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How to set up the Meta pixel and Conversions API for leads

Live guide · Checked 28 October 2026 · Updated 28 October 2026 · Checked every week against Meta's own help pages

Create a Meta dataset (pixel), track leads and checkouts from your site, and add the Conversions API so Meta still sees leads when browsers block it.

Time
40 minutes
You will need
  • A Meta business portfolio (business.facebook.com) with admin access
  • Google Tag Manager on your site, or a pixel setting on your platform
  • Access to your server or a platform that supports the Conversions API
Stuck?
Troubleshooting or ask us a question

Step by step

  1. Open Events Manager

    Go to https://business.facebook.com/events_manager and choose your business portfolio.

  2. Create a dataset

    Click Connect data sources, choose Web, name your dataset (this is your pixel) and click Create. Copy the dataset ID, a long number.

  3. Add the pixel to your site

    Paste the dataset ID into your site's Meta pixel setting, or add it with Tag Manager. The pixel sends PageView on every page by itself.

  4. Track leads

    Send the standard Lead event when a form is sent, and InitiateCheckout when someone clicks through to pay. Use Meta's standard names exactly so Meta can optimise for them.

  5. Test the events

    In Events Manager open Test events, enter your site address and press Open website. Send a test lead and check Lead appears.

  6. Set up the Conversions API

    In the dataset's Settings, find Conversions API and generate an access token. Give it to your server or platform, so it sends the same events from the server.

  7. Match the two with an event ID

    Send the same event_id with the browser event and the server event for each lead. Meta then counts it once (this is called deduplication).

  8. Check event match quality

    After a day, open Overview and look at Event match quality. Sending a hashed email and phone with server events usually lifts it to 6 or more out of 10.

Tips from people who set these up every week

  • Keep the access token somewhere safe: it lets anyone send events into your dataset.
  • Use the Test events code while testing so test leads do not train your campaigns.
  • If you run Meta ads for leads, optimise for the Lead event, not Link clicks.

Troubleshooting: questions and answers

Events Manager shows the same lead twice.

The browser and server events have different or missing event_id values. Send the same ID with both.

The pixel is not firing.

Check your cookie bar: if the visitor declines, the pixel will not load. Test after accepting cookies, with ad blockers off.

Event match quality is low.

Send more customer details with the server events: hashed email, phone, and the fbp and fbc cookies. Never send them unhashed.

Official help pages

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