Which Columns to Use in Facebook Ads Manager (2026)

Meta’s default columns are built for any advertiser, so a store owner ends up scrolling past metrics that never change a decision. The fix takes ten minutes: begin with the Sales preset Meta already ships, add the handful of columns that link spend to orders and show where buyers drop off, save the set under your own name, and build the one or two ratios Meta does not offer as custom metrics.

What do Meta’s built-in column presets already show?

Ads Manager ships with column presets at the campaign, ad set and ad levels (About column presets in Meta Ads Manager). The ones a store will use:

• Performance (the default): settings such as bid strategy and last significant edit, plus results, reach, frequency and impressions.
• Sales: link clicks, link click-through rate, cost per link click, cost per result and purchase return on ad spend.
• Delivery: impressions, reach, frequency and cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM).
• Engagement: cost per link click, Page likes or followers and link clicks.

Meta retired the Cross-device, Bidding and optimization, and Targeting and creative presets after 5 September 2023, and added Sales, Traffic and App installs in their place. If an old guide tells you to open one of the retired presets, it will not be in your menu.

Sales is the closest fit for a store, but it stops at the click and at ROAS. It does not show you how many purchases you got, what they were worth, or where between the click and the checkout people left.

Which columns should an online store add?

Keep the Sales preset’s Purchase ROAS and add these seven. Each one either ties money to orders or locates a drop-off. The definitions are Meta’s own.

Purchase ROAS itself is purchase conversion value ÷ amount spent. Purchase, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout and ViewContent are standard events in Meta’s pixel reference, so if your store sends them you can also add Adds to cart and Checkouts initiated from the standard events grid. With those two in the table you can see whether people stop at the cart or at checkout, the question behind why is my cost per add-to-cart stable but cost per purchase doubling?

Two notes on reading them. Meta says statistical modelling may fill in purchase events and values when data is partial, so Purchase ROAS is Meta’s count, not your store’s (Purchase ROAS). And a gap between link clicks and landing page views usually means the page did not finish loading, or the ad has a second link that goes somewhere else (link clicks vs landing page views).

How do I build and save a column preset?

Meta’s steps, from Customize columns in Meta Ads Manager:

1. Open Ads Manager and click Campaigns, Ad sets or Ads, depending on the level you want to read.
2. Click the Columns dropdown, then select Customize columns.
3. Tick the columns from the table above. For Purchases and Adds to cart, open Standard events and choose total, unique, value, cost or unique cost for each event (customized columns).
4. Tick Save as a column preset and give it a name you will recognise, such as “Store: daily”.
5. Click Apply. Next time, open Columns and pick your preset from the Column presets section.

A preset is a view of the table. Meta’s list of significant edits, the changes that send an ad set back into learning, covers targeting, creative, optimisation event, new ads, bid strategy and large budget changes, and columns are not on it (Significant edits and learning phase).

Which custom metrics are worth building?

Custom metrics let you save a formula built from existing metrics, so you stop exporting to a spreadsheet to divide two numbers (About custom metrics). Two that a store will use:

• Cart-to-purchase rate: Purchases ÷ Adds to cart, formatted as a percentage. It shows checkout drop-off directly.
• Average order value from ads: Purchases conversion value ÷ Purchases, formatted as currency.

To create one (Create custom metrics in Meta Ads Manager):

1. Go to Ads Manager, select Columns, then choose Customize columns.
2. Select Create custom metric.
3. Build the formula by picking metrics from Select metric and adding an operator between them.
4. Enter a unique name, an optional description, and a format: numeric, percentage or currency.
5. Choose who can access it, then click Create metric.

Meta’s rules for formulas: at least two metrics and one symbol, no two symbols side by side, and no division by zero. Choose access with care. If you share a metric with everyone on the ad account, Meta says you can no longer edit or delete its formula. Meta also notes that a custom metric only does arithmetic on existing numbers; it adds nothing new to the data.

Should I compare attribution settings in the columns?

Yes, in a separate view. Ads Manager can show the same conversions under 1-day view, 1-day click, 7-day click and 28-day click side by side, whatever setting the campaign optimises for (Compare attribution settings in Meta Ads Manager):

1. Click the Columns: Performance dropdown and keep Performance selected.
2. Scroll down and select Compare attribution settings.
3. Tick the settings you want to compare.
4. Choose a conversion count: All conversions, or First conversion only.
5. Click Apply.

If the campaign has run for less than 28 days, Meta warns that the 28-day click view holds only partial data. Which window to trust is its own question: what is the default attribution setting for Meta ads?

What should go in a second, diagnostic preset?

Keep a short second preset for the days something looks wrong, so your daily view stays clean:

• Delivery, Results and Last significant edit. Meta’s own advice for reading the learning phase is to add these columns and count results since the last significant edit; ad sets usually exit learning after about 50 results in the week after that edit (About the learning phase).
• Reach, Frequency and CPM, to separate fatigue from a pricier auction. Meta says that if results drop as frequency climbs, the audience may be tiring of the ad (Frequency); the next step is in how do I fix Facebook ad frequency that’s too high?
• Cost per result, which Meta calculates as amount spent ÷ results (Cost per result).

For splits by age, placement or day, use Breakdown rather than more columns. It sits between Columns and Reports, grouped by time, by delivery and by action (breakdowns in Ads Manager). Columns tell you what happened; deciding what a weekly review should contain is a different job, covered in what should a Meta ads dashboard actually show? For any column name you don’t recognise, the Meta ads glossary has the plain-English version.

FAQ

Why don’t my columns show purchases?

Either the Purchase event is not reaching Meta, or the column is not in your view. Add Purchases from Conversions or the standard events grid first. If it still reads zero while your store records orders, check the event in Events Manager before you judge any campaign on it.

Do custom columns change how my ads deliver?

No. Columns and presets change what the reporting table shows. The edits Meta lists as significant, the ones that restart learning, are changes to targeting, creative, optimisation event, bid strategy, new ads and large budget moves. Switching presets is not among them, so you can change views as often as you like.

What is the difference between link clicks and landing page views?

Link clicks count clicks on any link in the ad. Landing page views count clicks that successfully loaded your website, app or shop. Meta lists two reasons they differ: the page did not finish loading, or the ad had more than one destination.

Can my team see my custom metrics?

Only if you choose. When you create a custom metric, Meta asks who can access it: only you, or everyone with access to the ad account. Others can see a shared metric but not change it. Share it only once the formula is final, because Meta says you can’t edit or delete it afterwards.

Sources

Sources: Meta Business Help Center, About column presets in Meta Ads Manager, Customize columns in Meta Ads Manager, Simplify metrics selection with customized columns, Create custom metrics in Meta Ads Manager, About custom metrics, Compare attribution settings in Meta Ads Manager, Purchase ROAS, Link clicks vs landing page views, Landing page views rate per link clicks, Purchases rate per link clicks, Frequency, Cost per result, About the learning phase, Significant edits and learning phase and View ad results by platform, device and placement; Meta for Developers, Meta Pixel standard events reference (checked 2 Oct 2026).