How many hashtags to use in 2026
Instagram counts up to 5 hashtags on each post and Reel since December 2025; the rest are ignored. TikTok has no fixed number, but 3 to 5 relevant ones work better than a long list. YouTube shows the first 3 above the title and ignores every hashtag in a video that has more than 15. LinkedIn suggests 3 to 5, X one or two, and Threads takes a single topic tag.
With so few, each one has to earn its place: a hashtag tells the app what your post is about and who might want to see it.
Mix specific, broad and local
A good set has layers. Specific hashtags (#birthdaycakes) have fewer posts, so yours stays visible longer. One broad hashtag (#baking) tells the app the wider subject. A local one (#lisbonfood) reaches people who can actually come by.
That's the mix the generator suggests: about half from your own words, one from your area and the rest from your theme.
Hashtags to avoid
Tags like #follow4follow and #like4like make a post look like it's chasing numbers, and the people who use them rarely become real followers. Very broad tags like #love, #instagood or #fyp are so crowded your post disappears in seconds. And the same set on every post tells the app nothing new: change them with the subject.
Where to put them
On Instagram a hashtag counts the same in the caption or the first comment; most people put them at the end of the caption. On YouTube, add them to the description (or the title for Shorts). On LinkedIn and X, working one or two into the sentence reads more naturally than a block at the end.
Hashtags aren't the whole story
Apps now read the text, the captions and the image itself to decide who sees a post. Hashtags help, but a clear caption with the words people search for — and a profile that tells them what to do next — matters more.