How do I use breakdowns in Ads Manager?
In Ads Manager, open Campaigns, Ad sets or Ads and select what you want to view. Click Breakdown, found between Columns and Reports, then pick an option under By time, By delivery or By action. The table updates to split your results, for example by age, placement, platform or device.
A campaign total tells you how an ad did overall; a breakdown tells you where and for whom it did it. Breakdowns split the rows of your Ads Manager table so you can see, for instance, how results differ by age, by placement or by the device people used. Columns decide which numbers you see, and breakdowns decide how those numbers are sliced.
How do you apply a breakdown?
- Go to Ads Manager.
- Click Campaigns, Ad sets or Ads, and select the items you want to view.
- Click Breakdown; the dropdown sits between Columns and Reports.
- Choose a group: By time, By delivery or By action.
- Pick the breakdown you want.
The table updates automatically to include the breakdown you chose.
What does each group of breakdowns cover?
| Group | What it splits results by | Examples Meta gives |
|---|---|---|
| By time | Time intervals | Day or month |
| By delivery | Common delivery dimensions | Age and gender, platform, placement, device |
| By action | The action taken as a result of the ad | Conversion device, video view type |
| By object (Ads Reporting) | The ad | Creative results per ad |
Which breakdowns work for offsite conversions?
For conversions that happen off Meta, such as on your website, Meta supports these breakdowns under By delivery:
- Age
- Gender
- Age and gender
- Country
- Impression device
- Platform
- Platform and device
- Placement
How do you check placement results under Advantage+?
Meta recommends Advantage+ placements, which let the delivery system share an ad set’s budget across placements based on performance. To see where results came from:
- Apply the Platform breakdown to see Facebook versus Instagram.
- Apply Platform and device to add the device people were using.
- Apply Placement to see the placement where each ad was shown.
- Apply Placement and device for both at once.
Meta says the values in these four breakdowns are estimated.
FAQ
Why might breakdown numbers be modeled?
Meta says statistical modeling may be used in breakdowns to give more complete measurement when conversion data is missing or partial. So a breakdown can include modeled conversions rather than only conversions observed directly.
Can I use breakdowns in Ads Reporting too?
Yes. Ads Reporting offers breakdowns by object, by time, by delivery and by action, so you can analyze creative performance by specific cuts. You add them when you build or edit a custom report, alongside metrics, filters and attribution windows.
Are platform and placement figures exact?
No. Meta says the values for the platform, platform and device, placement, and placement and device breakdowns are estimated. Meta still recommends these breakdowns as the way to see how ads using Advantage+ placements perform by platform, device and placement.
Sources
- Navigate to breakdowns in Meta Ads Manager to understand ad performance (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- View ad results by platform, device and placement in Meta Ads Manager (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Specifications for breakdowns in Meta Ads Reporting (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Create reports in Meta Ads Reporting (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
Drafted with AI and checked claim by claim against the pages linked under Sources. Found a mistake? Tell us via the corrections policy.