and each one plays out differently:

Your personal profile (Facebook or Instagram). If it’s restricted, you can’t advertise at all. Ad accounts where you’re the only user can be disabled too. Other people in the business portfolio, ad account or Page may still be able to run ads.
Your Facebook Page. If it’s restricted, it can’t be used to advertise.
Your ad account. If it’s restricted, its ads and some of its advertising assets are disabled.
Your business portfolio (formerly Business Manager). If it’s restricted, it can’t advertise, and what it owns (ad accounts, shops and so on) is affected.

"Restricted" doesn’t always mean "shut down," and people often say "banned" for any of these. Meta also uses the word for a daily spending cap, a lower payment threshold, losing some payment or ad features, or not being able to add admins or create ad accounts while it investigates. A fully disabled ad account is just one of those cases.

In Business Support Home, the Outstanding tab (last 14, 30 or 90 days) shows what’s blocked right now. Start there.

The steps, in order

Read the reason and the suggested action. In Business Support Home, open Account status overview, pick the restricted account, then the What you can do section. Meta may ask you to confirm your identity, complete verification, secure your account or request a review. Do what it asks before anything else.
If it’s a payment issue, pay. When a payment fails, Meta pauses your ads and disables the ad account until the balance is paid. Go to Billing & payments, pick the account, then Payment methods and Pay now, using the saved card or a new one. Once the balance is paid, active and scheduled ads pick back up. Meta’s page on payments doesn’t mention a review for this case. If Business Support Home still shows a restriction after that, something else is blocking the account: go back to step 1.
Check your card before you add it back. Meta wants a card with a security code (CVV), enabled for online purchases, with enough funds, and tied to a phone number you can get the confirmation code on. One card can only be added to a limited number of ad accounts, usually 10.
Lock down your account. Turn on two-factor authentication for everyone in the business portfolio. Go through the admin list and remove anyone you don’t recognize. Meta also restricts accounts it thinks were hacked, and ones that don’t meet its two-factor authentication requirement.
Confirm your identity if asked. Follow the on-screen steps with documents in your name.
Request a review if you think it’s a mistake. Only an admin on the account can do this. In What you can do, choose Request review and follow the steps. Before you submit, check your rejected ads and landing page against Meta’s Advertising Standards. If an ad really does break a rule, fix it first.
Wait for the answer instead of resubmitting. Meta says reviews usually take 48 hours, sometimes longer. The number of review requests is limited, and Meta calls the decision after a review final.
Turn your ads back on yourself. If the account is reinstated after a restriction, ads that were running before won’t restart on their own. Turn them back on in Ads Manager.

One deadline to know about. If an ad account is disabled for a policy violation and stays ineligible for reinstatement for 6 months, it can’t be reinstated after that, and unused prepaid funds may be forfeited where the law allows. In certain circumstances, Meta reserves the right to disable it permanently before then.

What Meta says causes it

According to Meta, advertising restrictions can come from:

Breaking the rules: Community Standards, Advertising Standards, Commerce Policies or other terms. Meta also reviews the advertiser’s overall behavior, along with each ad.
An account that looks hacked: a compromised business portfolio or assets.
Missing two-factor authentication when it’s required.
Unusual activity: odd payment or account activity, lots of failed or disputed payments.
Ties to accounts that were already taken down: Meta can restrict or disable an ad account or business portfolio owned by the same person as a disabled account, or created or repurposed to get around an earlier removal. It can do the same for accounts closely linked to a network of accounts that break its rules.

Meta also admits its enforcement, which is mostly automated, gets things wrong: "both machines and people make mistakes." That’s what the review is for.

Some people report waiting well past the stated time without getting an answer. In July 2026, someone on Reddit described their ad account, open since 2019 and already verified, getting disabled right after they turned their ads back on. They verified again, the account stayed disabled, and they couldn’t get a live person on support. On the Shopify Community, someone whose ad account was restricted right after they created it was told to expect 48 to 72 hours. Someone else replied, more than a week after doing everything, that they were still restricted. These are individual stories, not statistics. All they show is that the wait can run longer than the stated timeline.

