How to remove an old agency's access to your Meta and Google accounts

To remove an old agency, first let the new agency in, then check who owns and who pays for each account, and only then remove the old one. In Meta Business Suite, a person with full control opens Settings > Partners, selects the agency, then Options > Remove from business portfolio > Remove partner. In Google Ads, an admin removes the agency's manager account under Admin > Access and security > Managers, and its people under the same page; Analytics, Tag Manager, Search Console and Merchant Center each have their own list.

This guide is for the business that is changing agency. It goes platform by platform, because each one keeps its own list of who has access.

Before you remove anyone

Three checks save you from stopped ads and lost access.

Who owns each account. Make a short list: business portfolio, Facebook Page, Instagram account, ad account, dataset (pixel), Google Ads, Analytics, Tag Manager, Search Console, Merchant Center. For each one, note whether it sits in your own account or in the agency's. Meta says only the organization that owns an asset can share it with another business portfolio, and in Google Ads a manager that creates an account becomes its owner. If the agency owns something, read the section on that below before you remove anything.

Who pays. In Google Ads, check whether the old agency's manager account pays for your ads on monthly invoicing. Google says that if the manager you unlink is the paying manager on monthly invoicing, the account stops serving ads. The billing has to move first. Google's process for this is a Change who pays request, which the previous agency must start and the new agency accepts. Google calls it a beta, and says that after the transfer the account must be linked to the new agency's manager account within 7 days, or its ads stop.

What is shared. Google says that when you unlink an account that used the manager's shared remarketing lists, those lists stop filling, and ad groups that target them stop running. Conversions tracked with the manager's cross-account tag stop for new clicks. Ask the new agency to set up your own tag and lists first.

When all three are clear, give the new agency access and let both agencies have access for a short overlap. Then remove the old one. The access checklist lists what the new agency needs.

Meta: remove the partner

Meta's article on removing partners gives these steps. You need full control of the business portfolio (Meta now also calls it full access; see the glossary).

1. Go to Settings in Meta Business Suite for your business portfolio.
2. Click Partners in the left menu. If you do not see it, you may not have full control.
3. Select the agency in the list.
4. Click Options in the top right, then Remove from business portfolio.
5. Click Remove partner.

Meta points out that removing a partner is different from removing a person. Some agencies were added as people in your business portfolio rather than as a partner. Check Settings > People too. To take a person off an asset, Meta's permissions article says to click the person's name, click Manage next to the asset and choose Remove access. Removing a person from the whole portfolio is in how to remove someone from a Meta business portfolio.

Assets that are not in a business portfolio have their own access lists. Meta has separate articles for removing someone from a Facebook Page, managing shared access on Instagram, and removing someone from an ad account in Meta Ads Manager. If your Page runs lead ads, also check who can get the leads: see the leads access guide.

If nobody at your company has full control of the business portfolio, Meta's removal article links to a way to request it. Start that first.

Google Ads: remove the manager link and the users

You need Admin access on the Google Ads account.

To remove the old agency's manager account:

1. Go to Access and security in the Admin menu.
2. Select the Managers tab.
3. Find the agency's manager account and select Remove access in the Actions column.
4. Check the preview and select Unlink.

To remove agency people who were invited as users, stay on Access and security, find each person and select Remove access in the Actions column.

On an account with more than three administrators, removing a user waits for a second admin's approval. See the multi-party approval guide.

If Google shows "Each account must have either a user with administrative access or a manager account with administrative ownership.", the old agency was the only way into the account. Add one of your own people as Admin first, then remove the agency.

Google Analytics 4

Open Admin, then Access Management under Account or Property. Search for each agency address, select the check box and click REMOVE. Google says deleting users needs the Administrator role at account level, so look at both the account list and the property list.

Tag Manager

Open Admin and select User Management in the Container column. Select the agency person, select Remove, then Save. If they also appear under User Management in the Account column, open their entry there, remove what they have and select Save. Tag Manager does not allow every administrator to be removed, so make sure one of your own people is an administrator first.

Search Console

Open Settings > Users and permissions, open the menu next to the agency person and click Remove access. If Google warns that the person could regain access, they were a verified owner. Click Unused ownership tokens and delete their tokens from the site, the tag or the DNS record. Until then, a removed owner can verify again. See the Search Console guide.

Merchant Center

Go to Access and services, the People and access tab, select Manage next to the person, and under Account Status select Remove person. First check that your website verification is not tied to that person, or you will have to verify and claim the website again. An agency linked through Merchant Center for Agencies is removed in the Partners section of the same page.

When the agency owns the asset

Removing access only works on accounts you own. If the old agency owns something, you need its help:

• Meta assets in the agency's portfolio, such as an ad account or dataset it created: only the owning business can share them with you. Ask the agency to share them with your business portfolio, then decide whether to keep using them. What can move out, asset by asset, is in how to get your Meta assets out of an agency's business portfolio.
• A Google Ads account the agency's manager created: the manager owns it. Google says the client account can always unlink an owner manager, but the account must keep at least one admin. Ask the agency to add your own person as Admin before it leaves.
• A Tag Manager container in the agency's account: Google advises keeping these accounts managed inside your own organization. Ask the agency to add one of your people as Administrator.
• A GA4 property in the agency's Analytics account: see how to move a GA4 property to your account.
• A Business Profile or YouTube channel the agency controls: see how to request ownership of a Business Profile and how to transfer a YouTube channel.

Check that nothing is left

Go through each list once more:

• Meta Business Suite: Settings > Partners and Settings > People.
• Google Ads: Admin > Access and security, both the users list and the Managers tab.
• Analytics: Access Management at account and property level.
• Tag Manager: User Management in the Account and Container columns.
• Search Console: Users and permissions and Unused ownership tokens.
• Merchant Center: People and access, including Partners.