How to Send Facebook Ad Preview Link

Need to get approval on a Facebook ad from a client, team member, or your boss? Sending clunky screenshots that don't show the full interactive experience is frustrating and unprofessional. The best way to share a draft is with a direct preview link recipients can open on their own devices. This article will walk you through exactly how to generate and send a Facebook ad preview link in just a few clicks.

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Why Send a Preview Link Instead of a Screenshot?

While taking a quick screenshot might seem faster, it falls short in several ways. A live preview link is the standard for professional marketers for a few simple reasons:

• It's Interactive: A preview link allows the viewer to see the ad exactly as a user would. They can click the call-to-action button, play the video, engage with a carousel, expand the "See More" text, and even see the comments on existing ads. Screenshots are static and miss this crucial context.
• It Shows All Placements: One of the biggest advantages is the ability to show how the ad will look across different placements. Your team or client can easily toggle between the Facebook Feed, Instagram Stories, Messenger Inbox, and other views to ensure the creative looks perfect everywhere, without you needing to send dozens of different images.
• It's Mobile-Friendly: More than likely, your audience will see your ad on their phone. A preview link lets the reviewer open it directly on their mobile device to get the true user experience, something a desktop screenshot simply can't replicate.
• It's More Professional: Sending a simple, clean link shows you know your way around Ads Manager. It streamlines the review process, reduces back-and-forth, and makes getting final approval much smoother.

How to Create and Share a Facebook Ad Preview Link

Generating a shareable link is straightforward once you know where to look. Follow these steps from within your Facebook Ads Manager dashboard.

Step 1: Navigate to the Ad Level

First, head into your Facebook Ads Manager. From there, navigate down to the specific ad creative you want to share.

The hierarchy in Ads Manager is Campaigns > Ad Sets > Ads. You need to be on the final "Ads" tab to generate a preview of the creative itself.

Click on the correct campaign, then the relevant ad set, which will then display all the ads within that ad set.

Step 2: Select the Ad You Want to Preview

Find the ad you want to send for review in the list. You don’t need to click the checkbox next to it for this method to work, but if you're working with many ads, it can help keep you organized. Simply find the correct ad row.

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Step 3: Click on "Preview"

At the top of the Ads Manager interface, you'll see a row of buttons like "Create," "Duplicate," "Edit," and "Rules." To the far right of these, you’ll see an icon that looks like an eye, labeled Ad Preview. Make sure your ad is selected (the entire row will be highlighted in blue if you click on its name), and then click this eyeball icon.

A panel will slide out from the right side of your screen, showing you a preview of how the ad will appear.

Step 4: Click the "Share" Icon

In the top right corner of the rich preview panel, you'll see several icons. The one you're looking for is the "Share" icon, which looks like a paper airplane. Click it.

A dropdown menu will appear with a few options, including "Share a link" and "Send notification to Facebook app."

Step 5: Select "Share a link" and Copy It

Click on Share a link from the menu. Facebook will instantly generate a unique URL. A small pop-up will appear with the generated link and a button to "Copy." Simply click copy, and the link is now on your clipboard, ready to be pasted into an email, Slack message, or project management tool.

That's it! You now have a shareable link to your ad preview.

Note: To ensure the highest quality preview, you might want to switch on the "High quality video preview Creative" to see an accurate depiction of how your final, published ad will look.

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What Does the Person You Share the Link With See?

When someone clicks your preview link, they are taken to the Facebook Ad Library, where your specific ad is displayed. They see a fully interactive mock-up of the ad.

The best part? The recipient does not need access to your Ads Manager or Business Manager account. Anyone with the link can view the ad, making it a secure and simple way to share work with clients and stakeholders outside your organization.

On the preview page, a dropdown menu is available in the top right corner that allows them to see the creative in various placements. They can switch from "Facebook desktop feed" to "Instagram story" to "Facebook Marketplace" to check the sizing and layout for each one. This makes the review process incredibly thorough and helps catch any formatting issues before the campaign goes live.

Advanced Tip: Share a Link for a Specific Placement

What if your client is only concerned with how the ad will look in Instagram Stories? You can send them a link that defaults directly to that specific placement.

The process is nearly identical to the one above, with one small addition.

1. Navigate to your ad and click the Preview button.
2. In the preview panel that appears, use the dropdown menu at the top to select the specific placement you want to share (e.g., "Instagram Stories").
3. The preview panel will update to show only that version of the ad.
4. Now, click the "Share" icon (the paper airplane).
5. Click "Share a link" and copy the URL.

When your recipient opens this link, the preview page will automatically show the Instagram Story creative first, saving them the step of finding it in the placements menu.

Troubleshooting & Common Questions

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Here are some common questions and issues you might run into when sharing ad previews.

Does the preview link expire?

Yes. Facebook advertises that preview links for unpublished, draft ads expire after 30 days. For published, active ads, the link often remains valid for much longer as it's pulling from the Ad Library. To be safe, if you're sharing a draft for review and it's near the 30-day mark, it's a good idea to generate a fresh link.

Can the recipient interact with the Call-to-Action (CTA) button?

Absolutely. The CTA button on the ad preview is fully functional. Clicking it will take the user to the destination URL you've configured in the ad's settings (your landing page, website, etc.). This makes it easy for reviewers to test the entire user path from ad to destination.

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Can you generate a preview for an unpublished ("dark") post?

Yes, and this is one of the most common and valuable use cases for the preview link feature. You can build an ad completely in Ads Manager without publishing it to your page's feed (creating a dark post) and then share that preview for approval before it ever goes live. All published, in-review, scheduled, and draft ads can be previewed this way.

What if the ad preview link isn't working?

If you or your client clicks the link and it shows an error like "This ad is not available," there are a few likely causes:

• The ad has been deleted: Once an ad is deleted from Ads Manager, the preview link will stop working.
• Your link has expired: In rare cases, the link might have expired before the ad has launched. In a case like this, generating a new 'share' link can save loads of heartache and time.
• It was heavily rejected: If Meta rejects an ad for violating policies, the preview link will break for security reasons. At a certain point, Meta gives you just two chances to get your creative right until they lock everything.

Final Thoughts

Switching from static screenshots to dynamic ad preview links is a small change that makes a big impact on your workflow. It streamlines the approval process, ensures every placement is reviewed correctly, and ultimately presents your work in a more professional and effective way.

Of course, getting your ads approved and launched is just stage one. Figuring out what works, which campaigns are profitable, and how to allocate your budget effectively across different platforms is the bigger challenge. To get a real sense of your marketing and sales performance, you often end up stitching together data from Facebook Ads, Google Ads, your Shopify store, and your CRM. We built Graphed to solve this by bringing all your data into one place. You can connect your marketing platforms with a few clicks and then use natural language to build real-time dashboards and reports, helping you see what's really driving growth without spending hours buried in spreadsheets.