Solved: Facebook Ads Pixel Inactive for Some Ads

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Honestly, this is one of the most common and frustrating things people run into with Facebook Ads, so you're definitely not alone. It looks like a major problem, but 99% of the time, it's just a quirk in how Ads Manager reports things rather than a sign your pixel is actually broken. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and walk you through how to properly diagnose what's going on.

The short answer is you should probably ignore that "active" status column completely. It causes far more confusion than it solves. Let's get into the proper way to check everything's working as it should.

We'll need to look at... why that 'Active' status is a red herring

Right, let's get this out of the way first because it's the source of all the confusion. That little status column in Ads Manager is probably the most misleading part of the entire interface. When it says "Active", all it means is that a conversion event (the one you optimised the ad set for) has been successfully attributed back to that *specific ad* within the last 7 days. When it shows a dash "-", it simply means it hasn't recorded one in that time frame.

Here’s why this is so confusing and often wrong:

1. Reporting Lag: Facebook's reporting isn't always instant. An event can fire correctly, but it might take hours (or sometimes longer, especially with Apple's iOS14+ privacy changes) for the dashboard to update and reflect that. So an ad could be generating conversions perfectly fine, but the status will still show a dash.
2. Low Conversion Volume: If you have a campaign with a small budget or an offer with a high barrier to entry (like a high-ticket sale), you might not get conversions every single day. If an ad goes a few days without a conversion, the status might flip from "Active" back to a dash, making you think something broke when it hasn't.
3. Attribution Logic: All ads within the same ad set use the exact same pixel and are optimised for the same conversion event. The setup is identical at the ad set level. So, if one ad shows "Active", it's a very strong sign that the underlying setup for the *entire ad set* is correct. The pixel is installed, the event is configured, and Facebook can see it. The reason the others show a dash is likely because the algorithm is favouring the one winning ad and sending most of the traffic there, so it's the only one getting recent conversions.

Thinking of that status column as a reliable diagnostic tool is a complete waste of time. It's a bit like trying to judge your car's fuel efficiency by occasionally glancing at the rev counter. It gives you a tiny piece of information, but it tells you nothing about the bigger picture of what's actually happening. You need better tools for the job.

I'd say you... should focus on the real source of truth

So, if we're going to ignore the Ads Manager status, how do we *actually* know if the pixel is working? You need to go directly to the source. There are two tools that are non-negotiable for this, and they give you a definitive yes/no answer in real-time.

This is your number one, definitive proof. It lets you see exactly what data your pixel is sending back to Facebook's servers as it happens, with no reporting lag.

• -> Go to your Events Manager in Business Manager.
• -> Click on the 'Test Events' tab.
• -> In the 'Test Browser Events' section, enter the full URL of the landing page your ads are pointing to and click 'Open Website'.
• -> A new window with your website will open. Now, just use the site as a customer would. Click around, view a product, add something to the cart, fill out a form, make a test purchase.
• -> As you perform these actions, look back at the Events Manager window. You will see the events appearing in the list in real-time. If you see your 'PageView', 'Lead', 'Purchase', or whatever other events you've set up appearing here, then you have 100% confirmation that your pixel is installed correctly and firing. It's working. End of story.

This is a free extension for Google Chrome that you should have installed yesterday. It's an on-page diagnostic tool. Once installed, you just navigate to your website, click on the little extension icon in your browser's toolbar, and it will give you a report.

• -> It will show you exactly which Pixel IDs are found on the page. (This is great for catching issues where you might have multiple or old pixels installed by accident).
• -> It shows you which events fired on that specific page load (e.g. 'PageView').
• -> Crucially, it will flag any errors with a yellow or red warning icon and tell you what the problem is. For instance, it might tell you an event parameter is missing or that your product ID doesn't match your catalogue.

Between these two tools, you never have to guess again. If Test Events shows the data coming through and the Pixel Helper shows no errors on your live site, your pixel is working perfectly fine, regardless of what that silly little dash in Ads Manager says.

You probably should... follow a proper diagnostic process

It can be helpful to have a clear, logical process to follow instead of just clicking around in Ads Manager hoping to find a fix. I've put together a simple flowchart that shows the exact steps I'd take to diagnose any potential pixel issue. It moves from the most likely scenario (it's not actually broken) to the least likely (there's a genuine technical fault).

You'll need... to shift focus to what actually matters

Once you've used the tools above to confirm your pixel is technically sound, you need to completely forget about the "Active" status and start looking at the metrics that actually impact your business. The goal isn't to have a green 'active' light; the goal is to get customers profitably.

Customise your columns in Ads Manager to show you the entire funnel. At a minimum, I'd be looking at:

• Link Clicks: Are people actually clicking on your ad? If not, you have a creative or copy problem.
• Landing Page Views: Are the people who click actually making it to your page? If your Link Clicks are high but Landing Page Views are low, you might have a slow-loading website.
• Your Conversion Event (e.g., Leads, Add to Carts, Purchases): This is the most important column. Are you seeing results here? Even if the 'Active' status is a dash, if this column shows numbers, it's working. The pixel is firing and attributing conversions.
• Cost Per Result: How much is it costing you to get one of those conversions? Is it profitable?

If you're getting plenty of clicks and landing page views, but zero conversions, then your problem has nothing to do with teh pixel. It's a business problem. It means the people you're sending to your page don't like what they see. The issue is with your audience targeting, your offer, your pricing, your landing page copy, or the trustworthiness of your site. That's a much harder, but much more important, problem to solve than a misleading status icon.

You can use this simple calculator below to get a sense of your funnel's health. If you're getting hundreds of clicks but only one or two conversions, you'll see a very low conversion rate. That's your signal to stop worrying about the pixel adn start working on your landing page and offer.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

To wrap this up, the issue you're seeing is almost certainly not a technical fault but a reporting misunderstanding. Your time is much better spent optimising the things that will actually get you more customers. Here's a table summarising the action plan.

At the end of the day, chasing these little technical quirks can feel productive, but it's often a distraction from the much harder work of finding the right audience and presenting them with an offer they can't refuse. Once you're confident the plumbing is working (which you can be in about 5 minutes using the tools I mentioned), you can get back to the marketing that actually grows your business.

Navigating these platforms can be a real headache, and it's easy to get bogged down in the technical details instead of focusing on strategy. That's often where having an expert pair of eyes can help cut through the noise, quickly diagnose any real issues, and build a strategy that's focused on profitable results, not just green status lights. If you'd like to have a chat and get a professional audit of your campaigns, we offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy session where we can take a look together.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh