Do Hashtags Still Work on Instagram and TikTok?

Yes, but not the way they used to. On Instagram and TikTok, hashtags now work mainly as labels: they tell the app what your post is about so it can show it in search and to people interested in that topic. They are not a reach button. Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, said several times in 2025 that hashtags do not increase reach. Instagram said in December 2025 it would gradually limit captions to five hashtags per post or Reel, and TikTok has shown creators a five-hashtag cap since mid-2025. Use a few accurate tags, and put plain keywords in your caption.

What Instagram says about hashtags now

In December 2025, Instagram's @creators account announced that Instagram would gradually update the number of hashtags you can include in a caption for a Reel or post to five, down from the long-standing limit of 30. Because the change is gradual, some accounts may have seen it later than others. According to reports at the time, Instagram had tested lower limits for about a year, with some accounts capped at three. Coverage of the announcement also linked the change to cutting down hashtag spam.

Instagram's reasoning was simple. It said that using fewer, more targeted hashtags, rather than many generic ones, can improve both how your content performs and people's experience of the app. Coverage of the announcement gave broad tags like #reels and #explore as examples of the generic kind.

Mosseri has said the same thing several times. In 2025 he said, as reported at the time, that hashtags do not increase reach or visibility, but are a good way to let people know what a post is about and to connect it to other posts on the same topic.

What TikTok says about hashtags

TikTok has explained that its For You feed ranks videos using three kinds of signals: what viewers do, details of the video, and device or account settings. The video details it lists are captions, sounds and hashtags. So on TikTok a hashtag is one piece of information about your video, next to your caption and your sound. It is not the main thing.

TikTok also says that follower count and past hits are not direct factors in what it recommends. What matters more is how people interact with videos. TikTok says a strong sign of interest, such as someone watching a longer video all the way through, counts for more than weaker signals. A perfect set of hashtags will not save a video people scroll past. Our guides to why TikTok views are low and getting on the TikTok For You page cover what helps more.

Instagram vs TikTok at a glance

Keywords now matter more than hashtags

Both apps are increasingly used like search engines. People type what they want, such as "easy pasta recipe" or "London coffee shops", and the app looks for posts that match. When Instagram explained how its Search works (in a 2021 post by Mosseri), it said the text someone types is by far the most important signal. It matches that text against usernames, profile names, bios, captions, hashtags and places.

That means a clear caption often does more work than a hashtag. A Reel with the caption "3 easy pasta recipes for busy weeknights" tells the app exactly what it is, in the same words people search for. Instagram's own Search tips say to:

• Use a handle or profile name related to what you post.
• Put keywords about who you are and what your profile is about in your bio.
• Put keywords and hashtags in the caption, not the comments, if you want the post to be found in Search.

On TikTok, the same idea applies. Say what the video is about in your caption, and many creators also add a line of on-screen text near the start, so the topic is clear to viewers with the sound off.

How many hashtags should you use in 2026?

On both apps, five is now the cap (Instagram rolled its limit out gradually), so the real question is which ones. Instagram has said directly that fewer, more targeted hashtags work better than many generic ones, and TikTok's own limit message tells creators to use accurate hashtags.

1. 1Describe the topic. Pick one or two tags that say exactly what the post is about, like #pastarecipes rather than #food.
2. 2Add your niche or community. Add a tag your audience actually follows or searches, such as #ukrunners or #smallbusinessowner.
3. 3Add a place if it matters. If you serve a local area, a city or region tag can help the right people find you. See our guide to growing a local audience.
4. 4Skip the filler. Leave out tags like #reels, #explore, #fyp or #viral. They describe nothing about your post.
5. 5Write a real caption first. Put your main keywords in a plain sentence. Then add the hashtags at the end.

Do you need a hashtag generator?

Usually not. A generator gives you a long list of popular tags, but with a five-tag limit you only need a few, and they should describe your exact post. A quicker way is to type your topic into the search bar on Instagram or TikTok and look at the tags and words that come up. Pick the ones that match what your post shows and the people you want to reach.

What actually drives reach

If hashtags are not the reach lever, what is? On both apps, it is how people respond. Do they watch to the end? Do they share it, save it, comment or follow? Signals like these tell the app a post is worth showing to more people. Hashtags and keywords mainly help the app understand what the post is about and who it might suit. The content has to do the rest.

If your reach has dropped and you suspect hashtags, check the bigger causes first. Our guides on why Instagram reach goes down, Instagram shadowbans and TikTok shadowbans walk through them.

Some creators also give a new post a small push with TikTok views or Instagram views from Folzora so it does not look empty. That can help with first impressions, but it does not replace a clear caption, accurate tags and content people want to watch. Platform rules don't allow bought engagement, so keep it small and never use it while Account Status shows a problem.