How to Edit Music on a Facebook Post

Ever posted a video or Story on Facebook only to realize the background music is completely wrong? Maybe the somber piano track doesn't quite match your high-energy product launch, or you used a trending audio clip that stopped being relevant an hour later. The urge to change it immediately is strong. This guide will walk you through exactly how to edit, change, or remove music from your Facebook content, covering the strict rules for feed posts and the much greater flexibility you have with Stories.

Understanding Why Facebook Post "Editing" Is Limited

Before we get into the step-by-step process, it's important to understand a core limitation with standard Facebook posts. Once a video post is published to your feed, you cannot directly swap out or edit the music. When you upload a video, Facebook processes and finalizes the file, permanently binding the audio and video tracks together.

Think of it like baking a cake. Once the ingredients are mixed and it comes out of the oven, you can't magically take the sugar out and replace it with something else. You'd have to bake a new cake. This is due to both the technical way videos are stored and complex music licensing agreements. Facebook needs to know precisely which track is attached to a video for royalty and rights purposes.

Because of this, the "edit" process for a published video is actually a "delete and re-upload" process. Don't worry, we'll cover exactly how to do this safely. Facebook Stories, on the other hand, are a different story entirely, offering much more room for quick changes.

How to "Edit" Music on a Published Facebook Video Post

So you’ve published a video to your main feed and the music is a disastrous choice. Your engagement is starting to build, but you just can't live with it. As we just learned, you can’t simply swap the audio. Here is the correct, though slightly painful, process to fix it.

Step 1: Save Your Original Content (and Text)

Before you do anything else, make sure you have the original video file and a copy of your post's caption. If you can't find the original video on your phone or computer, you can download a version of it from Facebook, but be aware the quality might not be as high.

• Navigate to your post on Facebook.
• Click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner of the post.
• Select "Save video" to download it to your device.
• Copy the text from your post's caption and paste it into a notes app for easy access later. Don't forget to grab those perfect hashtags you spent time researching!

Step 2: Delete the Old Post

This is the hardest step, emotionally and for your metrics, but it’s necessary. You will lose all of the likes, comments, and shares on the original post. There is no way around this.

• Click the three-dot menu icon on the post again.
• Select "Move to trash."
• Facebook will ask you to confirm. Proceed with deleting the post.

Now you have a clean slate to upload the corrected version.

Step 3: Upload Your New Post with the Right Music

Here’s your chance to get it right. You have a few options for adding music to your video that won’t get you in trouble for copyright infringement. Choosing music through Facebook’s official channels is always the safest bet.

Option A: Using the Facebook Sound Collection (Desktop)

Facebook’s Sound Collection provides thousands of royalty-free songs and sound effects that you can use in any video on the platform without worrying about licensing issues. This is the ideal choice for business pages creating polished video content.

1. Go to Facebook’s Creator Studio.
2. In the left-hand menu, click on Creative Tools, then select Sound Collection.
3. Browse or search the library for the perfect audio track. You can filter by genre, mood, tempo, and vocals.
4. Once you find a track you like, click the download arrow next to it.
5. Now, you'll need to use a simple video editing program (like CapCut, InShot on mobile, or iMovie/DaVinci Resolve on desktop) to add the downloaded audio file to your video.
6. Once you’ve paired your video with the new music, you’re ready to re-upload it to Facebook along with the caption text you saved earlier.

Option B: Adding Music Natively (Mobile App)

If you're uploading from your phone, the Facebook app has a built-in feature to add popular, licensed music directly to your videos. This is great for more informal, organic content.

1. Open the Facebook app and start creating a post by tapping into "What's on your mind?"
2. Choose "Photo/Video" and select your video from your phone's library.
3. In the post-creation screen, tap the "Edit" button on your video preview.
4. Tap the music note icon labeled "Music."
5. Here, you can search for a track from Facebook’s extensive library of commercial music.
6. Select a song. You can then drag the audio waveform at the bottom to choose the exact 15- to 60-second clip you want to feature. Make sure the snippet you select matches the pacing of your video.
7. Once you're happy, tap "Done," finish writing your caption, and hit "Post."

Editing Music on Facebook Stories: Quicker and Easier

Facebook Stories are designed to be immediate and ephemeral, which means they are far more forgiving to edit than feed posts. While you still can't edit a live Story slide, the process of deleting and replacing it is fast and has almost no negative impact.

How to Change Music on an Active Story

Let’s say you’ve posted a three-part story, and the music on the second slide is off. Here's how to fix just that one piece without affecting the rest of your story.

1. Open Facebook and tap on your Story to view it.
2. Navigate to the specific slide (photo or video) with the music you want to change.
3. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
4. Select "Delete Photo" or "Delete Video."
5. Now, simply re-create that one slide. Go through the normal process of creating a Story, add your photo or video, choose the correct music with the Music Sticker, and share it.

It will be added to the end of your current Story sequence, but since stories are watched in quick succession, most viewers will never notice the change.

Mastering the Story Music Sticker Before You Post

The best way to manage Story music is to get it perfect the first time. Here's a quick refresher on using the Music sticker to its full potential:

• Select Your Media: Start a Story and choose your photo or video.
• Find the Sticker: Tap the sticker icon (the smiley face square) and choose the "Music" sticker.
• Search for Music: Browse or search for your desired song.
• Customize the Clip: This is the most important step. Don't just accept the default portion of the song. Use the timeline slider at the bottom to scrub through the track and find the exact segment that fits the mood and action of your Story.
• Customize the Look: You can also tap the sticker itself to cycle through display options, like animated lyrics, small album art, or a simple song title. Choose what best fits your Story’s aesthetic.
• Share It: Once you love the sound and look, share it to your Story.

Troubleshooting Common Facebook Music Problems

Sometimes you run into issues that aren't about changing music, but accessing it in the first place. Here are solutions to a few common problems.

"Why can't I find popular songs in the music library?"

This is almost always due to using a Business Account. Facebook separates its music library to protect businesses from copyright lawsuits. While personal profiles have access to a massive library of pop music, business accounts are funneled towards the Royalty-Free Sound Collection. This is a deliberate protection, not a bug. If you need a commercial track for a business post, you legally must secure a license for it outside of Facebook.

"My video was muted or detected with copyrighted music."

Facebook uses an automated system called Content ID to scan for copyrighted material. If it flags music you don't have the rights to use, it may mute parts of your video or take it down entirely. The only ways to avoid this are to:

1. Use music from the Facebook Sound Collection.
2. Use the Music Sticker in Stories.
3. Use music for which you own a specific license and be prepared to prove it if a dispute arises.

"The music sticker is missing or not working."

This can happen for a few reasons. It may not be available in your region, there might be temporary restrictions on your account type, or it could simply be a glitch in the app. Try the classic troubleshooting steps: update your Facebook app, log out and back in again, or restart your phone.

Final Thoughts

While you can't hit a simple 'edit' button to change the music on a published Facebook video, you now have the clear steps to fix it by deleting and correctly re-uploading the post. For Stories, you have much more flexibility to quickly remove and re-add a slide, ensuring your content always has the right soundtrack to capture your audience's attention.

Getting your music right the first time often comes down to solid planning ahead of time. What we've learned firsthand building Postbase is that viewing your entire content strategy on a visual calendar makes all the difference. When you can lay out your posts for Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms in one clear view, you can finalize important details like music choices in advance. This kind of preparation means you can schedule with confidence, spending less time fixing mistakes and more time engaging with your community.