How to Edit Many Ads at Once in Meta Ads Manager

When you run many ads, changing them one at a time is slow and easy to get wrong. Ads Manager gives you several ways to change a batch of saved or published items together. The Edit panel suits most jobs, export and import suits large changes you’d rather make in a spreadsheet, and a separate tool handles placements across many ad sets.

Which method should you use?

Method	Use it for	Where it starts
Edit side panel	Changing budget, optimization, creative and other settings on several items	Tick items, then Edit
Export and import	Large text or spreadsheet-style changes	More, then Export
Placement editor	Adding or removing placements on many ad sets	Edit dropdown, then Placements
Reporting table	Quick budget or schedule edits, applied immediately	Hover over a row

How do you use the Edit side panel?

1. Open Ads Manager.
2. Tick the campaigns, ad sets or ads you want to change.
3. Select Edit in the top left to open the right-hand panel.
4. Change budget, optimization, creative or other areas for all selected items.
5. Use Edit each campaign, Edit each ad set or Edit each ad for individual changes.
6. Select Publish when you’re ready.

You can also open the Edit dropdown to jump straight to the area you want to change.

How do you bulk edit with export and import?

1. Select Campaigns, Ad sets or Ads, then tick the items, or tick the top box to select all.
2. Click More, then Export, then Export selected.
3. Select Export as text and click Export.
4. Copy the text with Ctrl+C on Windows or Cmd+C on Mac, then click Close.
5. Make your changes to the copied text.
6. Select More, then Import ads in bulk, then Copy and paste.
7. Paste the text with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V and select Import.
8. Click Review and publish, tick the items to publish and click Publish.

Meta notes that field names in Ads Manager can differ from the column names in the import and export spreadsheet, and it publishes a guide to the differences.

How do you change placements on many ad sets?

1. Go to Meta Ads Manager on a computer and select Ad sets.
2. Tick each ad set you want to edit.
3. Open the Edit dropdown, scroll down and choose Placements.
4. Tick the ad sets again in the window that appears.
5. Select Actions, then Add placement, Remove placement or Switch to auto placements.
6. Make your changes and click Publish.

This only works when every selected ad set uses manual placements; Meta doesn’t support it for ad sets with placements with Advantage+ on.

FAQ

Can I save bulk edits without publishing them?

Yes, when editing items individually. In the window for editing each campaign, ad set or ad, Meta lets you select Save to draft or Publish. Saved drafts are published later, including when you make another edit to the same item in the reporting table.

What happens to earlier saved edits if I change a budget in the table?

Meta says any pending edits previously saved on the same item are published along with the table edit. You’ll see a notification that multiple updates will be published, listing the specific fields that will change.

Can I find specific items inside the Edit panel?

Yes. Meta says the panel lets you move between campaigns, ad sets and ads, tick the content you want to display and use the search bar. In the individual editing window, you can search by name and use Show all to filter.