Instagram seems to be experimenting with 3-hashtag limit for posts

For a bunch of Instagram creators, today started with a small but very annoying surprise: when they tried to stack their usual mix of tags under a post, the app suddenly popped up a warning saying “You can only add 3 hashtags to your caption.”

Reports really started to pick up on r/Instagram, where multiple threads describe posts being hard-capped at three tags, even if creators try to sneak in a fourth one-letter hashtag just to test the limit. One user who titled their thread “You can only add 3 hashtags to your caption” says the restriction appeared suddenly on one of their accounts.

Another, in a “Posts limited to 3 hashtags?” thread, wonders if Meta is quietly experimenting on a subset of accounts without saying anything.

On X, the screenshots spread just as quick. Multiple users have reported (1,2,3,4,5) seeing the new overlay appear, stating that they can only add 3 hashtags in the caption. All of this sits awkwardly alongside current public guidance, where Instagram still documents a 30-hashtag hard limit.

That gap between the official 30-tag ceiling and a sudden three-tag choke point is exactly why people are frustrated. Creators in these threads point out that they rely on a mix of broad and niche tags to reach new audiences, and chopping that down to three feels like losing a bunch of entry points into the feed and Explore page.

In my testing, however, I could still add over 3 hashtags to posts without any issues, indicating that this is indeed an ongoing experiment rather than a general public release.

To make things even stranger, the “limit” does not hit everyone the same way. Some Reddit commenters say they can only add three tags in the mobile app, but can suddenly go well past that when they switch to posting from a desktop browser. Others say logging out, deleting the app, and reinstalling brings back the old behavior, at least for now.

So far, Meta hasn’t breathed a word about whether this is a full rollout, a test on certain accounts, or some glitch they’re fixing quietly. If you’re running into this too, you’re not alone. You can check out more reports here, here, and here to follow the discussions.