How to Delete a Facebook Ad in Review

Having a Facebook ad stuck "in review" feels like being stuck in traffic when you're already late. It’s a common and incredibly frustrating part of running paid campaigns, especially when you have a time-sensitive launch. This guide will walk you through exactly how to delete an ad that won't budge from the review stage and what you should do afterward to get your campaign live.

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Why Is My Facebook Ad Stuck in Review Anyway?

Before deleting anything, it helps to understand why your ad is in limbo. Usually, Facebook's ad review process is quick, often taking just a few minutes or hours. An automated system scans your ad’s creative, text, targeting, and landing page to check for compliance with their advertising policies. If it passes, it gets approved. If not, it gets rejected.

However, delays happen for several reasons:

• High Volume: During peak times like holidays (think Black Friday) or major global events, the system gets overloaded, and reviews take longer for everyone.
• Manual Review Triggered: If the automated system is uncertain about something in your ad, it flags it for a manual review by a human team member. This is common for ads in sensitive categories like health, finance, housing, employment, or politics.
• New Ad Account: If your ad account is brand new, Facebook's systems are warier. Your first few ads are more likely to undergo a more thorough review until you build up a history of compliance.
• Potential Policy Violations: Sometimes, an ad is stuck because it’s on the borderline of violating a policy. Specific words, claims, or types of imagery can trigger a longer, more detailed review. Examples include promising specific results ("Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!") or using "before and after" images.
• Weekends and Holidays: While the automated system runs 24/7, manual reviews are primarily done during business hours. Submitting an ad on a Friday night might mean you face a longer wait.

In most cases, waiting 24 hours is standard practice. But if it stretches beyond that and your campaign needs to launch, taking action is better than waiting around.

Yes, You Can Delete a Facebook Ad in Review

Let's get straight to it: You can absolutely delete a Facebook ad while it's still in the review process. This action is perfectly safe and won't negatively impact your account's standing with Facebook. You aren’t penalized for removing a pending ad.

Why would you want to do this?

• It's an Impatient System: Anecdotally, many advertisers find that an identical ad, when relaunched, can get approved in minutes. Deleting the "stuck" one and starting fresh can sometimes kickstart a faster review.
• You Found a Mistake: You notice a typo in the headline, attached the wrong video, or set the budget incorrectly right after hitting "Publish." Instead of waiting for a review only to have to edit it later, you can just delete it and fix the mistake immediately.
• The Ad is No Longer Relevant: You scheduled a 24-hour flash sale ad that has now been in review for 20 hours. At this point, it’s not worth running. Deleting it prevents it from getting approved and spending money after the promotion is over.
• You Suspect It Will Be Rejected: You have a gut feeling that a strong claim you made will get a rejection. You can proactively delete it, tone down the copy, and resubmit a more compliant version to save time.

When you delete an ad, it's permanently removed from your campaign. The review process for that specific ad stops, and you won’t be able to edit or reactivate it later.

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How to Delete a Facebook Ad "In Review" (Step-by-Step)

Deleting a stuck ad is simple once you know where to look. Here are the exact steps to follow within Facebook Ads Manager.

Step 1: Go to Facebook Ads Manager

First, navigate to your Ads Manager. The easiest way is to go directly to business.facebook.com/adsmanager. Make sure you select the correct ad account from the dropdown menu in the top left if you manage more than one.

Step 2: Find Your Campaign and Ad Set

Ads Manager is organized into three hierarchical tabs: Campaigns, Ad Sets, and Ads. You need to drill down to the ad level.

1. Click on the Campaigns tab.
2. Find and click on the name of the campaign that contains your stuck ad.
3. This will automatically take you to the Ad Sets tab, filtered for that campaign. Click on the name of the relevant ad set.

Step 3: Locate the Ad 'In Review' on the Ads Tab

After clicking into your ad set, you'll land on the Ads tab. Here, you'll see a list of all the ads within that ad set.

Look for the Delivery column. The ad you want to delete will say "In Review" or "Processing" in this column. If you have many ads running, you can use the search or filter function to find it quickly by its name.

