Meta Ads Attribution Settings: Click, View and Engage-Through Windows, Traced Through One Shopify Order

Meta's attribution setting decides which purchases an ad set is credited with and optimizes toward. Under the standard model, a purchase counts within 1 or 7 days of a link click, or 1 day of an impression or other engagement. The default is 7-day click, 1-day view and 1-day engagement. Wider settings claim more of your Shopify orders.

An attribution setting is Meta's rule for its own ads only. For how attribution models split credit across every channel, see our guide to first click vs last click attribution. This post covers the settings Ads Manager offers today, the windows Meta removed, how the setting changes delivery as well as reporting, one Shopify order traced through each setting, and which setting to use for which decision. We checked every Meta detail against Meta's help center, newsroom and developer docs on October 24, 2026.

What attribution settings does Meta Ads Manager offer?

You choose them per ad set: first an attribution model, then, for the standard model, which clicks, views and engagements count and for how long.

Meta's attribution models and settings article describes three models:

The same article says Meta currently offers standard and incremental, so treat custom as limited. Under the standard model, these are the settings for website and in-store conversions:

Meta's Results article gives the default as 7-day click, 1-day view and 1-day engagement. You set it in the ad set's Conversion section: click Show more options, then edit Standard attribution selections, per Meta's engage-through setup steps for Sales, Leads and Engagement campaigns with a website or app conversion location. Meta notes that some accounts still run the prior click-through and engage-through definitions while the change rolls out.

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Which attribution windows did Meta remove, and when?

Meta dropped the 28-day windows and 7-day view with Apple's iOS 14.5 changes in 2021, its API stopped returning view windows longer than a day in January 2026, and "click" was narrowed to link clicks from March 2026.

The March change matters most for day-to-day reading. Meta said billing doesn't change, but purchases that used to count as click-through after a save or share now count as engage-through, with a 1-day window instead of 7. Your click-through purchases can fall with no change to your tracking.

28-day click survives only in reporting: Meta's comparison tool still shows it, but you can't set an ad set to it.

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Does the attribution setting change optimization or only reporting?

Both, when you set it on the ad set. A comparison column changes only what you see.

Meta's attribution article says the model you pick shapes ad delivery as well as which conversions get credit, and that standard attribution optimizes delivery for the windows and actions you select. When Meta moved the setting to the ad set in 2021, its developer post explained the point: the conversions the system optimizes for are the same ones you measure.

Two practical consequences:

• Delivery learns from what the setting counts. An ad set on 1-day click learns only from purchases made within a day of a link click. On the default, it also learns from people who bought within a day of seeing or engaging with the ad.
• Comparison columns don't touch delivery. Meta's comparison article says you can compare settings whatever setting the campaign optimizes for.

Meta also warns that results can't be compared in the Campaign Overview table across ad sets with different attribution models, because each model counts differently.

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One Shopify order, traced through each setting

Here's one order and the three touches before it. The shopper clicks on her phone and buys on her laptop.

Now the same order under each setting:

Every "yes" in that table depends on one thing first: Meta received the purchase and matched it to her. If her laptop's browser blocks the pixel and nothing sends the order server-side, Ads Manager counts it under no setting at all. Our guide to why Meta isn't tracking Shopify purchases covers that side.

The other tools see the same order differently. Shopify records one $90 order. Klaviyo can count it for the email under its own attribution window. A click-based tool that resolves the shopper across devices, such as Upstack Attribution, credits it to Meta under first click, to Klaviyo under last click and to both under any click.

Why the total moves away from Shopify's order count

Multiply order #1042 by a week of orders and four forces pull Meta's number away from Shopify's:

1. Meta counts only orders it can tie to its own ads. Shoppers who never saw an ad, purchases Meta never received, and purchases outside the window don't count, so Ads Manager sits below Shopify.
2. Other channels claim the same orders. Order #1042 is one Shopify order but can be two reported conversions, one in Meta and one in Klaviyo. Add the platforms together and you pass Shopify.
3. Views and engagements add orders with no click. Each one widens what Meta can claim beyond what a click-based report shows.
4. Some results are modeled. Meta's Results article says statistical modeling may be used where data is partial or missing, so not every reported purchase maps to a single order.

