How to See How Many Views on a Facebook Video

Trying to figure out who - and how many people - watched your latest Facebook video can feel like a guessing game. You hit publish, see the likes and comments roll in, but the real measure of success is often tucked away in the view count. This guide will show you exactly where to find your video view counts across personal pages, business pages, and groups, and help you understand what those numbers actually mean for your content strategy.

First Things First: What Does Facebook Count as a "View"?

Before you start tracking your numbers, it helps to know what Facebook is actually counting. For years, the platform has maintained a fairly consistent (and sometimes controversial) definition of a video view. Understanding this distinction is the first step toward analyzing your performance accurately.

There are two primary "view" metrics you'll see:

• Video Views (3-Second): This is the most basic metric you see publicly displayed right under your video. A "view" is officially counted if a user watches your video for at least three seconds. This includes views that happen with the sound off as someone scrolls through their feed. While it's good for a quick pulse check on initial reach, a three-second view doesn't necessarily mean someone was deeply engaged with your message.
• 1-Minute Video Views: This is a far more valuable metric hiding inside your analytics. As the name suggests, it counts how many people watched your video for at least one full minute. For any content longer than a minute, this number tells you who was genuinely interested and stuck around. When you're evaluating a video's success, this is often a go-to metric.

Now that you know the difference, let's find those numbers.

How to See Views on a Personal Facebook Profile

For videos you post to your personal timeline, Facebook keeps things simple. You won't find deep analytics like audience retention graphs here, but you can easily see the primary view count.

On a Desktop Computer:

1. Navigate to your personal Facebook profile by clicking your name in the top left or right corner.
2. Scroll down your timeline to find the video you want to check.
3. Right below the video player, next to the likes and comments, you'll see the total view count. It's typically displayed as "1.2K views" or similar.

On the Facebook Mobile App (iOS & Android):

1. Open the Facebook app and tap on your profile picture in the navigation menu to go to your profile.
2. Find the video post on your timeline.
3. Similar to the desktop view, the total number of views will be displayed directly under the video, usually in the bottom-left corner of the post.

This public-facing number is your 3-second view count. It gives you a quick snapshot of how many people at least paused for a moment to watch a bit of your content.

How to See Views on a Facebook Business Page

If you're managing a brand, a business, or a creator page, this is where the real data lives. Business pages offer a rich set of analytics through Meta Business Suite that go far beyond a simple view count. This is where you can truly understand how your audience interacts with your videos.

Step 1: The Quick View on the Page

Just like on a personal profile, you can find the basic 3-second view count directly on the video post itself, whether viewing it on desktop or mobile. It gives you an immediate indication of the video's initial reach.

But to go deeper, you need to head into Meta Business Suite.

Step 2: Diving into Meta Business Suite for Detailed Analytics

Meta Business Suite (which replaced Facebook Business Manager and Creator Studio for most page owners) is your command center for content insights. Here's how to find your detailed video analytics:

1. Go to business.facebook.com and select the correct account if you manage more than one.
2. From the left-hand navigation menu, click on "Content." This will show you a feed of all the content you've published to your Facebook page and connected Instagram account.
3. You can use the filters at the top to select "Post type" and choose "Video" to see only your video content. This makes it much easier to sift through photos, links, and text posts.
4. Find the video you want to analyze in the list and click on it. Alternatively, click the three dots next to the video and select "View insights."

This will open up a detailed dashboard specific to that single video, giving you access to performance data you can't see anywhere else.

Key Video Metrics to Look For in Business Suite

Once you're in the insights dashboard for a video, you'll see a lot of data. Here are the most important metrics to focus on to understand your video's performance:

• Reach: This tells you the number of unique people who saw your video in their feed. It's different from views and impressions, which can count multiple interactions from the same person.
• Impressions: The total number of times your video has been displayed on the screen. If one person saw your video three times, that counts as 1 reach and 3 impressions.
• Minutes Viewed: This is the total cumulative amount of time people have spent watching your video. It's a great high-level indicator of overall engagement.
• 1-Minute Video Views: As mentioned earlier, this is a stronger indicator of engagement. A high number here means your video was compelling enough to hold viewers' attention past the initial few seconds.
• Average Watch Time: This tells you the average length of a single viewing session. If your video is 5 minutes long and the average watch time is 0:45, it means people are dropping off relatively early. If it's 2:30, you're hitting the mark. This is immensely helpful for figuring out if your intro is working or if your content is getting straight to the point.
• Audience Retention: This is arguably the most powerful tool in your video analytics toolbox. Audience Retention is shown as a graph that visualizes exactly where your viewers are dropping off. You can pinpoint the exact second people lost interest. Look for sharp dips! A big drop in the first five seconds might mean your hook isn't strong enough. A dip in the middle could indicate a boring segment. Studying this graph helps you make better-edited, more engaging videos next time.

How to See Views on Videos in a Facebook Group

Checking video views in a Facebook Group you manage works a little differently. The tools aren't quite as robust as a Business Page, but you still get more insight than a personal profile.

1. Go to the group you manage.
2. Find the video post within the group feed.
3. Click on the view count located directly underneath the video player.

For Groups with over 50 members, admins may have access to a simplified insights report for videos. Clicking on the view count often brings up a small popup that shows:

• The number of 3-second views.
• A list of people who have viewed it (privacy settings allowing).
• Sometimes, it will also show trends or top contributors in the group.

If your group has Group Insights enabled, you may be able to see more generalized data about video performance under the "Engagement" tab in your admin tools. This will show you the posts with the most engagement, including popular videos, but it won't give you the deep retention data you find in Meta Business Suite.

What About Facebook Reels?

Facebook Reels are treated as a separate content format from standard in-feed videos, and their visibility is primarily driven by an algorithmic discovery engine rather than your immediate followers. Therefore, their analytics are tracked separately.

To see views on a Reel posted from your Facebook Page, you'll again use Meta Business Suite:

1. Go to the "Content" tab.
2. Select the "Reels" filter.
3. Click on an individual Reel to see its performance.

The metrics for Reels are more streamlined and focus on Plays (equivalent to views), Reach, Likes, Comments, and Shares. Because Reels are short-form content by nature, you won't find the same deep-dive "Average Watch Time" or "Audience Retention" graphs as you would for longer videos.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to find your Facebook video views is an essential step in improving your content. Whether it's a quick glance at your personal profile or a deep analysis inside Meta Business Suite, this data tells you what resonates with your audience, where they lose interest, and how to create more engaging videos in the future.

It can get overwhelming jumping between platforms to monitor your video performance, especially when you're also managing content for Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. We found that process really frustrating, so we built our analytics dashboard in Postbase to put everything in one clean, easy-to-read view. It helps you quickly spot what's working on every platform, so you spend less time digging for numbers and more time creating great videos.