Step 4: Select and Delete the Ad

Now that you've found the ad, hover over its name and check the little box that appears to its left. Once you've selected it, a menu will pop up at the top of your ads list. Look for the trash can icon labeled Delete.

Click the trash can icon to begin the deletion process.

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Step 5: Confirm Your Decision

Facebook will ask you for one final confirmation to make sure you didn't click the delete button by accident. A pop-up window will appear asking, "Are you sure you want to delete this ad?"

Click the blue Delete button to confirm. The ad will be removed permanently, and its status will soon change to "Ad Deleted."

What to Do After Deleting the Stuck Ad

Deleting the ad is only half the battle. Your goal is to get a campaign running, so here are the best next steps to take.

The Best Method: Duplicate the Ad and Make a Tiny Change

This is the go-to solution for most advertisers. Instead of starting from scratch, you duplicate the ad you just deleted (or an existing ad in the ad set), make a very small modification, and then publish it again.

Why make a small change? Some believe this clever trick prevents the ad from entering the exact same clogged review queue. By changing a small element, you create a technically "new" ad that may get processed by a different server or a faster automated check.

How to do it:

1. Check the box next to the ad you want to copy (it could be another ad in the ad set or the now-deleted ad, if it's still visible).
2. Click the Duplicate button in the menu that appears.
3. In the ad creation panel that opens, make a minor, insignificant change. Ideas include:
4. Once you've made your small tweak, click Publish.

Often, this newly duplicated ad will get reviewed and approved much faster than the original one that was stuck.

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The Backup Plan: Recreate the Ad from Scratch

If you suspect your ad might have been stuck due to a compliance issue, duplicating it won't help. The duplicated ad will likely get stuck or rejected for the same reason. In this case, it's better to build a new ad from the ground up, keeping Facebook's policies in mind.

1. Review the Ad Policies: Before you build a new ad, take five minutes to review Facebook's Advertising Policies. Pay attention to the rules for your specific industry.
2. Re-evaluate copy and creative: Did you make an exaggerated claim? Did your image show something shocking or controversial? Is your landing page fully functional and consistent with your ad?
3. Build a 'clean' version: Create a new ad with more conservative copy and imagery. Focus on benefits rather than making grand promises, and use straightforward visuals. Once this version is approved and running, you can always test more aggressive creatives later.

How to Avoid Getting Your Ads Stuck in Review in the Future

While you can't prevent review delays completely, you can adopt some best practices to minimize the chances of it happening again.

• Launch Campaigns Early: This is the most important tip. Don't wait until the day of a launch to publish your ads. Plan to have your campaigns uploaded and in review at least 24-48 hours before you need them to go live.
• 'Scrub' Your Ad Copy: Read your text carefully and remove words that are common red flags. Words related to personal attributes ("Are you struggling with debt?"), specific timelines on results ("lose weight in a week"), or anything overly sensational can trigger extra scrutiny.
• Check Your Landing Page: Facebook's review bot clicks through to your landing page. Make sure it loads quickly, is relevant to your ad's promise, clearly states what your business does, and is free of pop-ups or malware.
• Build Account Trust: Try to maintain a good track record. A history of multiple rejected ads can make the review system more suspicious of your future ads. Run simple, obviously-compliant ads to establish a good reputation.

Final Thoughts

Dealing with a Facebook ad that’s indefinitely stalled in the review process is frustrating, but you aren’t powerless. By understanding the review system and knowing how to safely delete and relaunch your ad, you can often solve the problem in a matter of minutes instead of waiting for days.

Fixing stuck ads is just one piece of optimizing your campaigns. After they're running, the real challenge is figuring out what's actually working across all your channels. That's a process we've simplified. Rather than getting lost in Ads Manager’s cluttered interface, we let you use natural language to ask questions about your marketing performance with Graphed. Simply ask, "Which Facebook ad campaign drove the most Shopify sales last month?" and instantly get a real-time dashboard with the answer. We designed it so you can spend your time on strategy, not getting headaches from your tools.