Do you get confused navigating the different ways you can add or remove an admin to your Facebook Page? It’s not just you. Over the past year Meta has been rolling out Business Suite, a usefull tool which replaces Business Manager, a not-so-useful tool. Not everyone has Business Suite yet, so most of us are stuck in some in-between hybrid of trying to make sense of the back end of Facebook.

I like to use the analogy that Meta is renovating their house room by room, and as each new room in Business Suite is complete, they are moving functions from the old house (Business Manager) over into the new house (Business Suite). So we have some growing pains, some duplication, and a lot of confusion on how to navigate it.

Here are the puzzle pieces we will cover:

Before we go digging around in permissions, it helps to know the difference between Profiles and Pages.

Then I’ll show you how to add people to your pages through your Page, through your Business Account, or through a third party app.

Personal Profile vs Business Page

There is a big difference between your Personal Profile and your Business Page. You need to first have a personal profile before you can create a Business Page.

Your personal profile represents you, authentically. People have to request to become friends with you and you can choose who you become friends with.

Think of your Business Page like a billboard. Anything you post as a Business Page is public and anyone can follow it. You can invite other people to help you manage it and you can assign them different levels of access depending on how they are helping you.

Each Business Page is attached to real people’s personal profiles. The general public cannot see who runs a Business Page but through Page Transparency they can see when the page was originally created and the country the people managing the page reside in.

Never give anyone your login information for your Personal Profile.

Keep that to yourself. Nobody needs your login info to get permissions to your Page and the consequences of sharing your login information far outweigh the shortcut. Read Why You Should NEVER Have A Second Facebook Profile Or Login To Someone Else’s for more on this.

When you post to a Facebook Page you manage, you will see a notation saying who created the post. The general public cannot see this. Only people with permissions to access your Page can see who posted that content. 

So if you are concerned about protecting your privacy and your identity on Facebook when using a Business Page, Facebook has you covered. But you still need to use an authentic personal profile behind the scenes.

Business Suite vs Business Manager

Business Suite is still rolling out to all accounts and you might not have it yet. Business Suite includes tools like posting, messaging, insights and advertising capabilities, improving the experience of managing a business across Meta’s apps. Think of it like your main hub for accessing Facebook’s business tools.

Business Suite is replacing Business Manager. Both can be accessed at www.Business.Facebook.com

Business Manager has similar functions but has a more clunky user experience, is harder to navigate.

Regardless of which one you are using, you can still manage user permissions through Business Settings.

1) Via Page Settings

**This requires being Facebook friends with the person you are giving access.**

Go to your Page, then “Page Settings”, then “Page Roles”. Type in your Friend’s name, pick them from the dropdown menu and assign them a role. You may be prompted to enter your Facebook Password to verify.

This method has been around since Facebook Pages existed and is the most common way we see people giving permissions.

2) Via Business Settings

**This DOES NOT require being friends on Facebook.**

For Pages connected to a Business Suite (or formerly Business Manager), it is recommended that you assign permissions through your Business Account and not through your Page Settings. This gives you added levels of security and protection for your Business Assets.

This is a two-step process.

STEP 1: Go to http://www.business.facebook.com then “Settings”, not Page Settings. Click the “Add People” button. Enter the email address of the person you are inviting and assign them a role.

STEP 2: You will be prompted to assign access permissions to your different assets, starting with your Page. Go down the list and assign permissions for your Page, Ad Account, Pixel, and Instagram Account and any other relevant assets.

NOTE: Business access is the preferred method if you plan on running ads.

Page Admins vs Business Admins
*TIP: Do not add anyone as an “Admin” to your Business Account unless they are a legitimate business partner/owner or someone you trust with your life like a spouse or relative. Other Admins can potentially remove you from the Business Account.

You can instead add people as “Employees” to the Business, and then assign them an Administrator role on your Page.

This protects you in two ways.

1) They can’t take your Business Account
2) They can’t kick you off of your own Page

In the future if you decide you are no longer working with this person, simply remove them from your business account and it will remove all other permissions.

Note: If you are a service provider or contractor being added onto a client’s account, you will need 1) Your own Business Account, 2) Provide the client with your Business ID 3) Request the client use that ID to add you as a “Partner”. See “Give a Partner Access to Assets in Your Business Manager” for details.

3) Via third-party tools like Agorapulse

Apps like Agorapulse are very powerful business tools and make it so simple to add or remove users and manage permissions without having to mess around with Facebook’s Page or Business settings. I am an Agorapulse Ambassador so this is the example I’m going to use for third-party access.

Agorapulse is also a great way to get help creating and scheduling content for Facebook, Instagram, Stories and Reels, Twitter, YouTube and more without having to share your login info. Story and Reel content can be set up in Agorapulse by one person and sent to the mobile phone of the account owner for publishing.

You can create pre-scheduled content, publish to multiple platforms at once, get some of the most robust social reporting, use hashtag listening, and so much more. 

Removing A Person From Your Business Page

I often get contacted by people looking for Facebook Ads help when they are changing agencies or taking their ads in-house and they are struggling with removing people from the accounts.

The first step is to figure out if the person you are trying to remove has been given access to your Page via Page Settings, Business Settings, both, or through a third party app as noted above.

They will need to be removed from each of these areas that they have been given access to.

Remove From Page Settings

1) Page > Page Settings > Page Roles:

Find the person you wish to remove and click the Edit button beside their name, then click “Remove”. You may be prompted for your Facebook password to verify.

Or

Remove From Business Settings

2) http://www.business.facebook.com > Settings (not Page Settings):

Find the person you wish to remove, click on their name and look for the “…” menu and you will see an option to remove them from this business.

Or

Remove From 3rd Party App

3) Agorapulse Organization Settings > Team > Edit > Remove

If Your Page Is Owned By Another Business Account

If you are an Admin on your Page and you try to remove someone from the Page > Page Settings and you are getting errors, make sure you have access to the Business Account that “Owns” your Page. In some cases I have seen an employee set up the Business Account and when they leave the company, your Business Page is tied up in a Business Account that your former employee owns and that you don’t have access to.

To fix this, you will need to reach out to that former employee, ask them to go into “Settings” then “More Business Settings” via http://www.Business.Facebook.com, and “Remove” your Page from their business account.

You’ll notice in the screenshot above that it says this is the “Primary Business Page”. If that is the case, you will first need to go to the Business Info tab on the left, edit the Business Info to change the primary page to a different one, and then you should be able to remove this Page from your Business.