You reconnect the account, it works for a few days, and then it says Needs reconnecting again. A one-off drop is normal; a repeating one always has a permanent cause, and reconnecting does not fix it. This guide shows you how to read the disconnection record and what to correct on Meta's side.
Only the account connected through a Facebook page drops.
It drops whenever a particular person touches the account.
A concrete example: an agency connects a client's account and the connection drops every two weeks. Reviewing the logs shows every drop follows the client's own social media manager switching "Connected tools" off in the Instagram settings. The problem is not in the panel but in two people working on the same account with different expectations. Once it is clear who changes what, the drops stop.
Read the disconnection record
A reason is recorded for every drop; if the same reason keeps coming back, you know where to look.
Switch to the account and open Settings › Connection.
Note the reason line under the badge.
Open Portfolio settings › Logs and read the connection events by date.
Look at when the drops happen: at regular intervals it is an expiry, at random times it is a person or a Meta setting.
If the same reason appears three times in a row, jump to the matching section below.
Permission and token expiry
Expiry-driven drops happen at regular intervals and warn you in advance.
On accounts connected with Instagram, the access token is valid for 60 days. The system renews it before it expires. If renewal fails, the badge turns to Renewal due three days before and then drops. The most common reason renewal fails is the account revoking the permission at Meta at some point in between.
On accounts connected through a Facebook page, Meta's data access permission has its own expiry. Notifications go out 14 days and 3 days before. If you do not renew it, the connection drops when it expires.
On WhatsApp the token has no expiry. A WhatsApp connection never drops because of time; if it does, the cause is something else.
The fix: press Renew permissions as soon as you see a Renewal due notification. Make sure your notifications actually reach you so you do not miss the warning.
Settings and permissions on Meta's side
Most repeating drops come from a change in your Meta account.
Confirm your Instagram account is a professional account. When an account is switched back to personal, Meta shuts the messaging API off and the connection drops.
Check the connected tools setting. On Instagram, going to Settings and activity → Messages and story replies → Message controls → Connected tools and switching it off stops events.
Look at the business integrations list. Removing the app from the business integrations in your Facebook security settings drops the connection.
Keep the page–Instagram link intact. On the Facebook route, if the Instagram account is unlinked from the page, the connection goes with it.
Watch admin changes. If the Meta user who created the connection is removed from the page or the business portfolio, the permission falls away. Create the connection with an admin who is unlikely to leave.
Passwords and two-factor authentication. A password change or new security measures can cause Meta to invalidate permissions.
⚠️ Note: All of these limits sit on Meta's side and apply to every tool that uses their API. {{brand.name}} keeps the permission for as long as Meta grants it; it cannot restore a permission that has been revoked.
The same account connected somewhere else
An Instagram or WhatsApp account can be connected in one place at a time.
If you try to connect the same account to two portfolios, you are told it is already connected somewhere else.
If you also connected it in another tool, the two can knock each other's permission out and the connection drops alternately. Settle on one tool.
If you work with an agency, be clear about who connects the client's account; two people connecting in turn causes constant drops.
Keep notifications switched on
Noticing a drop late is the most common way to lose messages.
When a connection drops, the portfolio's owner and admins each get one email and one in-app notification per incident.
Notifications are only sent for Meta-side drops; connections you cut yourself are never announced.
Only events from the last 7 days are covered, so no bulk email goes out for old records.
The webhook subscription can lapse on its own. Events stop while the connection still shows as Active; the Renew webhook subscription button repairs it.
Changing the connection route refreshes the connection. Moving from connecting with Instagram to connecting through a Facebook page starts a new permission flow, and who can message the account changes with it.
When a portfolio is scheduled for deletion, every connection is cut deliberately; that is not a fault.
Moving an account to another portfolio keeps the connection; the move takes the data with it.
Messages sent while the connection was down are lost. Meta does not deliver events during the outage and does not send them later, which is why the warnings matter.
If you have followed every step and the problem continues, contact our Support team.