Here's how the first and third forces play out in an illustrative week for a store with 1,000 Shopify orders. These are made-up numbers to show the direction, not a benchmark:

None of these rows is the "true" number. Each answers a different question about the same orders. If Ads Manager shows more purchases than your store took, that's a different problem, covered in our guide to Meta reporting more purchases than Shopify.

How do you compare attribution settings without changing the ad set?

Use Meta's Compare attribution settings feature: it adds a column per window to your report and leaves delivery alone.

Meta's comparison article lists 1-day view, 1-day click, 7-day click and 28-day click. In Meta Ads Reporting:

1. Click Customize at the top right of the reporting table.
2. In the Customize pivot table section, click Options, then Select attribution settings.
3. Pick the settings to compare.
4. Choose a conversion count: All conversions counts every conversion after a click or view, and First conversion counts only the first.
5. Click Apply.

Meta's engage-through article adds a 1-day Engagement option to the same comparison. A campaign younger than 28 days shows only partial 28-day click data.

What the gaps between columns tell you:

• 1-day click vs 7-day click: how many buyers take days to come back. A large gap is normal for considered purchases; the 28-day click column shows the tail.
• 7-day click vs the default: how much of the ad set's credit rests on views and engagements rather than link clicks.
• The default vs incremental: in Ads Manager, Columns: Performance > Compare attribution models > Incremental shows the conversions Meta's model counts as caused by your ads, per Meta's incremental results article. It isn't available for dates before April 1, 2025.

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Where does incremental attribution fit?

It's a separate attribution model with no windows to set.

You pick it at ad set creation for Sales, Engagement or Leads campaigns whose conversion location is a website, or a website and app. It optimizes delivery toward conversions Meta's models predict an ad caused, and Results show only those. Meta says you can't use bid controls with it or change the model after you publish. Our guide to Meta incremental attribution covers what changes in your numbers and delivery, and how it differs from a real holdout test.

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Which attribution setting should a Shopify brand use for each decision?

Our take. Don't change an ad set's setting to make Ads Manager look like Shopify. Change the report with comparison columns. Change the ad set's setting only when you want delivery to learn from different purchases, and do it on a new ad set so you have something to compare against.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the default attribution setting in Meta Ads Manager?

7-day click, 1-day view and 1-day engagement, according to Meta's Results article. A purchase counts if it happens within 7 days of a link click on your ad, or within 1 day of an impression or a non-link engagement such as a save or a 5-second video play.

Can you still use 28-day click or 7-day view on Meta?

Not as an ad set setting. Meta dropped 28-day click, 28-day view and 7-day view for website conversions with the iOS 14.5 rollout in 2021. 28-day click remains as a comparison column in reporting, and the Ads Insights API stopped returning 7-day view and 28-day view on January 12, 2026.

What is engaged-view attribution on Meta?

It's the old name for engage-through attribution. Meta renamed it in its March 3, 2026 announcement and moved shares, saves and other non-link clicks into it. It counts purchases within 1 day of a non-link click or a video play of at least 5 seconds.

Does changing the attribution setting change how Meta optimizes my ads?

Yes, when you change it on the ad set: Meta optimizes delivery for the windows and actions the setting counts. Comparing settings in reporting doesn't change delivery.

Why doesn't Meta's purchase count match my Shopify orders?

Meta counts only purchases it received and can tie to its own ads inside your attribution setting, including views and engagements, while Shopify counts every order once. Other platforms claim some of the same orders, and some of Meta's results are modeled.

See how Upstack Attribution credits the same orders by first click, last click and any click against the revenue in your Shopify account.