Home
Apps
Apps News
Instagram Announces a Five Hashtag Limit for Reels and Posts to Improve Content Discovery

Instagram Announces a Five-Hashtag Limit for Reels and Posts to Improve Content Discovery

Instagram says creators should focus on hashtags relevant to the content they are publishing.

Written by Shaurya Tomer, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 19 December 2025 09:41 IST

Instagram Announces a Five-Hashtag Limit for Reels and Posts to Improve Content Discovery

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Solen Feyissa

Instagram first announced the hashtags feature in 2011

Click Here to Add Gadgets360 As A Trusted Source

Highlights

Instagram is limiting posts and Reels to a maximum of five hashtags
The change is aimed at improving content discovery and user experience
Instagram says fewer, targeted hashtags perform better than generic ones

Instagram on Friday announced a limit for content discovery on its platform. It is enforcing a restriction on the number of hashtags that can be attached to a Reel or post. According to the Meta-owned social media giant, using fewer and targeted hashtags can significantly help creators in content discovery and performance, as opposed to spamming posts with generic and numerous hashtags. This move is aimed at preventing misuse of the functionality.

Limiting Hashtags on Instagram

Introduced in 2011, Hashtags on Instagram have been a long-standing feature that is claimed to assist in content discovery. As per the tech giant, this functionality enables posts to appear more frequently in topic-based searchers, trending lists, and algorithm-driven recommendations. The Meta-owned social media platform has allowed users to add up to 30 hashtags to a post, but not anymore.

Via the Creators account, the company announced that Instagram will allow up to five hashtags in a Reel or post beginning today.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Instagram's @Creators (@creators)

“We find that using fewer (up to 5) more targeted hashtags, rather than many generic ones, can improve both your content's performance and people's experience on Instagram,” the social media giant said.

It wants creators to be more intentional with the hashtags they use and focus on the ones relevant to the content they are publishing. Providing an example, Instagram said that beauty creators can use beauty-related hashtags to help attract users interested in beauty content.

Generic hashtags such as #reels or #explore, which are commonly used by creators, don't “actually help” the content appear in the Explore feed and other places. On the contrary, these could hurt the content's performance, the company said.

This development follows a previous report from earlier this month, which claimed that Instagram was testing a cap of three hashtags per Reel or post. A notification reportedly appeared while adding a hashtag, stating that only three hashtags were allowed.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri has already confirmed that hashtags “don't work”, clarifying that they are no longer the driving factor behind reach or visibility on Instagram.

Comments

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Further reading: Instagram, Instagram Hashtags, Meta

Shaurya Tomer

Email Shaurya Tomer

Shaurya Tomer is a Sub Editor at Gadgets 360 with 2 years of experience across a diverse spectrum of topics. With a particular focus on smartphones, gadgets and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), he often likes to explore the industry's intricacies and innovations – whether dissecting the latest smartphone release or exploring the ethical implications of AI advancements. In his free time, he often embarks on impromptu road trips to unwind, recharge, and ...More