How to Find a Facebook App ID

Trying to connect your website or a new marketing tool to Facebook often leads to a quick scavenger hunt for one tiny, but mighty, piece of information: your Facebook App ID. This unique number is the digital handshake between your property and Facebook's vast ecosystem. This guide will show you exactly where to find your App ID, what to do if you don't own the app in question, and how to fix common problems along the way.

What is a Facebook App ID Anyway?

Think of a Facebook App ID as a unique license plate for any application that interacts with Facebook's platform. When you create an "app" inside Meta's developer dashboard, it assigns a specific string of numbers to it. This ID allows Facebook to recognize and trust requests coming from your website, mobile app, or third-party service. It tells Facebook, "Hey, this is a legitimate operation with permission to be here."

You’ll often need this ID for a variety of tasks that are vital for modern marketing and website functionality. It’s not just a developer tool, it's a common requirement for marketers, business owners, and content creators.

Here’s a snapshot of why you might need one:

• Setting up Social Logins: If you want to let users log into your website or app using their Facebook profile, you need an App ID to configure the Facebook Login feature.
• Using Social Plugins: Essential plugins like the "Like" button, "Share" button, embedded comment sections, or page plugins all require an App ID to function correctly on your website.
• Integrating a Third-Party Tool: Many social media management tools, analytics platforms, contest apps, and website builders need your App ID to connect to your Facebook page or profile and pull data or publish content on your behalf.
• Implementing the Facebook SDK: For more advanced integrations, like tracking app events for advertising (Conversions API) or enabling in-app sharing on a mobile device, the Software Development Kit (SDK) uses the App ID as its starting point.
• Verifying Your Domain: Verifying your domain with Facebook Business Manager is now a standard practice for running ad campaigns, and it frequently involves using an App ID.

Essentially, any time you want to create a seamless bridge between your own platform and Facebook's, the App ID is the first thing you'll need.

How to Find a Facebook App ID for an App You Own

If you're an admin or developer for the app, finding the ID is a simple process. The App ID is always displayed prominently within your Meta for Developers dashboard. Follow these steps, and you’ll have your number in less than a minute.

Step-by-Step Guide to Your App ID

1. Go to the Meta for Developers Website

Open your browser and navigate to developers.facebook.com. If you aren't already logged in, you'll be prompted to do so. It is very important that you log in with the specific Facebook account that has been granted admin or developer rights for the app you're looking for. If you're logged into the wrong account, you won't see your app listed.

2. Access Your Apps

In the top-right corner of the navigation bar, you’ll see an option labelled “My Apps.” Click on it. This will take you to a dashboard showing all the applications associated with your account.

3. Locate Your App ID on the Dashboard

The “My Apps” page displays each of your apps as a separate card. You don’t even need to click further. Your Facebook App ID is the long number located directly beneath the name of your app on its card. It's right there for a quick copy-and-paste.

For example, you might see:

My Awesome Website App
App ID: 123456789012345

4. Get a Detailed View (Optional)

If you prefer, you can click on the app card to open its dedicated dashboard. The page you land on by default is typically the main dashboard for that specific app. At the very top of this page, in the header, you will see your App ID listed clearly. This is a great place to copy it from, as you can be certain you're grabbing the right one.

And that’s it! With the ID copied to your clipboard, you’re ready to paste it into your website’s plugin, your marketing software, or wherever else it's required.

Finding an App ID for a Website You Don't Own

Sometimes you need to find an App ID for a site that isn't yours. You might be a marketer analyzing a competitor's integrations, a developer troubleshooting a plugin, or simply curious about how a particular site is set up. As long as the website has correctly implemented its Facebook tools, you can often find the App ID hiding in plain sight within the site's source code.

Both methods below look for the same piece of code, they just use different browser tools to find it.

Method 1: Viewing the Page Source

This is the quickest and easiest way to check for a public App ID.

1. Navigate to the homepage of the website you want to inspect.
2. Right-click anywhere on the blank space of the page (not on an image).
3. From the context menu, select "View Page Source." This keyboard shortcut for this is usually Ctrl+U on Windows or Cmd+Option+U on a Mac.
4. A new browser tab will open, showing you the website's raw HTML. It might look intimidating, but you don’t need to read it.
5. Press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to open the find/search box.
6. In the search box, type in fb:app_id and hit Enter.

