How to Remove "Published By" on a Facebook Page

Seeing Published by [App Name] under your Facebook Page’s post can be frustrating if you're aiming for a perfectly clean, native look. This tiny line of text tells your audience you're using a third-party scheduling tool, which for many brands, feels like pulling back the curtain a little too far. This guide will walk you through exactly why that label appears and the practical steps you can take to remove or avoid it, so you can maintain complete control over your brand's presentation.

What is the "Published by" Label and Why Is It There?

The "Published by..." label is a small, gray text attribution that appears directly below your Facebook Page’s name on a post. It indicates that the content was posted using an application other than Facebook’s own native tools (like Meta Business Suite). If you use a social media management platform like Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, or any of the hundreds of others that connect to Facebook's API, this tag is often automatically added to your posts.

But why does Facebook do this? It primarily comes down to transparency and diagnostics. For Facebook, it helps track how content is making its way onto the platform. It shows which third-party developers are contributing to the ecosystem and provides a data point if API-related issues arise. For the tool developers themselves, it can serve as a subtle form of marketing, reminding users (and their followers) of the platform they prefer.

For page managers, however, the reasons to dislike it are often more pressing:

• It can look less professional. Some brands believe the label makes their content feel automated or less authentic, interrupting the seamless native experience they want for their audience.
• Concerns about reach. A long-standing debate among social media managers is whether or not Facebook's algorithm slightly throttles the reach of posts published via third-party tools. While Meta has repeatedly stated this isn't the case and that content quality is what matters most, the perception persists and drives many to avoid the label just in case.
• Agency and client confidentiality. If you're a marketing agency managing accounts for clients, you may not want to advertise the specific software you use in your workflow. Removing the label helps maintain a layer of professional privacy.

The Ongoing Debate: Does This Little Label Actually Matter?

Before you overhaul your entire workflow, it's worth considering both sides of the argument. For years, marketers have gone back and forth on whether the "Published by" label puts a dent in performance. There isn't a universally agreed-upon answer, but here are the main arguments to help you decide how much it matters for your strategy.

The "Remove It At All Costs" Arguments

The primary driver for removing the label is the theory that it impacts organic reach. The thinking goes that Facebook prioritizes content created and shared directly on its platform. Proponents of this view argue that even a small, potential penalty to reach is not worth the convenience of a third-party tool, especially as organic reach becomes harder to achieve. While there’s no recent, conclusive data to prove widespread throttling, some social media managers swear they see a difference in performance between native and third-party posts.

Beyond the algorithm, the argument for aesthetics and brand perception holds strong. A clean post looks more organic and handcrafted. For brands that thrive on authenticity and a personal connection with their audience, signaling that a post was scheduled by software can create a subtle-yet-unwanted distance. In their view, every detail - down to a single line of gray text - contributes to the overall brand experience.

The "It Doesn't Really Matter" Realities

On the other side of the debate is a simple, powerful argument: quality content is king. Officially, Meta's stance is that a post's performance is determined by its relevance and engagement, not its origin. A fantastic video, a compelling question, or a beautiful image that generates comments, shares, and reactions will perform well regardless of whether it was posted with Sprout Social or natively in the Business Suite. Conversely, a dull, uninspired post won't magically perform better just because it was published natively.

Managers in this camp argue that the time and effort spent on manual workarounds to remove a tiny label would be far better invested in creating higher-quality content, planning a more effective strategy, analyzing performance data, or engaging directly with commenters. They believe the minuscule (if any) gain from removing the label is not worth sacrificing the enormous efficiency gains from using a high-quality social media management tool - like scheduling posts across multiple platforms at once, managing all comments in one inbox, and reviewing unified analytics.

So, what's a page manager to do? If the label genuinely bothers you or your clients, or if you simply want to test the theory for yourself, then it’s worth learning the methods to remove it. You know your audience and brand best.

4 Methods to Remove or Avoid the "Published By" Label

Unfortunately, there is no magic "off switch" within most scheduling tools to disable this feature. Because it's managed by Meta's API, the label's appearance is largely out of your (and your tool's) hands. However, there are several reliable methods and workarounds you can use to get the job done.

Method 1: Post Natively with Meta Business Suite

This is the simplest and most guaranteed way to ensure the “Published by” label never appears. By using Facebook's own tools, you are, by definition, posting natively. Meta Business Suite has evolved into a powerful scheduling tool that allows you to plan and publish content for both Facebook and Instagram from one dashboard.

