How to Download Facebook Analytics Data

Getting your raw performance data out of Facebook is the first step toward uncovering what's truly driving your business forward. Without a way to analyze and combine it with your other marketing data, you’re only getting half the story. This guide walks you through the exact step-by-step processes for downloading both your paid advertising data from Ads Manager and your organic data from Page Insights.

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Why Bother Downloading Your Facebook Data?

Working directly in Facebook Ads Manager is great for quick checks, but its dashboards can be limiting. When you export your data, you unlock a much deeper level of analysis and control. Think of it as a chef getting raw ingredients instead of a pre-made meal - you have the freedom to combine them however you want.

Here’s why it’s a non-negotiable task for any serious marketer or business owner:

• Deeper Analysis: Tools like Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel give you the power to create pivot tables, build custom formulas, and visualize trends in ways Ads Manager simply can’t. You can calculate custom metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) by campaign or analyze ad performance by day of the week.
• Combine Data Sources: Your Facebook ad performance doesn't exist in a vacuum. By downloading a CSV, you can merge your ad spend data with sales data from Shopify, website traffic from Google Analytics, or lead data from Salesforce. This allows you to see the full funnel and calculate a true return on investment.
• Historical Backups: Platforms change, and access can occasionally be disrupted. Having a local copy of your performance data means you always own a record of your historical results, which is invaluable for long-term trend analysis.
• Custom Dashboards & Reporting: Once you export your data, you can import it into business intelligence tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Looker Studio to build powerful, customized dashboards that tell the full story of your marketing efforts for stakeholders or clients.

Simply put, downloading your data frees it from the confines of Facebook's interface, giving you total control and clarity.

How to Export Data Directly From Facebook Ads Manager

The most common method for getting your ad data is a direct export from the main Ads Manager reporting table. This is perfect for quick, ad-hoc analysis when you need a snapshot of performance.

Let's walk through it step-by-step.

Step 1: Navigate to Ads Manager and Select Your View

First, log in to Facebook Ads Manager. You’ll land on the main dashboard, which shows an overview of your ad account. Here, you can choose to view your data at the campaign, ad set, or ad level by clicking on the corresponding tabs. Your choice determines the granularity of the file you’ll download.

• Campaigns Tab: Gives you a high-level view. Best for seeing which broad objectives are performing best.
• Ad Sets Tab: Lets you analyze performance by audience, budget, or placement. This is where most analysis happens.
• Ads Tab: Shows you performance for each individual creative. Use this to find your winning ad copy and images.

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Step 2: Define Your Date Range

In the top-right corner of the Ads Manager screen, you’ll see a date range filter (e.g., "Last 30 Days"). Click this to select the specific time frame you want to analyze. You can choose a preset range like "This Month" or select a custom start and end date.

Step 3: Customize Your Columns (This is the Most Important Step!)

The default columns Facebook shows are rarely enough for real analysis. To get the data you actually need, you must customize the reporting table.

Click the "Columns" dropdown menu (located above the performance chart on the right). A menu will appear. You can choose a preset like "Performance and Clicks," but for the best results, click "Customize Columns…" at the bottom of the list.

This opens a window where you can add, remove, and reorder hundreds of available metrics. Here are some of the most critical metrics to include for a standard performance report:

• Amount Spent
• Impressions
• Reach
• Link Clicks
• Cost Per Click (CPC) (Link)
• Click-Through Rate (CTR) (Link)
• Results (and Cost Per Result)
• Purchases
• Purchase ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)
• Adds to Cart
• Checkouts Initiated

Once you’ve selected your metrics, click the "Apply" button. The table will refresh with your chosen columns.

Pro Tip: To save yourself time in the future, click the "Columns" dropdown again and select "Save as Preset." Give your column set a memorable name like "Standard KPI Report." Next time, you can just select it from the list instead of customizing all over again.

Step 4: Export Your Data

Now that your data is correctly formatted in the table, it’s time to download it. Look for the "Reports" icon at the far right of the top navigation bar, usually next to the "Rules" button. It often looks like a box with an arrow pointing out.

Click "Reports" and then select "Export Table Data…"

A small pop-up will appear, giving you two options:

• Export as .xlsx: This downloads a pre-formatted Microsoft Excel file, which can be convenient if you plan to work exclusively in Excel.
• Export as .csv: This downloads a Comma-Separated Values file. A CSV is a plain text file that’s universally compatible with almost any spreadsheet or data analysis software. This is generally a safer and more flexible choice.

Leave the "Include a summary row" box checked if you want a totals row in your file. Click the "Export" button, and your file will begin downloading to your computer.

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Creating and Downloading Custom Reports in Ads Manager

While a quick table export is useful, the dedicated "Ads Reporting" section offers even more power, allowing you to use breakdowns and save and schedule reports.

Step 1: Go to the Ads Reporting Tool

Click the "All Tools" hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top left of Ads Manager. Under the "Analyze and Report" section, click on "Ads Reporting."

Step 2: Create a New Report

On the Ads Reporting page, click the green "Create Report" button. You'll be presented with a blank canvas to build your report from scratch or use a template.

Step 3: Add Metrics and Breakdowns

On the right-hand panel, you can select the metrics you want to include, just as you did in the previous method. However, the real power here comes from Breakdowns.

Breakdowns slice your data into deeper segments. For example, instead of seeing just the total ROAS for an ad set, you can see the ROAS for each age group within that ad set. Here are some of the most insightful breakdowns to use:

• By Time: Day, Week, Month. Perfect for seeing when your target audience is most active and converting.
• By Delivery: Age, Gender, Country/Region, Placement (e.g., Facebook Feed vs. Instagram Stories). This is how you discover your true ideal customer profile.
• By Action: Conversion Device. Helps you see if users are seeing ads on mobile but converting on desktop.

Select your desired metrics and breakdowns from the right-side panel. Your report table in the main view will update live.

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Step 4: Save and Schedule Your Report

Once your report is configured, you can export it immediately using the "Export" button in the top right. More efficiently, click the "Save" button to name your report for future use. After saving, you can then schedule it to be sent to you automatically.

Next to the "Export" button, click the scheduling icon. A menu will pop up where you can set the report to be emailed to you (and others on your team) daily, weekly, or monthly. This is a game-changer for automating your weekly reporting workflow.

How to Download Your Organic Facebook Page Insights

Your paid advertising data is only part of the puzzle. To understand your organic performance, you need to export data from your Facebook Page Insights, which is now located within the Meta Business Suite.

1. Navigate to Meta Business Suite for the page you manage.
2. On the left-hand menu, click on "Insights."
3. On the Insights page, click the "Export Data" button in the top right corner.
4. A window will pop up allowing you to specify what data you want. You can choose from:
5. Select your desired date range and file format (.xlsx or .csv), then click "Export data."

The process is straightforward, and the resulting file gives you all the raw data you need to analyze which organic content resonates most with your audience.

Final Thoughts

Downloading your data from Facebook Ads Manager and Page Insights gives you the raw material needed for truly impactful analysis. Whether you prefer a quick table export, a scheduled custom report, or a comprehensive download of your organic metrics, getting your data into a spreadsheet or BI tool is the most empowering step you can take to understand and improve your marketing performance.

Of course, while manually downloading CSVs is a solid start, the process can become tedious and repetitive, providing a static snapshot of data that is out-of-date the moment it’s downloaded. We built Graphed to solve this problem by eliminating manual work completely. We automatically connect to your Facebook Ads data and other marketing platforms in real-time, letting you create live dashboards and get instant answers just by asking questions. This approach means you can spend your time acting on insights, not just gathering them.