Now You Can’t Use More Than 5 Hashtags On Instagram: #Reels & #Explore No Longer Work
Instagram will now allow only five hashtags instead of 30, urging creators to focus on relevance over quantity as generic hashtags like #reels no longer help with reach.
Instagram has announced a big change that directly affects how creators use hashtags on the platform. On Friday, the Meta-owned social media company confirmed that it is now limiting the number of hashtags allowed on a Reel or post. Instead of allowing up to 30 hashtags, Instagram will now allow only five. The company believes that fewer and more relevant hashtags help content perform better and improve user experience.
This update is mainly aimed at stopping hashtag misuse and spam while helping creators focus on quality and relevance.
Instagram Hashtag Limit: What Has Changed For Creators
The Instagram hashtag limit has officially been reduced. Earlier, creators could use up to 30 hashtags on a single post or Reel. Now, Instagram will allow only five hashtags per post.
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This update was announced through Instagram’s Creators account. According to the platform, using fewer but targeted hashtags works better than adding many generic ones. Instagram says this helps improve content performance and also makes the platform better for viewers.
Hashtags were first introduced on Instagram in 2011 and have been used for content discovery ever since.
They help posts appear in topic-based searches, trending sections, and algorithm-based recommendations. However, Instagram now feels that too many hashtags can do more harm than good.
The company wants creators to be more intentional. This means choosing hashtags that actually match the content. For example, a beauty creator should use beauty-related hashtags to reach people who are genuinely interested in that topic.
Instagram Hashtag Limit & Why Generic Hashtags Don’t Work
Instagram also clarified that generic hashtags like #reels or #explore do not help content get discovered. In fact, the platform said these hashtags don’t actually help posts appear on the Explore page or other discovery sections.
According to Instagram, using such broad and commonly used hashtags can even hurt a post’s performance. That’s why the focus is now on relevance rather than quantity.
This announcement comes after an earlier report that claimed Instagram was testing a limit of three hashtags per post. Some users reportedly saw a notification while adding hashtags that said only three were allowed. Now, the final decision is a cap of five hashtags.
With this update, Instagram is clearly encouraging creators to stop hashtag spamming and start using fewer, meaningful hashtags that truly match their content.
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