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Troubleshooting guide for Meta/Facebook permission issues in Motion

There are a few common permissions issues with Meta <> Motion. Keep reading to solve for missing ads, broken previews, or limited access.

Ed Ilnicki avatar
Written by Ed Ilnicki
Updated yesterday

Common Symptoms

  • Some ads are visible, others return a page permissions needed error

  • Can’t change date ranges or edit reports

  • Motion seems to load inconsistently for different users or across different ad accounts

Root Causes

Here’s the TLDR of what might be blocking you:

  1. Missing page permissions — You might have ad account access, but not access to the Facebook page the ad is tied to.

  2. Motion not granted access — Even if you have access to the Page, Motion might not.

  3. Facebook profile not connected in Motion — Your Facebook account might not be linked to your Motion account yet.

🔧 Step-by-step fix

✅ Step 1: Connect your Facebook profile in Motion

Log in to Motion: Click the icon in the bottom left > Account settings > My connections

  • If you don’t see your Facebook profile connected, click Connect.

  • Follow the prompts and log in.

  • If you've recently updated your Two Factor Authentication (2FA), try disconnecting and reconnecting.
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✅ Step 2: Accept Meta invites (yes, sometimes they're hidden)

If your email has been invited to a Business Manager or Page, make sure you’ve:

  • Checked your email inbox and Meta notifications, and

  • Logged in to Meta Business Suite and accepted the invite.

If not accepted, Motion can’t validate your permissions—even if everything looks right.
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✅ Step 3: Opt into all pages (this one fixes a lot)

Still getting missing ads or page permission errors? Try this:

  1. In Motion, look for the Page permissions needed pop-up message

  2. Click Edit page permissions.

  3. In the new pop-up, click Edit previous settings

  4. Select “Opt into all current and future pages”

This gives Motion the needed access without you manually selecting pages every time you add a new one.

Privacy note: Motion only pulls data for pages with relevant ads.

✅ Step 4: Confirm you’ve got the right page permissions

Ask whoever manages your Meta Business Manager to:

  1. Go to Meta Business Settings

  2. Under Users > People, find your profile.

  3. Check that you have at least "View Performance" permission for the Pages in question.

  4. If that doesn’t work, try giving “Full Control” temporarily.
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✅ Step 5: Force a refresh (when in doubt, clear it out)

After making these changes, do a hard refresh:

  • Mac: Command + Shift + R

  • PC: Ctrl + Shift + R

This clears the cache and forces Motion to resync your permissions.

🧪 Still Not Working?

Here’s what to try next:

  • Check for multiple Facebook profiles: Make sure the profile connected to Motion is the one with permissions.

  • Ask your Meta admin to revoke + re-invite: This sometimes resets stuck permissions.

  • Contact Motion Support: Sometimes we just need to dig in together.

Bonus Fix: “Why can I see some ads but not others?”

This usually happens when:

  • You have partial access to some Pages, but not others.

  • Or you haven’t opted into all Pages during Facebook login.

Fix = Opt in to all pages and double-check you’ve been assigned access to the Page (not just the ad account).

TLDR cheat sheet

Problem

Likely Fix

Can’t see ads

Opt into all pages + check Page permissions

Can’t change date range

Connect (or reconnect) Facebook profile with ad account permissions

Random ad previews are missing

Force refresh (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + R)

Connected FB but still blocked

Accept Meta invite manually

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