How to See My Facebook Ads Live

You’ve hit ‘Publish’ on your Facebook ad, but now comes the real question: is it actually live and does it look the way you intended? It’s a common feeling, that tiny bit of uncertainty between a campaign going active and knowing for sure that everything is working. This guide cuts straight to the solution, showing you three definitive ways to see your Facebook ads exactly as your customers will, on both desktop and mobile.

Why You Need to See Your Live Ads

Checking your live ad goes beyond simply confirming its "Approved" status in Ads Manager. It’s an essential quality control step that allows you to see your ad through your audience’s eyes. Before pouring your budget into a campaign, you want to be positive that nothing is off.

• Catch Formatting Glitches: An ad can look perfect in the preview window but render poorly in the live environment. Text can get cut off, images can look compressed, and interactive elements might not work as expected. Seeing it live on different placements (like Feed vs. Stories) is the only way to be sure.
• Monitor Initial Engagement (Social Proof): As soon as an ad goes live, the first comments and reactions start rolling in. This initial engagement is powerful social proof. You’ll want to see it, reply to comments quickly, and hide any spam or negative feedback before it dissuades others.
• Verify Your Links and Landing Page: Are you 100% sure the link works and directs users to the correct landing page? A broken link or a page that doesn’t match the ad's offer is one of the fastest ways to waste ad spend. A live check is the final confirmation.
• Understand the User Experience: Ultimately, you want to experience the ad as a user would. Does the video auto-play with sound off? Is the call-to-action button clear? Does the whole funnel, from ad to landing page, feel smooth? A live view answers all of these questions.

Let's walk through the exact methods you can use to find and review your live ads without ever having to guess.

Method 1: The Go-To Preview in Facebook Ads Manager

The most direct and reliable way to view your live ad is from within the Facebook Ads Manager itself. Meta has built-in tools specifically for this purpose, allowing you to preview your ad across every placement and even send it to your phone.

Think of this as your command center. It offers the most control and the most detailed views of how your ad will appear everywhere.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to Your Ad: Open your Facebook Ads Manager. Click on the campaign and then the ad set that contains the ad you want to see. Finally, select the specific ad by ticking the checkbox next to it.
2. Open the Preview Pane: With your ad selected, look to the right-hand panel. You should see a preview of your ad. If it's not open, click the Preview button (it looks like a little eye icon) in the toolbar towards the top right.
3. Explore Your Preview Options: This is where the magic happens. You’ll see a dropdown menu that lets you view your ad in different placements. You can switch between seeing how it looks in the Facebook News Feed, Instagram Stories, Messenger Inbox, and dozens of other spots. This is extremely useful for making sure your vertical video looks right in Reels and your square image isn't awkwardly cropped in the Audience Network.

Within this preview tool, you have a couple of powerful options under the "Share" button:

• Share a Link: This generates a unique, shareable link to a preview of your ad. You can send this link to colleagues or clients for approval, or paste it into your own browser to see a dedicated preview page. It's important to note this is a preview version, not the *actual* live post with social proof.
• See Post > View on Facebook/Instagram: This option provides a direct permalink to the ad post itself. Clicking it will open a new tab showing the ad as a live, published post on the platform. This is the version where you can see real-time comments, likes, and shares. This is often an advertiser's best option.
• Send Notification to Facebook App: This is my personal favorite for checking the mobile experience. When you click this, it sends a push notification directly to the Facebook app on your phone. Tapping that notification takes you right to the ad in your mobile feed. It’s the single best way to confirm the mobile user experience is flawless.

Method 2: Use the Facebook Ad Library for Transparency

The Facebook Ad Library is a public database of all ads running across Meta's platforms. Originally created for transparency, it ended up being an incredibly powerful tool for marketers. You can use it to see all of your own active ads in one place - and snoop on your competitors' ads, too.

This method is fantastic if you want a quick, comprehensive look at everything your page is currently running without digging through Ads Manager.

