Planner in Meta Business Suite is a week or month calendar of your Facebook Page and Instagram posts, stories, reels and ads, showing both what's been published and what's scheduled in Meta Business Suite. Open Meta Business Suite, choose your Page or Instagram account in the top left, then click Planner in the left menu to see it, filter it and schedule straight from a date.
It's the closest thing Meta offers to a free content calendar. Below is how to use it, what each filter does, and the posting rules from Meta's help pages that decide what you can schedule where.
Before you start: permissions
- You need content permissions to create, manage and delete posts, stories and reels for the Page or Instagram account.
- You need ads permissions to create, manage and delete ads.
- If Planner doesn't appear in the left menu, Meta says you may not have the relevant permissions.
How to open and read Planner
- Go to Meta Business Suite on a computer.
- Use the dropdown in the top left to pick your Facebook Page or Instagram account. Connected accounts may appear together.
- Click Planner in the left menu.
- Choose Week or Month in the top left and move between dates.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Content type: all | Show only posts, stories, reels or ads |
| Shared to: all | Show only your Facebook Page, Facebook Groups or Instagram account |
| Schedule (hover over a day) | Start a scheduled post, story or reel for that date |
| Options (on a scheduled item) | Reschedule or delete upcoming posts, stories and reels |
Ads appear in Planner too, which is handy for spotting a boosted post landing on the same day as a launch post. Rescheduling or deleting an ad works differently from organic content, so Meta sends you to its separate ad instructions for that.
Scheduling a post from Meta Business Suite
- Click Create post from the home page or the Content tab.
- Under Post to, choose your Facebook Page, Instagram profile or a Facebook Group.
- Add your media. The limit for posting to Instagram is 10 photos.
- Write your text. You can customise it separately for Facebook and Instagram and add hashtags, a location or a feeling.
- Choose an audience: Public, or Restricted to certain people on Facebook.
- Under Scheduling options, pick a date and time, or click Active times for recommended slots.
- Click Schedule, Publish or Finish later.
The Active times detail is worth knowing: Meta bases those recommendations on when your followers were most active on Facebook and Instagram over the past 7 days, so a quiet or unusual week shifts them. Stories work the same way, with up to 10 photos or videos per story and an optional link.
Managing what's scheduled
In the Content tab, posts and reels are grouped by status: Published, Scheduled, Drafts, Expiring and Expired. Open the three-dot menu, then Manage post, to edit, reschedule, move to drafts, delete, add a collaborator, or switch remixing on or off. On the mobile app, scheduled and published content shows on its date in Planner as well.
What you can cross-post when you schedule
| You create a | You can also share it to |
|---|---|
| Facebook post | Facebook Stories, Instagram Feed, Facebook Groups, Threads |
| Instagram post | Facebook Feed, Instagram Stories, Facebook Groups, Threads |
| Facebook story | Instagram Stories |
| Instagram story | Facebook Stories |
| Instagram reel | Instagram Stories, Facebook Reels, Facebook Groups |
| Facebook reel | Facebook Stories, Instagram Reels, Facebook Groups |
Meta adds that cross-posting to Threads, and cross-posting a Facebook post or reel to Facebook Stories, only work on desktop, and your Page and Instagram profile must be connected in the same business portfolio. To post to Threads, your Threads profile has to be in the portfolio too.
Test before you fill the calendar: A/B content tests
From the Content menu you can run an A/B test instead of guessing which version to schedule. Meta's rules:
- Up to 4 versions for organic posts, or 2 for boosted posts.
- Facebook Pages only. You can't A/B test Instagram posts in Meta Business Suite.
- Organic reels can only be tested against reels; image, link and text posts can be tested against each other.
- Test length options run from 10 minutes up to 24 hours, judged on comments, shares, reactions, people reached or link clicks.
- Only the winning post is published to your Page. The others never appear.
Scheduling posts that use music? Our guide to the Meta Sound Collection explains what you can use and the licence catch.
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My verdict
Planner is enough for most small businesses: one calendar for Facebook and Instagram, ads included, and no extra subscription. Where it falls short is anything beyond Meta's apps, and that's when a separate tool earns its place; I compare the options in the best Facebook scheduling tools. If you only post to Facebook, see how to schedule Facebook posts for free, and remember the suite itself costs nothing, as I cover in is Meta Business Suite free.
Frequently asked questions
What is Planner in Meta Business Suite?
It's a week or month calendar view of your Facebook Page and Instagram posts, stories, reels and ads, showing what's been published and what's scheduled in Meta Business Suite.
Why can't I see Planner in Meta Business Suite?
Meta says you may not have the relevant permissions. You need content permissions for posts, stories and reels, and ads permissions for ads.
Can I schedule from the Planner calendar?
Yes. Hover over an upcoming day, click Schedule, then choose what to schedule, such as a post.
How does Active times work in Meta Business Suite?
It recommends posting times based on when your followers were most active on Facebook and Instagram over the past 7 days.
Can I A/B test Instagram posts in Meta Business Suite?
No. Meta says A/B tests in Meta Business Suite are only available for Facebook Pages.
