Instagram Limits Hashtag Use in 2026

Instagram has announced a new restriction on hashtags, which the platform says are no longer as important as they once were for content discovery. After testing with as few as three hashtags—down from 30—IG is now limiting tags to a maximum of five per post as the new universal restriction in the app.

From mid-December 2025, accounts receive an error message or have their tags ignored if they exceed the five-tag limit.

In a recent post on the platform’s advice channel, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri explained, “While I know it can be tempting to use more, a few specific tags actually perform better than a long list of generic ones. Quality over quantity is key.”

He added that while hashtags can help with search, they don’t necessarily increase a post’s reach, so users should “focus on working out what kind of content resonates with your audiences,” instead of stuffing posts with hashtags.