What not to do

Open new accounts to keep going. Facebook’s Terms say this about your Facebook account: if it’s disabled for a violation, you agree not to create another one without Meta’s permission. And under Meta’s rules, an ad account or business portfolio created to get around a penalty, or owned by the same person as a disabled account, can be disabled too.
Buy or rent "agency" or pre-warmed accounts to get around a penalty. The Advertising Standards prohibit selling, renting, buying or exchanging access such as admin access, and helping anyone evade enforcement.
Pay a "reinstatement service," or trust a fake "Meta rep." Meta says a real representative will never ask for your password, payment details or other sensitive information by chat, text, email or phone. Meta shows your account status in Business Support Home. Report suspicious emails to phish@fb.com.
Hand your password to anyone. Meta’s Terms forbid sharing your password or giving others access to your Facebook account. If someone needs to work on your ads, add them to the business portfolio with their own profile.
Fire off several review requests in a row. Requests are limited. Fix what you can, send one complete request, wait for the answer, then use whatever further review option Meta shows you for that restriction.
Rerun the same rejected ads somewhere else. Meta can penalize accounts used to get around its controls.

Keep it from happening again

Turn on two-factor authentication for everyone. Meta can require it, including some business portfolios older than 90 days or in certain regions, and can pull ad access or a payment method if it’s off.
Add a backup payment method so your ads don’t stop if the main card gets declined. Check expiration dates and your balance before your billing date. If your card caps single charges, lower your payment threshold to match that cap.
Don’t be the only person on your ad account. If your profile gets restricted, an account where you’re the only user can be disabled along with it. A second trusted person with the right permissions and their own two-factor authentication can keep things going if only your profile is restricted. That won’t help if the ad account or the business portfolio itself is restricted.
Read the rules before you launch, especially if your ads touch on health, money or the person seeing the ad (Meta’s "personal attributes" policy). Meta has an advertising policy checklist.
Check your rejected ads every week in Business Support Home. Meta can restrict or disable accounts that keep breaking its Advertising Standards.
Keep your access clean: no shared logins, no sign-ins from unknown devices, and only admins you know.

FAQ

How long does a review take?

Meta says usually 48 hours, sometimes longer. On the Shopify Community, one person wrote they were still restricted more than a week after doing everything.

How many times can I request a review?

Meta says the number is limited but doesn’t give one. The decision after the review is final. Meta also says asking for another review won’t hurt your standing.

Can I open a new ad account in the meantime?

Not to get around a disabled account for a policy violation: under Meta’s rules, an account created to evade a penalty can be disabled too. If an unpaid balance is the only reason for the block, paying it should get your ads running again. Then check Business Support Home for any other restriction.

My Facebook profile is restricted. Are my ads too?

You can’t advertise, and ad accounts where you’re the only user can be disabled. Other people in the business portfolio may still be able to run ads.

Someone "from Meta" messaged me offering to unlock my account. Is it real?

Probably not. Meta never asks for a password or payment details by message or phone. Check your account status yourself in Business Support Home.

My ad account is disabled and I advertise on Instagram. Where do I look?

Instagram ads run through a Meta ad account, just like Facebook ads, so the steps above apply. First find which of these is blocked: your Instagram profile, the ad account that pays for the ads, or the business portfolio that owns them. Business Support Home shows the status of each and what Meta asks you to do. If it’s your Instagram profile, you can’t advertise from it, and ad accounts where you’re the only user can be disabled too. If you think your Instagram profile was hacked, start with Meta’s help on recovering it.

My account is back but nothing’s running. Why?

After a restriction, ads don’t restart on their own, so turn them back on in Ads Manager. After a payment fix, they resume by themselves. If delivery still doesn’t start, check in Ads Manager the status of the campaign, ad set and ad, then your payment status and spending limits, and look in Business Support Home for any restriction that’s still there.