Every dollar a bad ad spends is a dollar a better ad cannot test. Find the underperformers, pause them fast, and move on to creatives that actually work.
Quick Answer
Open TikTok Ads Manager. Find the campaign, ad group, or ad you want to stop. Flip the On/Off toggle to Off. Done. Your data stays. You can turn it back on anytime.
Why you should pause or disable bad TikTok ads
Running weak ads does two things: drains your budget and pulls your account's average performance down. Neither outcome helps you hit your goals.
Pausing is not deleting. Per TikTok Ads Manager documentation, paused creatives and campaigns can be resumed at any time by toggling them back on. All performance history stays visible through Ad Status filters. You lose nothing by pausing. You lose real money by waiting.
How to identify underperforming TikTok ads
Pull the numbers before you act. Know exactly which ads are hurting you, not just which ones feel slow.
Use the Dashboard page for a high-level overview
The Dashboard page gives you a top-level view across all campaigns, ad groups, and ads. Per TikTok For Business documentation, it is designed to surface account-wide performance patterns at a glance. Look for campaigns with rising CPA, dropping CTR, or declining ROAS. Spot the outliers. Then go deeper.
Drill down on the Campaign page by ad group and individual ad
The Campaign page lets you filter and sort by campaign, ad group, or individual ad. Add custom columns for CPA, conversion rate, and CTR. Sort by the metric that matters most to your current goal. A high CPA combined with a low CTR is a strong signal to pause. A low CTR alone might just mean a bad hook, not a bad offer.
Compare your ads against account optimization recommendations
Per TikTok's Business Help Center, the Account Optimization Recommendations feature flags campaigns, ad groups, and ads that consistently underperform relative to your goals. It gives you a scored list with specific actions. One of those actions is pausing. Act on its recommendations quickly. Note: if you do not see this feature in your Ads Manager, it is not available on your account yet.
How to pause or disable a TikTok ad at any level
Per TikTok Ads Manager documentation, the On/Off toggle controls delivery at every level of your account structure. No confirmation dialog. No delay. The change takes effect immediately.
Pause or disable a campaign
Go to the Campaigns tab. Find the campaign you want to stop. Click the toggle in the Status column from On to Off. This automatically pauses every ad group and ad inside that campaign. One toggle, full stop.
Pause or disable an ad group
Go to the Campaigns tab. Click into a campaign. Switch to the Ad Groups view. Find the ad group you want to pause. Flip its toggle to Off. Every ad inside that ad group pauses with it. The campaign itself stays active.
Pause or disable an individual ad
Go to the Campaigns tab. Click into a campaign, then into an ad group. Find the specific ad. Flip its toggle to Off. That single ad pauses. The ad group and campaign keep running. Use this when only one creative inside an ad group is dragging down results.
Optional: Set up automated rules to pause underperformers automatically
TikTok Ads Manager lets you build automated rules that act without you watching. Set a rule to pause any ad when CPA exceeds your target. The system checks performance around the clock and pauses the ad the moment it crosses your threshold. Find Automated Rules under the Tools menu in Ads Manager. Note: this feature may not be available on all accounts.
What to do after you pause: refresh with better creatives
Pausing stops the bleeding. It does not fix the root cause. The root cause is almost always the creative.
Replace paused ads with new angles fast. Test a different hook in the first two seconds. Try UGC-style video against a product-focused static. Pit a bold discount message against a problem-solution format. The faster you iterate, the faster you find what converts.
Coinis generates new ad creatives from a product URL in minutes. Image Ads, UGC Style, and Ad Clone all produce ready-to-test assets without a designer or a lengthy brief. Your Brand Profile keeps every new creative on-voice automatically. Export your best assets and upload them directly to TikTok Ads Manager.
Note: Coinis publishes directly to Meta (Facebook and Instagram) today. TikTok direct publishing is on the roadmap. Use Coinis to build and refine the creative, then upload it to TikTok Ads Manager.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does pausing a TikTok campaign delete my ads or lose my data?
No. Pausing a campaign, ad group, or individual ad only stops delivery. All performance data stays visible in Ads Manager and you can reactivate any paused item at any time by flipping the toggle back to On.
If I pause a campaign, do all the ads inside it pause too?
Yes. Per TikTok Ads Manager documentation, pausing a campaign automatically pauses every ad group and ad underneath it. The same cascade applies when you pause an ad group: all ads inside it stop running.