Differences between Facebook Pages and profiles

Everyone with a Facebook account has a Facebook profile for personal use. With your profile, you can also create Facebook Pages and be added to Facebook Pages. This can get pretty confusing, so we've got some guidance for you below.

Due to API limitations, we are not able to connect to Facebook profiles. Not sure which type of account you have? Keep reading to learn more about the differences between Pages and profiles.

In this article:

  1. How to find your Pages and profiles
  2. What's the difference between Pages and profiles?
  3. How can I tell if I'm using a Page, personal profile, or a professional profile?

How to find your Pages and profiles

The fastest way to see all of your Facebook Pages and profiles on Facebook is simply by clicking your avatar in the top right-hand corner and clicking “See all profiles” (even though it says "profiles" here, it will show you all profiles and Pages together). Here’s what that looks like.
If you don’t see a Page to connect to Buffer in this list, it could be for a couple of different reasons:
  • You don’t have a Page — you only have a profile or professional profile. (See the difference below)
  • You are logged into the wrong Facebook account. Log out of Facebook and use the right email address and password to access the correct Facebook account.
  • Your Facebook profile doesn’t have Admin access to the Page. See this guide to understand Admin access.

What is the difference between Pages and profiles?

As mentioned above, everyone who has a Facebook account is already using a Facebook profile. When you have a Facebook profile, you can:
  • create Facebook Pages
  • convert your profile into a professional profile (but you cannot convert a profile into a Page!)
⚠️ Note: It’s important to understand that Buffer does not support Facebook profiles or professional profiles. We support Facebook Pages and groups.
Please see Facebook’s guide for more information about the difference and what options you have with profiles, professional profiles and Pages.

How can I tell if I'm using a Page, personal profile, or a professional profile?

The easiest way to tell if you are using a Facebook Page is by going to your page directly and looking under the name in the left-side bar for the Intro section. Here is what you will see, based on the type of account you have:

Pages:

In this section, you will see the word “Page” (as seen in this screenshot) and you may see the page category.

Buffer Facebook Page intro section

Personal profiles

Profiles will not have the word “Page” and will instead have a “Friends” tab under the main heading photo, like this:

Facebook Profile showing Friends tab

Professional profiles

Professional profiles will not have the word “Page” or a “Friends” tab. Instead, they have the word “Profile” under the Intro section as you can see in this screenshot.

Facebook intro section - Profile - digital creator

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