How to give ad account access for Instagram ads

Is this your situation?

The short answer

Before you start

• Professional account set up A professional account must already be set up on Instagram before connecting to a Meta ad account.Verify: Check that your account shows the professional dashboard.
• Current ad account type You can create and use an ad account without connecting it to an Instagram professional account.Verify: Check whether your ad account is already connected.
• Non-Meta ads still running Switching to a Meta ad account causes loss of access to ads from the non-Meta ad account.Verify: Check for active ads under the non-Meta ad account.

How Instagram handles this

• Connecting an Instagram professional account to a Meta ad account automatically saves the Facebook payment method to the Instagram professional account.
• Connecting also automatically saves the ad settings to the Instagram professional account.
• An ad account that is not connected to an Instagram professional account remains separate from that professional account.
• Once you switch from a non-Meta ad account to a Meta ad account, you cannot switch back to a non-Meta ad account.

Step by step

1. Confirm your professional account exists A professional account must already be set up on Instagram before connecting to a Meta ad account.Confirm: Check that the For professionals section appears in your settings.
2. Pause existing non-Meta ads Pause ads with the non-Meta ad account first to avoid losing access.Confirm: Check the non-Meta ad account for any remaining active ads.
3. Open Ads payments Tap Ads payments below the For professionals section.Confirm: Check that the Ads payments screen has opened.
4. Add a new payment method Tap Add new payment method with a Facebook account to connect to a Meta ad account.Confirm: Check for a list of available Facebook ad accounts.
5. Switch ad account if needed Tap Switch ad account to select a different Meta ad account than the one displayed.Confirm: Check that the intended ad account name is displayed.
6. Apply the ad account Tap Continue to apply the payment method and ad settings from the selected ad account.Confirm: Check that the screen moves to the ads setup.
7. Start creating ads After connecting, you can begin creating ads on Instagram.Confirm: Check for the option to create a new ad.
8. Review payment details per boost You have the option to confirm or change payment details each time you boost ads on Instagram.Confirm: Check the payment details shown before confirming a boost.
9. Connect to a different ad account later You can connect to a different ad account later by going to Settings and tapping Ad payments.Confirm: Check that the newly selected ad account is displayed.

Common mistakes

• Switching ad account types without pausing ads Switching to a Meta ad account makes you unable to pause active ads from the non-Meta ad account.Why it happens: The switch to a Meta ad account cannot be reversed.Already happened: You switched ad account types and now cannot pause the non-Meta ad account's active ads.
• Assuming an ad account is already linked An ad account not connected to an Instagram professional account remains separate from it.Why it happens: You can create and use an ad account without connecting it to an Instagram professional account.
• Expecting to connect without a professional account A professional account must already be set up on Instagram before connecting to a Meta ad account.Why it happens: The connection requires the professional account to exist first.

Roles at a glance

Keeping track of who has access