How to Change Start Date on Facebook Ad
Setting the right start date for your Facebook ad is a small but critical step, but what happens when you need to change it? Whether you need to delay a launch for a new product or push a campaign live sooner than planned, modifying your ad's schedule is a common task. This guide will walk you through exactly how to change the start date on draft, scheduled, and even active Facebook ads.
Understanding When You Can (and Can't) Change an Ad's Start Date
Before jumping into Ads Manager, it’s important to understand the rules Facebook has about scheduling. Your ability to edit a start date depends entirely on the status of your ad set:
- Draft Ad Sets: If your ad set is still a draft, you’re in the clear. You can change the start date, budget, audience, creative, and any other detail as much as you need before publishing.
- Scheduled Ad Sets: These are ad sets you’ve published but are set to begin at a future date. You can still easily edit the start date for these, as long as it hasn't passed and the ad hasn't started delivering.
- Active Ad Sets: This is where things get tricky. Once an ad set is active and has started spending its budget and delivering impressions, you cannot change its original start date. The start date becomes a fixed part of its history. But don't worry - there's a simple and effective workaround to get the job done, which we’ll cover in detail.
How to Change the Start Date on a Draft or Scheduled Ad
For any campaign that isn't running yet, changing the start date is a straightforward process within the ad set's settings. This is where you control the timing for all the ads it contains.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Follow these steps to adjust your schedule in just a few clicks:
- Navigate to Facebook Ads Manager: Open your Ads Manager account where your campaigns are located.
- Switch to the 'Ad Sets' Tab: Your campaigns are organized by Campaigns, Ad Sets, and Ads. The schedule is controlled at the Ad Set level, so click on that tab.
- Find and Edit Your Ad Set: Locate the draft or scheduled ad set you want to modify. You can use the search or filter functions if you have many ad sets. Hover over its name and click the "Edit" button that appears.
- Locate the 'Budget & Schedule' Section: A side panel will open with all of your ad set's settings. Scroll down until you find the "Budget & Schedule" section.
- Select a New Start Date: Here, you will see a field for the start date and time. Click on it to open a calendar and clock selector. Choose your desired new start date and time.
- Publish Your Changes: After selecting the new date, review your settings one last time. If everything looks correct, click the green "Publish" button at the bottom right of the editing panel. Your ad set is now scheduled to start on the new date you selected. If you're not ready to go live, you can also close the panel to save the changes as a draft.
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The Workaround: Changing the Schedule for an Active Ad
As mentioned, you can't edit the start date of an ad set that's already active. Think of the start date as being written in permanent ink the moment the campaign goes live. This is because all its performance data - like spend, impressions, and clicks - is tied to its initial run time.
So, what do you do if you need to pause an active campaign and "restart" it later? The best practice is to duplicate the ad set. This creates a brand new, identical ad set that you can schedule for any future date you want, while preserving the original ad set and its historical data.
Step-by-Step: Duplicating an Ad Set to Set a New Start Date
This process is quick and ensures none of your successful creative or targeting settings are lost.
- Go to the 'Ad Sets' Tab in Ads Manager: Just like before, make sure you're at the ad set level.
- Select Your Active Ad Set: Find the active ad set you wish to "restart" and check the box next to its name.
- Click the 'Duplicate' Button: With the ad set selected, look for the "Duplicate" button in the toolbar just above the list of your ad sets. Click it.
- Configure the New Ad Set's Schedule: A new editing panel for your duplicated ad set will appear. Facebook automatically appends " - Copy" to the name, which you should change. Immediately scroll down to the "Budget & Schedule" section.
- Set Your New Start Date: Because this is technically a new ad set, the start date field is fully editable. Set the future date and time when you want this ad set to begin running.
- (Important) Rename Your Ad Set: To avoid confusion in your reporting later, give your new ad set a clear and distinct name. For instance, if the original was "Summer Sale - Lookalike Audience", you might name the new one "Summer Sale - Lookalike Audience - Sept Restart".
- Review All Other Settings: The duplication process copies everything - your audience, placements, budget type, and ads. It's always a good idea to quickly review these settings to confirm they are still what you want for the new launch.
- Click 'Publish': Once you're finished, click "Publish". This will schedule your new ad set to go live at the future date you chose. It will go into a "Scheduled" status until then.
- (Crucial) Turn Off the Original Ad Set: This is a step many people forget. Go back to your ad set list and turn off the original, active ad set by using the toggle switch. This prevents you from running both ad sets simultaneously, competing against yourself, and spending double the budget.
Important Considerations and Best Practices
When you're adjusting schedules and relaunching campaigns, a couple of factors can impact your performance.
Daily vs. Lifetime Budgets
How you set your budget affects your scheduling capabilities.
- A Daily Budget tells Facebook to spend a certain amount per day. You can set a start date, but an end date is optional. The campaign runs continuously until you turn it off.
- A Lifetime Budget sets a total amount to be spent over a defined period. This requires both a start and an end date. Lifetime budgets also unlock "Ad Scheduling," allowing you to run ads only on specific days of the week or times of day, making your start date even more important.
The "Learning Phase" Will Reset
Whenever you publish a new ad set (including a duplicated one), it enters Facebook's "learning phase." During this period, the algorithm is exploring the best way to deliver your ads by testing them on different people within your audience to see who is most likely to convert. Editing an active ad set significantly can also trigger a reset of this phase.
When you duplicate and launch your "restarted" campaign, be prepared for it to go back into learning. Facebook generally needs around 50 optimization events (like link clicks, leads, or purchases) in about a week to exit the learning phase and achieve stable performance. Try to avoid making major edits during this time.
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Keep Your Naming Conventions Clean
Maintaining a tidy Ads Manager account will save you headaches later. When you duplicate campaigns or ad sets, always rename them with a clear, logical convention. Including the date of the change or a marker like "Restart" helps you distinguish between the old and new versions when analyzing your performance reports. An organized account is much easier to navigate and understand.
Final Thoughts
Adjusting the start date of a Facebook ad is simple once you know the rules. For any ad set that isn't running yet, you can easily edit the date directly in the ad set settings. If your campaign is already active, the key is to use the duplication feature to create a fresh copy, set your new schedule, publish it, and remember to turn off the original.
Managing ad schedules is just one piece of running successful campaigns. The next step is always to analyze the results. Instead of getting lost in Ads Manager reports trying to connect the dots, we built Graphed to make monitoring performance effortless. You can connect all your marketing data sources in one click and use plain English to build real-time dashboards, instantly seeing which campaigns are driving revenue and which ads need your attention without any manual work.
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