Why are my conversions not showing in Ads Manager?
Ads Manager only shows conversions Meta can attribute to someone who was shown your ad, after removing duplicates. A dash means the metric doesn't apply to the ad or date range, and a zero means it applies but nothing was recorded. Common documented reasons are metric delays, a date range that misses delivery, custom events and attribution windows.
Missing conversions fall into two groups. Some never reached Meta, which is a tracking problem you fix in Events Manager. Others reached Meta but don’t qualify for Ads Manager, because Ads Manager counts only events it can attribute to your ads. Start by reading exactly what the cell shows: a dash and a zero mean different things in Meta’s reporting.
Why does a conversion column show 0 or a dash?
| What you see | Cause Meta documents | How to check or fix |
|---|---|---|
| A dash (—) | The metric doesn’t fit the ad’s format or objective | Choose a metric that matches the ad |
| A dash (—) | The metric wasn’t logged in the selected date range | Widen the date range |
| A dash (—) | It can’t be calculated, such as cost per result with zero results | Wait for results |
| A dash (—) in the summary row | Ad sets optimize for different conversion types that can’t be added up | Read each row separately |
| A zero (0) | The ad didn’t deliver in the date range, or started after it | Check the date range against delivery dates |
| A zero (0) | The ad is in review or wasn’t approved | Check the Delivery column |
| A zero (0) | A metrics delay, for example just after delivery starts | Give the metric time to log |
| A zero (0) | People saw the ad but no one took the action | Work through Meta’s ad delivery troubleshooting guide |
Why does Events Manager show conversions that Ads Manager doesn’t?
The two tools count different things. Meta says Events Manager shows most events received, whether or not they came from your ads, including organic traffic and visits from other platforms. Ads Manager shows only events attributed to people who were shown your ad, after discarding duplicates and events removed for data policies or regulations. So a purchase can appear in Events Manager and never in Ads Manager if the buyer didn’t see or click your ad within your attribution setting.
Event types differ too. Ads Manager shows standard events and custom conversions. Custom events appear in Events Manager, and in Ads Reporting only if they were previously used to optimize ad delivery.
Which conversions does the attribution setting count?
Your ad set’s attribution setting decides which conversions can be credited to your ads. Under standard attribution, Meta supports click-through within 1 or 7 days of a link click, view-through within 1 day of an impression, and engage-through within 1 day of a non-link interaction. A sale outside those windows isn’t credited to the ad.
How do you find the missing conversions?
- Read the cell: a dash or a zero.
- Check the date range covers the days the ad delivered.
- Confirm the conversion event uses a standard event or a custom conversion.
- Open Events Manager and check the event is being received at all.
- Use the Test events tool to confirm a fresh event arrives.
- Check the attribution setting of the ad set.
FAQ
How long after setup do conversions appear?
Meta says data may take 30 minutes or more to appear in your analytics after you set up an event, and that a metric may take extra time to begin logging when an ad has just started delivering. Use the Test events tool to confirm events while you wait.
Why is the total row blank when every ad set has results?
Meta shows a null value in the summary row when your ad sets use different conversion types, because those values can’t be aggregated. Its example is a campaign with ad sets optimizing for sales and for traffic, which aren’t summed at the campaign level.
Do breakdowns hide conversions?
They can look that way. Meta says that when you combine breakdowns and not all of them apply to a metric, the rows that don’t apply are collapsed and labelled Not applicable. Meta notes this display is being introduced gradually, so you may not see it yet.
Sources
- Understand why your ad results are zero or null in Meta Ads Manager (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Differences between event counts in Meta Ads Manager, Ads Reporting and Events Manager (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- About attribution models and attribution settings (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Understand why your ad breakdown results are zero or null in Meta Ads Manager (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Test events tool: verify app and web browser events for Meta (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.