How to Schedule Natively in Meta Business Suite:

1. Navigate to Meta Business Suite at business.facebook.com and select your Page.
2. From the left-hand menu, click on "Planner" or "Content." The Planner will give you a calendar view, while the Content tab shows a list of your published and scheduled posts.
3. Click the "Create post" button, typically in the top-right corner.
4. In the post composer, select the placement (e.g., Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed).
5. Craft your post: add your text, images, videos, and links. You can customize the content for each platform.
6. Instead of clicking "Publish," click the dropdown arrow next to it and select "Schedule."
7. Choose your desired date and time for the post to go live and click "Schedule."

Pros: 100% effective at preventing the label. Gives you access to all of Facebook's latest features immediately (like specific sticker types or music). It's completely free to use.
Cons: It significantly increases your workload if you manage multiple platforms beyond Facebook and Instagram. You're constantly switching tabs and manually reposting content, which defeats the purpose of a centralized management tool.

Method 2: Use the "Post-and-Edit" Workaround

This is a classic - if slightly tedious - trick that has worked for years. The "Published by" label is often tied to the initial publication event. By making a small edit to the post immediately after it goes live, you can often remove the label.

Step-by-Step for the Post-and-Edit Trick:

1. Schedule and publish your post as you normally would using your favorite third-party tool.
2. As soon as the post is live, navigate to your Facebook Page and find it on your timeline.
3. Click the three-dot menu (...) in the top-right corner of the post.
4. Select "Edit post."
5. Make a minuscule, non-obvious change to the text. A common trick is to add a space at the end of a sentence and then immediately delete it, or fix a phantom typo.
6. Click "Save." Check the post again. In most cases, the "Published by" label will have vanished.

Pros: Effective and doesn't require you to change your primary scheduling tool. It's a quick fix for a single, important post.
Cons: This is a completely manual process. It's not scalable for teams that publish dozens of posts a week. There is a small window after publishing when your audience might see the label before you've had a chance to edit it.

Method 3: Leverage Tools with "Push Notification" Reminders

Some types of content, particularly on Instagram (like Reels or Stories with interactive elements), are not fully supported by third-party APIs for direct publishing. To solve this, some management tools use a semi-automated "push notification" workflow.

Here’s how it works: You prepare the post (media and caption) in your scheduling tool. At the scheduled time, instead of posting automatically, the tool sends a push notification to your phone. Tapping the notification opens the native app (e.g., Instagram or Facebook) with your media and caption pre-loaded. All you need to do is make any final tweaks (like adding a trending audio or sticker) and hit the "Publish" button yourself.

Because the final publishing action happens inside the native app, the post is considered native, and no "Published by" label appears.

Pros: Avoids the label while still allowing you to plan your content calendar in one place. It ensures you can use all native features, which is particularly important for Reels and Stories.
Cons: It isn’t true, hands-off automation. You still need to be available at the scheduled time to complete the post, which can be an issue for out-of-hours or weekend content.

Method 4: Embrace the Label and Focus Elsewhere

This last method isn't a technical fix but a strategic one. After weighing the pros and cons, many experienced social media managers decide the potential negative impact of the label is negligible compared to the time lost on manual workarounds. They choose to accept the label and redirect their energy toward what truly drives results: creating consistently excellent content, engaging with their community, and honing their overall social media strategy.

By streamlining your workflow with a reliable third-party tool, you gain back hours every week. Those hours can be reinvested into brainstorming better creative concepts, analyzing performance reports to see what resonates, and fostering conversations in the comments - activities that have a much higher impact on your growth than removing a small bit of text does.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, removing the "Published by" label from your Facebook Page posts is a matter of personal preference and brand strategy. You can absolutely achieve a clean look by posting natively through Meta Business Suite or by diligently using manual workarounds, but it's equally valid to conclude that your time is better spent concentrating on your content and community.

At the end of the day, social media success comes from consistency and connection. Our goal in building Postbase was to eliminate the technical headaches we faced as marketers so more time could be spent on what really matters. We focused on making scheduling across all platforms - especially for video formats like Reels and Shorts - feel effortless and reliable. When your tool just works, you can finally stop wasting mental energy on workarounds and focus on building your brand organically.