The browser will highlight any instances of that text. You are looking for a meta tag that looks something like this:

<,meta property="fb:app_id" content="1234567890123456" />,

The long string of numbers inside the `content=""` attribute is the site's publicly available Facebook App ID.

Method 2: Using Browser Developer Tools

This method accomplishes the same thing but uses your browser's "Inspect" tool, which can be helpful if a site has very complex code.

1. Visit the website in question.
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and choose "Inspect" from the menu.
3. The developer tools console will open, usually on the side or bottom of your screen. Make sure you're on the "Elements" tab.
4. In this panel, press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to open the internal search bar for the code viewer.
5. Once again, type fb:app_id and press Enter.
6. The tool will highlight the meta tag in the HTML, and you can grab the App ID from the `content` attribute just like in the previous method.

Frequently Encountered Issues and Quick Fixes

Finding your App ID is usually straightforward, but a few common roadblocks can pop up. Here’s what to do if you get stuck.

Problem: "I logged into the developer site, but I don't see any apps listed under 'My Apps'."

Solution: The most common reason for this is being logged into the wrong Facebook account. The 'My Apps' dashboard only shows apps connected to the profile you are currently logged in with. Log out and log back in, this time making sure to use the credentials for the specific profile that is listed as an admin for the app. If you're part of a company, it might be tied to a manager's account or a central business profile.

Problem: "I'm not an admin for the app. How can I get access?"

Solution: You cannot access an app’s dashboard unless an existing administrator adds you. You will need to contact a current admin and ask them to add your Facebook profile as an Admin, Developer, or Tester under the 'Roles' section of that app's dashboard. Once they add you and you accept the request, the app will appear in your 'My Apps' section.

Problem: "I searched the source code of a website, but there is no `fb:app_id` tag."

Solution: This simply means the website owner hasn't included that specific Open Graph meta tag. While it's a best practice for many integrations (like the Comments plugin), it isn't strictly required for every Facebook function. The site might be using Facebook's SDK in another way that initializes with the ID via JavaScript, making it harder to find, or they might not be using any Facebook integrations that require a public-facing ID at all.

Problem: "I have the ID, but the tool I’m connecting says it's invalid."

Solution: First, double-check that you copied the number perfectly, with no leading or trailing spaces. If that doesn't fix it, head to your app's dashboard at Meta for Developers. Look for the app's status at the top of the page. It will either be "Live" or "In Development." Many third-party tools and plugins require an app to be switched to "Live" mode before their API can successfully connect to it. If it's "In Development," you'll see a toggle to switch it to Live.

What If You Don't Have an App ID Yet?

If you're reading this because a plugin or a new marketing platform asked for your App ID and you realized you’ve never made one, don't worry. Creating a new app is quick, easy, and free.

1. Head back to developers.facebook.com/apps/.
2. Click the green "Create App" button.
3. You’ll be asked to select an app type. For most website or third-party tool integrations, "Business" is the right choice.
4. Give your app a name - something simple and descriptive like "[Your Website's Name] App" is perfect - and provide your contact email address.
5. Click "Create App," and you're done! You'll be taken straight to your new app's dashboard, where your brand-new App ID will be waiting for you at the top of the screen.

Now you have a unique ID that you can use to power social logins, enable plugins, connect tools, and start properly integrating your assets with the Facebook platform.

Final Thoughts

Finding your Facebook App ID is a simple process once you know exactly where to look. Whether you're grabbing it directly from your Meta Developer dashboard or searching for it in a website's source code, you now have the steps to find it efficiently and handle the common hiccups that might come up along the way.

Speaking of cutting down on hiccups, we often see marketers and brands get stuck on small technical hurdles when their real goal is just to plan and schedule great content. We built Postbase to streamline social media management, so you can spend less time hunting for numbers and troubleshooting integrations and more time executing your strategy. Our platform is built to handle video content natively and keep your accounts reliably connected, taking the frustration out of planning and publishing your content.