How to Use the Ad Library:

1. Go to the Ad Library: Open your browser and navigate to facebook.com/ads/library.
2. Select Your Parameters: Set the location to where you are advertising (e.g., United States) and the ad category to "All Ads."
3. Search for Your Page: In the search bar, type in the name of your Facebook Page and select it from the list that appears.

Instantly, you’ll see every single ad that is currently active for that page. It shows you the creative, the copy, when the ad started running, and the platforms it's live on (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network).

Pro marketer Tip: Use Filters for a Better View

The Ad Library can get crowded if you're running a lot of ads. Use the "Filters" option to zero in on what you're looking for. You can filter by:

• Platform: See only your Instagram ads or Facebook ads.
• Media Type: Isolate your video ads, image ads, or carousel ads.
• Date: View ads that were active during a specific time frame.

While the Ad Library won't show you real-time engagement metrics like likes and comments, it's the fastest way to get a bird's-eye view of your entire ad account's live activity.

Method 3: Finding Your Ad from Your Facebook Page

This is a lesser-known but incredibly convenient method for finding your ads directly from your business's Facebook Page, and it gives you a clean, organized view.

This approach works well if you manage a single page and want a simple-to-find, shareable hub of your ad content.

Step-by-Step:

1. Navigate to Your Facebook Page: Go to the Facebook Page that you used to run the ads.
2. Find the "Page Transparency" Box: On the left-hand sidebar of your page, scroll down until you see a box labeled "Page Transparency."
3. Click "See All": In the Page Transparency section, click the "See All" hyperlink.
4. Go to the Ad Library: A pop-up will appear with information about your page. Near the bottom, you'll see a section called "Ads From This Page." Click the button that says "Go to Ad Library."

This will directly take you to your page's section in the Facebook Ad Library, showing you all of your active ads. It’s essentially a back-door entrance to Method 2 but can feel more intuitive for some users since it starts from the familiar interface of your business page.

Troubleshooting: "Why Can't I See My Ad?"

Sometimes you’ve tried every method and still can't find your ad. Don't panic! Here are the most common reasons why and what to do about them.

1. You Aren't in Your Target Audience

This is the number one reason you don't see your own ad organically in your newsfeed. Facebook's algorithm is designed to serve ads to the people you targeted - and unless you fit the demographic, interest, and behavior profiles perfectly, that probably isn't you. It’s actually a good thing! It means your budget is being spent on who you intended, not on yourself.

2. There's a Delay in the Ad Library

While usually fast, it can sometimes take up to 24 hours for a new ad to appear in the public Ad Library after it has been approved and gone active. If your ad just went live and you don't see it there, give it a few hours and check back.

3. Your Ad's Delivery Status Isn't "Active"

Go back to Ads Manager and double-check the "Delivery" column for your ad. If it says "In Review," "Processing," "Not Delivering," or "Learning," it's not being shown to its full potential yet. The "Learning" phase is normal and means Facebook is still optimizing, but any other status might indicate an issue with your budget, bid, or audience.

4. You Selected the Wrong Ad Preview on a Dark Post

Many Facebook ads are "dark posts," meaning they don't appear on your page's timeline. They only exist as ads. If you want to see a specific dark post ad with its likes and comments, make sure you use the "See Post" option in the Ads Manager preview (Method 1). Just using the general "Share a link" option will only show you a sterile preview without the essential social proof.

Final Thoughts

Finding your live Facebook ads is straightforward once you know where to look. Whether you use the detailed previews in Ads Manager, the public view of the Ad Library, or a push notification on your phone, you now have the tools to verify your creative, copy, and user experience with confidence. Consistently checking your live ads is a simple habit that prevents wasted spend and keeps your campaigns running smoothly.

Getting your paid ads right is one part of the equation, but managing your entire organic social presence - the content calendar, the daily community engagement, the analytics - can feel like a completely separate full-time job. That's why we created Postbase. We wanted a clean, modern platform to take the headache out of scheduling video-first content, managing all your comments and DMs in one inbox, and actually understanding your performance. It's designed to help you spend less time wrestling with clunky tools and more time creating great content, both paid and organic.