Use the Facebook Lead Ads testing tool to create sample leads

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Updated at August 20th, 2025

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Table of Contents

Create a sample lead Troubleshoot your sample lead Timing Insufficient permissions

If you’ve created a new form in Facebook Lead Ads but do not have any lead submissions yet to use in your Zap setup, you can create a sample lead using the Facebook Lead Ads testing tool.

Create a sample lead

Go to the Facebook Leads Ads testing tool.
Select your Page & Form.
Click Preview Form.
A dialog box will appear. Fill out your form.
Click Next.
Click Submit.
Click X to close the dialog box.
Click Create lead.
Immediately go back to your Zap, and click Test trigger. You should see the sample lead appear as a test record.
(Optional) You can modify the test record. This will allow you the customize the data you use when testing.

Once you have your sample lead, you can use it map fields in subsequent steps.

Note

Short-answer questions will appear in your test record as numbered fields, starting from 0.

Troubleshoot your sample lead

If you didn’t receive a new test record, it may be due to:

Timing

The New Leads trigger is an instant trigger. Depending on how long it took for you to click Create lead and test the trigger in Zapier, Zapier might have missed your sample lead. To check:

Go to the Facebook Leads Ads testing tool.
Click Delete lead. Deleting your current sample does not delete live leads. It only deletes the sample lead created by Facebook.
Click Preview Form.
A dialog box will appear. Fill out your form.
Click Next.
Click Submit.
Click X to close the dialog box.
Have your Zap open in another browser tab.
Click Create lead.
Immediately go back to your Zap and click Test trigger. You should see the sample lead appear as a test record.

If you still have trouble, it’s likely because your account has insufficient permission to do so.

Insufficient permissions

The Facebook Lead Ads app you’re using on Zapier determines the permissions needed in your Facebook account. To fix this:

Go back to the Facebook Leads Ads testing tool.
Click the Track Status button.
Review the section below Track Status for any errors or messages.
1. A “103 error - CRM access has been revoked from Lead Access Manager” message indicates that you must reset your Facebook Leads Access CRM permissions.
For other error messages, verify the form you want to use on your Facebook account has the correct permissions. Learn more about the permissions to use Facebook Lead Ads with Zapier.
Reconnect your Facebook Lead Ads account after you update your permissions.

Once you’ve followed these steps, you can repeat the create a sample lead instructions.

Use the Facebook Lead Ads testing tool to create sample leads

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Create a sample lead

Troubleshoot your sample lead

Timing

Insufficient permissions

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