The Most Popular Instagram Hashtags on the Planet in 2024 (+ Free Tool)

You should never underestimate the importance of the simple Instagram hashtag. It plays a vital role in spreading your Instagram reach, and it helps develop your following.

When Simply Measured carried out research on Instagram usage, they found that 88% 0f brand posts include at least one hashtag and posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without. People began using hashtags online as far back as 1988 on a platform called IRC – Internet Relay Chat. Even back in that prehistoric internet age people used hashtags for the same reason they do today – to group messages and other content into categories.

The first known social media usage of hashtags was in October 2007 when Nate Ridder of San Diego, California, tagged his social messages with #SanDiegoOnFire – informing people about the wildfires his local area was suffering at the time.

Twitter was the first platform to officially adopt the hashtag in 2009, meaning that any tag starting with # became automatically hyperlinked.

It was not long before most of the other networks added support for hashtags on their platforms. This includes Instagram, which has probably seen the most significant uptake of hashtag usage. Unlike Twitter, where most people recommend that you should not use more than two or three hashtags in a single tweet, Instagram encourages large-scale hashtag usage. It is common for people to include up to 20 hashtags in a single post, and many use the maximum they are permitted – 30 hashtags.

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Most Popular Instagram Hashtags Summary:

The Purpose of Using Instagram Hashtags

Hashtags are used to help you group content. These can either be general hashtags that everybody uses – in which case you are grouping your posts and images with others who upload similar content. Alternatively, many businesses create niche hashtags to develop interest, and to consolidate posts relating to a particular product or campaign together.

Most Instagram users love to boost their following. But there is little point in being followed by somebody with entirely different interests to you. By using appropriate hashtags with your content, you are making your posts available to people who have an interest in the same subjects. And if they like your posts, they are likely to follow you in the hope of seeing more content on the same topic.

Even if people don't go as far as following you, they may like the content of yours that they come across when searching for a particular hashtag. When you use hashtags, you are effectively helping Instagram sort and organize your posts – helping them reach people who will value them.

The 100 Most Popular Instagram Hashtags

Currently, the 100 most popular Instagram hashtags are as follows:

1. #love
2. #instagood
3. #photooftheday
4. #fashion
5. #trending
6. #explorepage
7. #viral
8. #tbt
9. #like4like
10. #followme
11. #picoftheday
12. #follow
13. #me
14. #selfie
15. #summer
16. #art
17. #instadaily
18. #friends
19. #repost
20. #nature
21. #trendingnow
22. #fun
23. #style
24. #smile
25. #food
26. #instalike
27. #likeforlike
28. #family
29. #travel
30. #fitness
31. #worldcup
32. #tagsforlikes
33. #viralpost
34. #nofilter
35. #life
36. #beauty
37. #amazing
38. #instamood
39. #igers
40. #instagram
41. #photo
42. #music
43. #photography
44. #makeup
45. #dog
46. #beach
47. #sunset
48. #model
49. #foodporn
50. #motivation
51. #followforfollow
52. #sky
53. #lifestyle
54. #design
55. #gym
56. #f4f
57. #toofunny
58. #cat
59. #handmade
60. #hair
61. #vscocam
62. #bestoftheday
63. #vsco
64. #funny
65. #dogsofinstagram
66. #drawing
67.  #artist
68.  #f4fl
69. #flowers
70. #baby
71.  #wedding
72. #memes
73. #instapic
74. #pretty
75. #photographer
76.  #instafood
77. #party
78. #inspiration
79. #lol
80.  #cool
81. #workout
82. #motivation
83. #swag
84. #fit
85. #healthy
86. #yummy
87. #blackandwhite
88.  #foodie
89. #insta
90. #home
91. #christmas
92. #black
93.  #memes
94. #winter
95. #pink
96.  #sea
97. #landscape
98.  #blue
99. #london
100. #holiday

Best Instagram Hashtags for Likes and Follows

While these hashtags might not bring in the best likes and follows, they're still commonly used by Instagram creators to encourage other Instagram users to engage with their content and accounts.

1. #instagram
2. #instadaily
3. #LikeForFollow
4. #LikesForLikes
5. #LikeForLikes
6. #FollowForFollow
7. #LikeForLike
8. #FollowForFollowBack
9. #FollowBack
10. #FollowMe
11. #instalike
12. #comment
13. #follow
14. #PhotoOfTheDay
15. #fashion
16. #me
17. #love
18. #photography
19. #like
20. #followers
21. #follow4follow
22. #likes
23. #myself
24. #f
25. #l
26. #beautiful
27. #instagood
28. #smile
29. #bhfyp
30. #PicOfTheDay

Best Instagram Hashtags for Pet Lovers

If you've got a furry friend in your life, there are hashtags for that! While the majority of the more popular hashtags for pets on Instagram have to do with dogs and cats, you can pretty much put the type of pet you have followed by "OfInstagram" (as in "#GoldfishOfInstagram") and you'll find your people.

1. #DogsOfInstagram
2. #CatsOfInstagram
3. #PetsOfInstagram
4. #CatLover
5. #DogOfTheDay
6. #DogLovers
7. #cute
8. #cats
9. #dogstagram
10. #puppy
11. #catstagram
12. #dogs
13. #animal
14. #animals
15. #DogLife
16. #dogelife
17. #instagram
18. #love
19. #pets
20. #petstagram
21. #PetLovers
22. #of
23. #dog
24. #doglover
25. #instagood
26. #instapet
27. #pet
28. #cat
29. #instadog

Best Instagram Hashtags for Travel Lovers

If you're a travel influencer (or just love travel), you'll find quite a few popular Instagram hashtags to help you get your content found. Got the travel bug? A scroll through these hashtags will only make it worse.

1. #TravelPhotography
2. #PicOfTheDay
3. #ExploreNature
4. #NaturePhotography
5. #TravelBlogger
6. #beautiful
7. #landscape
8. #adventure
9. #explore
10. #instatravel
11. #photo
12. #trip
13. #summer
14. #travelgram
15. #photography
16. #art
17. #travel
18. #wanderlust
19. #nature
20. #instagood

Best Instagram Hashtags for the Fashion Industry

Head's up, fashion influencers! Here are the most popular Instagram hashtags to join in the conversations that will get you noticed on the platform.

1. #ootd
2. #FashionBlogger
3. #WhatIWore
4. #CurrentlyWearing
5. #FashionBlog
6. #ShoppingAddict
7. #LookGoodFeelGood
8. #FashionAddict
9. #FashionStyle
10. #style
11. #fashion
12. #igstyle
13. #bhfyp
14. #smile
15. #OutfitOfTheDay
16. #FashionPhotography
17. #FollowBack
18. #follow
19. #fashionista
20. #PhotoOfTheDay
21. #StyleInspo
22. #instastyle
23. #love
24. #BeautyDoesntHaveToBePain
25. #PassionForFashion
26. #FollowForFollowBack
27. #fashionable
28. #l
29. #PicOfTheDay
30. #fashiongram

Best Instagram Hashtags for Fitness Influencers

Are you a fitness influencer? Use these most popular fitness-related hashtags to reach the right people.

1. #exercise
2. #bodybuilding
3. #life
4. #gymlife
5. #gymrat
6. #motivation
7. #healthy
8. #lifestyle
9. #health
10. #gym
11. #DreamBody
12. #GetFit
13. #WomanWhoLift
14. #sport
15. #training
16. #workout
17. #HealthyLifestyle
18. #muscle
19. #fit
20. #CrossFit
21. #HIIT
22. #StrenghtTraining
23. #fitness
24. #FitFam
25. #goals
26. #PersonalTrainer
27. #FitnessMotivation

Best Instagram Hashtags for Running a Contest or Giveaway

1. #giveaway
2. #sweepstakes
3. #InItToWinIt
4. #WinItWednesday
5. #freebie
6. #freebies
7. #ContestAlert
8. #ContestEntry
9. #instacontest
10. #instagiveaway
11. #WinIt
12. #contest
13. #GiveawayAlert
14. #giveawayworldwide

Best Instagram Hashtags for Your Reels

If you create Reels on Instagram (and you should), you'll want to take note of these most popular Instagram hashtags for Reels.

1. #ReelsInstagram
2. #VideoOfTheDay
3. #TrendingReel
4. #trending
5. #ReelsIndia
6. #ReelSteady
7. #disney
8. #ForYouPage
9. #InstagramReels
10. #bhfyp
11. #instareels
12. #reelsinsta
13. #fyp
14. #ReelsOfInstagram
15. #TikTokIndia
16. #HolaReels
17. #reels
18. #ReelsBrasil
19. #k
20. #ReelsVideo
21. #instareel
22. #music

Best Instagram Hashtags for Foodies

Food influencers and food lovers will want to check out these Instagram hashtags!

1. #instafood
2. #FoodPhotography
3. #PhotoOfTheDay
4. #food
5. #FoodPorn
6. #FoodBlogger
7. #foodstagram
8. #homemade
9. #cooking
10. #lunch
11. #PicOfTheDay
12. #instadaily
13. #healthy
14. #foodie
15. #FoodLover
16. #bhfyp
17. #instagood
18. #tasty
19. #delicious
20. #love
21. #foodgasm
22. #foodies
23. #HealthyFood
24. #dinner
25. #yummy
26. #restaurant

How to Find the Best Instagram Hashtags

Instagram likes it when creators use different hashtags on different posts rather than using the same block of hashtags on every post. This means you need to build up a library of hashtags or hashtag groups with slight variations and then choose the right combination of hashtags for each post.

To find the right hashtags to use on your Instagram content, here's what you can do:

1. Use Instagram's search function. Just type in a keyword relevant to your post and select the Tags tab. Instagram will then give you a list of hashtags. Look for relevant tags with a reasonable usage (around 50K) that are not so popular that your posts will get lost.
2. Use the hashtags that others in your niche or industry use.
3. Check out what your competitors are doing. Check their posts to make sure that the hashtags aren't part of a specific campaign they're running. Then, grab the non-branded ones and use them.

Once you have a good list of hashtags to choose from, here's a really easy hack you can use to have them ready to go. First, break them into related groups of 8–15 hashtags. Once you have them organized, use your smartphone's text replacement feature to add shortcuts for each of the groups. It's easiest to just use something like "ht1," "ht2," etc. However, you can use whatever shortcut you want. From there, you just need to add the hashtags as the text to fill in when you type out the shortcut.

Types of Instagram Hashtags

Most Instagram hashtags are broad and subject-level. This makes them useful for any Instagram user adding content related to that hashtag. Sometimes, though, you need hashtags that are a bit more targeted. More targeted hashtags also tend to have less competition.

1. Brand Hashtags

Many brands create hashtags related to their brand or products. An excellent example of this is the global beverage company Coca-Cola. They encourage people to post pictures of themselves sharing a bottle of Coke using the #ShareACoke hashtag. This is also a great way to get user-generated content that you can then use (with permission) in your marketing.

A quick tip about branded hashtags: focus on your tagline or a hashtag related to your value proposition instead of your brand name. More people are likely to use the #ShareACoke hashtag than they would be to use #CocaCola.

2. Category Hashtags

Category hashtags can be broad, but you'll want to keep them closely related to the subject of your content. So, if you're sharing a picture of yourself running a road race like the Chicago Marathon, you'll want to stick to categories like #running and #marathon instead of #TrailRunning. These hashtags generally don't connect to any brand and are less focused. We recommend using category hashtags that are as narrowly focused as possible.

