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How to export Meta Ads Manager data for an audit

An audit can only check what is in your export. If the file has one total row per campaign, you cannot see which ad wasted money or which creative is getting tired. If it has one row per ad per day, with the right columns, that one file can answer most questions about your account.

This guide covers what to pick in Ads Manager, how to save the file and the mistakes that make an export useless. It takes about five minutes.

Pick the right level: the Ads tab

Ads Manager has three tabs: Campaigns, Ad sets and Ads. Export from the Ads tab. Each row is then one ad, and each row still includes its Campaign name and Ad set name. That means you can add the file up to ad set or campaign level later. A campaign-level export cannot be split back into ads.

If you export from the Campaigns tab, some things become invisible. You cannot see which ad inside a campaign is spending with no results, which ad sets have too few live creatives, or whether the same creative is running in several places.

Clear all filters before you export. A filter such as active ads only hides ads that spent money earlier in the month and were then paused. Wasted spend often sits in those ads. Keep every ad that delivered in the period, and add the Delivery status column so you can see which ads are still running.

Set the date range and the Day breakdown

Set the date range to the last 30 days. That gives you enough time to compare an ad's early and late performance, and it still reflects what is running now.

Then add a time breakdown: choose Breakdown, then By time, then Day. Each ad now appears once for each day it delivered. For example, an ad that ran on 20 of the 30 days gives you 20 rows, not one.

You need the Day breakdown to spot creative fatigue. A fatigue check compares an ad's first 7 days of delivery with its last 7 days. Without a Day column, each ad has only one number for the whole month, so there is nothing to compare.

  1. Open Ads Manager and click the Ads tab.
  2. Open the date picker and choose the last 30 days.
  3. Click Breakdown, then By time, then Day.
  4. Check that a Day column now shows in the table.

Choose the columns

Open the Columns menu and either pick a preset that includes purchases or build your own set. The names below are Ads Manager's own English column names. Keep them exactly as Ads Manager writes them, and do not rename them in the file afterwards.

For video ads, add 3-second video plays and ThruPlays. These give you hook rate (3-second video plays divided by Impressions) and hold rate (ThruPlays divided by 3-second video plays). For example, 2,000 three-second plays from 10,000 impressions is a hook rate of 20%.

If you also want to see which placements are using up your budget, make a second export with Breakdown, By delivery, Placement. Use the same columns and date range.

Export and check the file

When the table looks right, click Export table data and save as .csv or .xlsx. Either format works.

Open the file once to check it. A good first row looks like this: Campaign name, Ad set name, Ad name, Day, Amount spent (INR), Impressions, Reach, Link clicks, Results, Result type. Your currency shows in brackets after Amount spent.

Then close the file without saving. If you save a .csv over itself in Excel or Google Sheets, dates and numbers can be reformatted. If you want to work on the data, save a copy and keep the original untouched.

  1. Click Export table data.
  2. Choose .csv or .xlsx.
  3. Give the file a clear name, for example brand-ads-last-30-days.csv.
  4. Open it, check the first row, then close it without saving.

Mistakes that make an export useless

Most broken exports fail in one of the ways below. Check your file against this list before you upload it anywhere.

Get a free score from your export

Once the file is right, you can upload it to our free Ads Audit at the free Ads Audit. Upload the .csv or .xlsx (English column names, up to 20 MB). In about a minute you get a score out of 100 and your three biggest issues. You do not log in to your ad account. The file is stored encrypted, never used to train AI models and deleted 30 days after upload.

It runs eight checks: wasted spend, what to pause, what to scale, creative fatigue, budget moves, structure, hook and hold rate, and placements. Its thresholds are our audit's own rules of thumb, set by us for this tool, not targets that fit every account. For example, it flags a hook rate under 25% and a hold rate under 15%, and it only judges video ads with at least 1,000 impressions.

Questions

Can I export from the Campaigns or Ad sets tab instead?

You can, but you lose ad-level detail. An export from the Ads tab allows the most checks, and you can always add it up to ad set or campaign level later.

Should I save as .csv or .xlsx?

Either works. Pick one, and do not resave the file in a spreadsheet before you upload it.

My file is over 20 MB. What should I do?

Remove any extra columns that are not on the list above, then export again. The Ads tab, the Day breakdown and the last 30 days matter more than extra columns.

Do I need the Placement breakdown in the same file?

No. Keep your main file on Breakdown, By time, Day. If you want placement data, export it as a separate file with Breakdown, By delivery, Placement.

Once your export is right, that one file can answer most questions about your account. When it is ready, get a free score from your own export at the free Ads Audit.

Get your free score

Written by Monastic Media, Surat. The thresholds above are our audit's rules of thumb, not industry standards.