What a restriction means
A restriction limits what you can do with ads. Meta says it can cap how much you spend each day, remove some payment or ad features, or stop you advertising at all. It can land on four things. Your business portfolio, your ad account, your Page or the personal profile of the person running ads. The level matters. A restricted ad account has its ads switched off. A restricted profile blocks that person, and ad accounts where they are the only user may be disabled too.
Why Meta restricts ad accounts
Meta lists five main reasons. The first is breaking its Community Standards, Advertising Standards, Commerce Policies or other terms. The second is a suspected hack of your business portfolio or assets. The third is not meeting its two-factor authentication rules. The fourth is when Meta wants to be sure you follow its policies, so it limits spending or billing for a while. The fifth is unusual payment or account activity, or high rates of failed or disputed payments. For an Indian store, that could be a bounced card, or an ad that makes a bold health claim.
Find out what went wrong
Meta sends you to Business Support Home. Open it on a computer and look at your account overview. Click the restricted account, then read the section called What you can do. Meta may ask you to confirm your identity, complete verification, secure your account or request a review. Do the steps it asks for, in order. If a call or email claims to be from Meta, check it there too. Meta says the account overview can confirm whether such messages are real.
Requesting a review
- Make sure you are an admin on the restricted account.
- Fix the cause first, such as an ad that broke a policy or a failed payment.
- In Business Support Home, select Account status overview in the left menu.
- Select the restricted account.
- Under What you can do, select Request review and complete the steps on screen.
- Once the account is back, turn your ads on again in Ads Manager, because they do not restart on their own.
If a failed payment caused it
A failed payment pauses your ads and disables the ad account until you pay what is due. Meta also notes that advertisers in India may not be able to use Pay now or Add funds once the account is disabled. Check the card before you try again. Meta says it must be enabled for online payments and have a CVV. It must also be linked to a phone you can use for the OTP. American Express cards are not supported in India. Add a backup payment method so one declined card does not stop your sale week.
What not to do
Do not rush a review before you fix the cause. Meta allows only a limited number, and a finished review is final. Do not sit on it either. Meta says an ad account disabled for a policy breach that stays ineligible for six months cannot be reinstated, and unused prepaid funds may be lost. Do not share your login with a helper, and do not pay anyone who calls promising a quick fix. Use Business Support Home and Meta's own chat.
Preventing the next one
Read Meta's Advertising Standards before each new campaign, and keep claims to what you can prove. Keep a healthy payment method with a backup. Turn on two-factor authentication for everyone in your business portfolio. Meta says it may restrict ad access or remove a payment method when it is not on. Once ads run again, check that your pixel still fires. On The Storemate you add your Meta Pixel ID in the tracking settings, and it loads only after a shopper accepts marketing cookies.