How to use hashtags on Instagram

To add a hashtag to a post you've already shared, edit the caption or add the hashtag in a comment. Tap any hashtag to see a page of photos and videos that people have shared with it.

1. Take or upload a photo or video.
2. Choose a filter if you want one, then tap Next.
3. Tap Write a caption and type # followed by text or an emoji, for example #flower.
4. Tap Share.

Source: Instagram Help Centre: Use hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

Instagram's Use hashtags page says you can use up to 5 hashtags on a post, and that if you include more than 5 on a single photo or video, your comment won't post. A separate help page on comment errors still says a single comment can't include more than 30 hashtags. The two pages disagree, so plan for 5, the stricter limit.

Our advice: pick the few that describe the post and the people you want to reach, such as your product type and your town, rather than broad tags that thousands of accounts use every hour.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Use hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Why there's an error when you try to add a comment on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

• Letters, numbers and emoji are allowed
• Spaces don't work, so #coffeeshop, not #coffee shop
• Special characters such as $ or % don't work
• You can only tag your own posts, not other people's photos or videos

Source: Instagram Help Centre: Use hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

Hashtag search results include public photos and videos shared with that hashtag. Instagram lists these factors for the order you see them in:

• When the post was shared
• How others engage with the post
• Whether the content meets Instagram's Recommendation Guidelines

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: How posts appear on Instagram hashtag search results, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Posts that appear on Instagram place and hashtag search results, checked 15 October 2026

No. If your account is private, a post with a hashtag won't appear in that hashtag's search results. Only your approved followers in a chat can see it if it's shared as a direct message. Our advice for a business that wants to be found: keep the account public.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Who can see your private Instagram posts when you add a hashtag, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Use hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

• You used more than 5. Instagram says the comment won't post
• It has a space or a special character such as $ or %
• Your account is private, so the post won't show in hashtag results
• The hashtag can't be searched. Instagram hides hashtags whose text or content keeps breaking its Terms of Use or Community Standards, and reviews them from time to time
• Your post was removed from the results because it goes against the Community Standards
• Your comment repeats one you've already posted. Instagram blocks the same comment posted more than once

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Use hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Why you can't search for certain hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: How posts appear on Instagram hashtag search results, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Why there's an error when you try to add a comment on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

Disclosure: this is our product. Zolyp writes each Instagram caption and adds hashtags in your brand voice. Nothing publishes until you approve it, so you can trim the list to five first. There's a 3-day free trial, no card required.