There are a few common permission issues between Meta and Motion. This guide covers the most frequent causes, how to fix them step by step, what to know about Meta's current permission system, and what to do if you can't get Meta access at all.

Permission and data errors:

Missing content:

Connection issues:

Motion connects to Meta through each individual user's Facebook profile. When you connect your Facebook account under My Connections in Motion, you're essentially telling Meta's API: "This person is authorized to pull data from these ad accounts." If that connection is broken, expired, or has insufficient permissions, Motion can't access the data.

This is different from how some other tools work. Some tools authenticate through a single account owner, meaning everyone on the team inherits that owner's access. Motion instead requires each user to have their own authenticated connection. This is a security requirement from Meta's API, but it does mean that every person on your team who wants to see full report data needs to complete the setup individually.

Here are the possible issues blocking you:

This is the most common cause. You may have "View performance" access in Meta, which lets you see basic metrics inside Meta's own Ads Manager. But that's not enough for third-party tools like Motion. Motion connects through Meta's API, which requires a higher permission level called "Manage campaigns" (known as ads_management at the API level).

With only "View performance" access, Motion can pull limited data but will cap you at a 14-day window and block deeper creative reporting. This is the single most frequent issue the support team sees, and upgrading this one permission resolves it the vast majority of the time.

The Facebook profile you connected in Motion is different from the one that was granted access in Meta Business Manager. This is extremely common in agency settings and comes up in nearly every onboarding.

For example: your admin invites your work email ([email protected]) to the client's ad account in Meta. But when you open Motion and click "Connect with Meta," your browser is logged into your personal Facebook profile ([email protected]). Motion connects that personal profile, which has zero ad account access, and everything looks broken.

The rule is simple: the Facebook profile you connect in Motion must use the exact same email that was granted access in Meta Business Manager.

You have ad account access, but not access to the specific Facebook Page tied to certain ads. This is especially common with whitelisted/partnership ads (where the ad runs under a creator's or partner's Page), boosted posts, and multi-brand agencies managing many Pages under one Business Manager.

Without Page-level access, Motion may not be able to pull ad creative or preview data for campaigns associated with that Page, even if you can see the campaign performance numbers.

Even if your Meta permissions are correct, the connection between Motion and Facebook can break. This typically happens when:

When this happens, Motion can no longer pull fresh data until you disconnect and reconnect your Facebook profile in My Connections.

In Meta Business Manager, being added to the People section doesn't automatically grant ad account access. You also need to be explicitly assigned to the specific ad account(s) under the Ad Accounts section. If your admin only added you in one place, Motion will behave as though you have no access at all. If your agency manages multiple client ad accounts, each one needs to be assigned individually.

Every user needs to do this individually. One person connecting their profile does not cover the rest of the team.

This step resolves the vast majority of permission errors. You need more than "View performance" access for Motion to work properly.

Ask the Admin of your Meta Business Portfolio (formerly called Business Manager) to follow this exact path:

If ads are missing specifically for certain brands or identity handles:

This is separate from ad account access. A user can have full Manage campaigns access to an ad account but still see missing ads if they lack access to the Page those ads are associated with.

This step prevents you from having to manually reconnect every time a new Page is added to the business.

After permissions are updated in Meta, Motion doesn't pick up the changes instantly. Force a sync:

It may take a few minutes for all data to fully sync after a permission change. If data still isn't loading after 5 to 10 minutes, try the full reset: go to My Connections, disconnect your Facebook profile entirely, then reconnect it from scratch using the steps in Step 1. This forces a complete re-authentication and resolves most lingering token issues.

"I changed my Facebook password and everything broke"

This is expected behavior from Meta's security system. When you change your Facebook password, Meta automatically invalidates all third-party integration tokens. To fix it:

You don't need your Meta admin to re-grant permissions. Your existing ad account access is still intact in Meta; Motion just needs a fresh authentication token.

"My agency just merged Business Managers or consolidated accounts"

When businesses merge or restructure their Meta Business Portfolios, user permissions often don't transfer automatically. Each user's access to ad accounts and Pages may need to be re-granted under the new portfolio structure. This is a Meta-side issue, not a Motion issue, but it will surface in Motion as permission errors. Your admin should audit all user permissions under the new consolidated Business Portfolio.

"Our creative team needs access but we don't want to add them to Meta"

If you have team members (designers, creative strategists, etc.) who need to see Motion reports but you don't want to grant them Meta ad account access, you have a few options:

Option A: Guest Access (limited, 14-day view)

Invite them as a Guest in Motion. They'll be able to view reports as they are, but will be limited to a 14-day data window and can't change date ranges or add filters. Guests also can't access Inspo or Runneth. This works best for quick, view-only needs.

Option B: Partner Share Access (recommended for client-facing sharing)

Use Partner Share Access to share specific reports and boards with someone outside your organization. The partner creates their own free organization and can view live data, change metrics, filters, and date ranges, but can't save changes. Critically, partners do not need Meta ad account access. This is the best option for sharing campaign results with clients while keeping your ad account locked down.

Option C: Collaborator Access with Meta permissions

For internal team members who need the full experience (editing reports, using Runneth and Inspo), invite them as Collaborators and give them at least Partial Access with Manage campaigns in Meta. This is the most seamless experience but does require Meta access.

"A Meta bug is blocking our permissions"

In rare cases, the issue is on Meta's side. Permissions may be correctly configured in Meta's UI but Meta's API isn't recognizing them properly. If you've followed every step in this guide and are still stuck, reach out to support. The team can investigate whether the issue is a known Meta-side bug and, if needed, open a ticket with Meta on your behalf.

Run through this quick checklist before reaching out. Most of the time, the issue is one of these:

Reach out to Motion support by clicking the chat bubble in the bottom right of your screen, or email [email protected].

When contacting support, it helps to include: