Banned Hashtags on Instagram

Updated September 2022

Marketing

Any content creator knows the importance of hashtags on Instagram. Using the right hashtags is critical for building an audience and increasing post engagement on Instagram, so content creators spend a lot of time developing a collection of hashtags that represent their brands.

In recent years, Instagram has taken steps to mitigate the misuse or overuse of hashtags. This process (called shadow banning) place “bans” on particular hashtags, hiding content from users who use these banned hashtags.

Although hashtag bans are necessary for prohibiting graphic content that does not comply with the site’s Terms of Use, seemingly innocent hashtags have also been blacklisted for various reasons. Users use banned hashtags regularly, without knowing those tags are keeping others from seeing their perfectly crafted content.

How to Avoid a Ban

Before you start to panic, know that you can easily avoid being banned on Instagram. The best way to make sure that everyone gets to see the golden Instagram content you share is by not using banned hashtags.

Keeping a list of banned hashtags on hand is an easy way to keep from accidentally including a banned hashtag in a post. There are way too many banned hashtags to make a comprehensive list, but we compiled a list of “normal” hashtags currently banned on Instagram to help you keep crushing content on social media. We removed explicit hashtags from our list. Here is our list of banned hashtags, updated April 2020.

Banned Hashtags From A-Z

A

#abdl
#addmysc
#adulting
#alone
#always
#americangirl
#armparty
#asiangirl
#ass
#assday
#assworship
#attractive

B

#babe
#baddie
#beautyblogger
#beautydirectory
#bikinibody
#brain
#boho
#besties

C

#costumes
#cpr
#curvy
#curvygirls
#customers

D

#date
#daddylove
#dating
#desk
#direct
#dm
#dogsofinstagram

E

#edm
#eggplant
#elevator

F

#fishnets
#fitnessgirls
#followforfollow

G

#girlsonly
#gloves
#goddess
#graffitiigers

H

#happythanksgiving
#hardworkpaysoff
#hawks
#hotweather
#humpday
#hustler

I

#ice
#ig
#ilovemyinstagram
#instababy
#instamood
#instasport
#iphonegraphy
#italiano

K

#kansas
#kickoff
#killingit
#kissing

L

#l4l
#lean
#like
#likeback
#likeforlike
#lingerie
#livinforalivin
#loseweight
#lulu

M

#master
#mileycyrus
#milf
#mirrorphoto
#models
#mustfollow

N

#nasty
#newyears
#newyearsday
#nudity

O

#overnight

P

#parties
#petite
#popular
#pornfood
#prettygirl
#publicrelations
#puppydogdays
#pushups

R

#rate
#ravens

S

#saltwater
#samelove
#selfharm
#sexworker
#single
#singlelife
#skateboarding
#skype
#snap
#snapchat
#snowstorm
#sopretty
#stranger
#streetphoto
#stud
#sunbathing
#swole
#shower
#shit

T

#tag4like
#tagsforlikes
#todayimwearing
#teens
#teen
#tgif
#thought
#thighs
#todayimwearing
#treasurethesemoments

U

#undies
#underage

V

#valentinesday

W

#woman
#womancrushwednesday
#women
#workflow
#wtf

Y

What if the List Changes?

The list of banned hashtags does change, and some hashtags get placed under a temporary ban. Luckily, you can find out whether or not a hashtag is banned for yourself.

The process only takes a few steps:

Go to the Explore page on Instagram (the magnifying glass icon)

Type the hashtag you are looking for in the search bar

If the hashtag does not appear under the Tags section, it has been blocked.

Sometimes, hashtags will blocked show up in the search results so click on the hashtag to make sure it is not banned.

Search display for banned easter hashtag

Searching all your hashtags may seem a bit tedious, but it is well worth the time to make sure you aren’t the only one seeing your expertly crafted grid and perfectly filtered photos.

Thanks for reading!

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