3. Event Hashtags

Event hashtags, as you can probably guess, relate to a particular event. So, using the Chicago Marathon as an example again, you might use #ChicagoMarathon or even #ChicagoMarathon2024. Event hashtags aren't limited to traditional events, either. They can be used to tag your content for television shows (#QueerEye), major sporting events (#Olympics), conferences (#MozCon), and more.

4. Campaign Hashtags

Many brands use campaign hashtags to organize the content they create around a specific campaign. These are typically used short-term and will last only as long as the campaign. You'll see lots of campaign hashtags for product launches.

Don’t Always Use the Most Popular Instagram Hashtags

By definition, the most popular hashtags are the most used hashtags. #love, for instance, has been used in 1.2 billion posts. This presents a problem if you are hoping to use hashtags that will make your posts stand out.

You need to balance your wish to use popular hashtags against the danger of being crowded out of high-demand topics. In many ways, this is similar to SEO when you try to chase keyword terms in Google’s search engine. Most people will do better if they attempt to rank for long-tail terms, such as “men's fashion in New York” than they will for a broad term like “fashion.”

If you are making an Instagram post that is about love, you might include #love as one of your 30 permitted hashtags. But you should probably focus on using related hashtags with smaller, yet still sizeable followings, such as #wonderful, #adorable, #hug, #lover, or even #loveisintheair.

Some of the top hashtags do symbolize a particular type of post, and you may specifically be aiming that your snaps be considered #photooftheday, #instadaily, or #picoftheday. And, of course, it makes sense to use #repost if you are indeed reposting an image.

By the way, if you are wondering what the hashtag #tbt means, it stands for Throwback Thursday. It has now become common for people to share photos of “back in the day” as #TBT posts.

You should reserve the hashtag #instagood for your very best photos. It indicates to fellow Instagrammers that you are particularly pleased with the photo to which you have attached that hashtag.

Trending Hashtags

While the exact list of most popular Instagram hashtags is continually changing, there are clear popularity trends.

There are a few distinct niches that always perform well on Instagram. The above list indicates how many popular posts feature fashion, beauty, and food. Although not currently in the Top 25 at the time of writing, #travel often performs very well, too. The success of the #nature tag suggests that people still love to see beautiful scenes of nature and the environment.

This makes sense. Instagram is highly visual. People are going to want to share eye-catching imagery – which you are far more likely to be able to do with an image of the latest fashion or a delectable dessert than you are with a picture of yet another phone or computer. Some hashtags are seasonal by nature. #summer may be top ranking at the moment, but it will fall out of favor when it’s time to share the snowboarding and skiing pics next winter. #valentinesday jumps up the rankings each February and #christmas in December. As we approach the end of each year, #sale skyrockets in popularity.

You Can Now Follow Hashtags

Earlier in 2018 Instagram made a range of changes to their platform. This includes the ability to follow hashtags on Instagram.

This makes hashtag usage even more critical. Your posts have the chance to appear in the feeds of people who follow the hashtags you use.

This is probably another reason why you want to include some “long tail” hashtags on your posts, as it may make it easier for your posts to compete with the thousands, often millions, of others using popular hashtags.

It is vital that you only use hashtags relating to the specific images you share, however. Users can mark your content as something they don’t want to see if your images fail to deliver. Indeed, Instagram has made it very clear that it will penalize people who consistently use the same group of hashtags in every post.

I will look at hashtag usage in more detail in The Ultimate Guide to Using Hashtags to Grow your Followers on Instagram.

About the Author

Werner Geyser

Writer

With over 15 years in content marketing, Werner founded Influencer Marketing Hub in 2016. He successfully grew the platform to attract 5 million monthly visitors, making it a key site for brand marketers globally. His efforts led to the company's acquisition in 2020. Additionally, Werner's expertise has been recognized by major marketing and tech publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, BBC and Wired.