Instagram Hashtags in Comments: Easy How To’s! (2024)

Want to hide your Instagram hashtags in comments?

Wondering if Instagram hashtags in comments or caption work better?

Hoping there’s an easy way to do the right thing?

Great! You’re in the right place.

Do Hashtags in Comments Work on Instagram?

Yes! They absolutely do.

Instagram says,

You can add hashtags in the caption or comments of your post. If you have a public account and add hashtags to a post, the post will be visible on the corresponding hashtag page.

If you want to add a hashtag to a post you’ve already uploaded, edit the caption or include your hashtag in a comment on your photo. source

Bottom line, you can:

• Post with up to 30 hashtags in the caption.
• OR Post, then place up to 30 hashtags in the first comment.
• Use up to 30 total hashtags, with some in the caption and/or some in multiple comments.
• Edit a caption with hashtags to delete and/or add hashtags.
• Add additional hashtags in later comments.

As long as you don’t exceed 30 total hashtags.

Because: You can use up to 30 tags on a post. If you include more than 30 tags on a single photo or video, your comment won’t post.

Why Put Instagram Hashtags in Comments?

Instagram hashtags are critical to getting found, building authority, and driving engagement.

Studies have shown that the more hashtags you use, the more results you’ll see! I recommend using all 30 hashtags allowed on Instagram.

While they’re essential, that doesn’t mean they look great.

After you craft a clever and engaging post caption, do you really want to clutter it up with a bunch of clickable hashtags?

They can look a little spammy. And, they might lead IGers away from your post, off to the hashtag feed.

You could take that hodgepodge of hashtags that cheapen the look of your caption, and set it off with a few forced return lines. 5 works well… but it’s virtually impossible to do this in the Instagram app. Once published, your formatting is stripped out.

Plus…

It’s critical when crossposting!

Do you like sharing Instagram posts to Twitter or Facebook?

Cross-posting is a smart time saver.

But you don’t want more than 2-3 hashtags on X or FB! It looks spammy, and is proven to reduce reach.

The number of hashtags acceptable on IG is simply not acceptable elsewhere.

So you must keep your Insta caption to just a handful of hashtags.

Instagram Hashtags in a Comment, Made EASY!

What if there was an EASY way to keep your Instagram caption pretty and clutter-free?

Put your hashtags in your first comment instead of the caption while your photo or video is posted for you – automatically!

Not to mention safely and securely. This is a great feature from Tailwind – an Instagram-approved Marketing Partner.

Tailwind has been hard at work adding some of the most requested features to their already best-in-class Instagram publishing tool.

Now you can add your Instagram Hashtags to your first comment right within Tailwind.

OR use the period / return trick to hide them in your caption, if you prefer!

The choice is yours.

Option #1: How to hide Instagram Hashtags in the first comment

You know the importance of using hashtags, but the last thing you need is a labor-intensive process for adding them.

All that bouncing around in a bunch of apps to post your caption, and then move your hashtags into the first comment…. It’s enough to drive you crazy!

That’s why Tailwind created your super simple all-in-one solution.

Here’s how it works:

1. Hop over to your Tailwind account and upload your image or video, drop in your caption and then type the # symbol to get predictive hashtag suggestions.
2. Click to choose or add frequently used hashtags from your list.
3. Check the box to move those comments from your caption to your 1st comment.
4. Click “add to queue” to automatically schedule your post for the best time.

Ready to get started? Add your hashtags and then schedule your Instagram content to Auto Post in a matter of moments!

• • • Click here to try Tailwind for Instagram FREE • • •

Disclosure: I’m an affiliate for Tailwind and will earn a referral fee if you purchase via my link. But you can use Tailwind FOREVER FREE! 

Option #2: How to hide Instagram Hashtags in your caption

Prefer tags in your caption? You can do that, and hide them too!

After you write the caption you want IGers to read and interact with, be sure to add line breaks before inserting your desired hashtags.

Maybe you’ve tried to do this right in the Instagram app, but found that when you posted, your formatting disappeared.

What?! Yeah, not sure why IG won’t help us with this.

So, first compose your caption in Notes, Evernote, or even easier – in Tailwind!

Tailwind makes it easy with Instagram caption formatting.

Alisa Meredith explains in the text and video below:

From Tailwind’s Instagram publisher, create a “Hashtag” list which in this case will actually store ONLY your formatting:

1. In the Tailwind Instagram Publisher, click on the “#” button.
2. Now click the  “+” button. I called mine, “formatting.”
3. Add line breaks and characters, symbols, or emojis on each line. In this hashtag list, I included a camera emoji, and then double asterisks, each on their own lines. This will add a camera emoji to the end of my caption and then insert line breaks with asterisks on them to move my hashtags down and out of view.

The important thing to note is that you need to have SOMETHING on those lines in order to sustain the line break for publishing. You could use a dash, some ellipses, or an emoji, but make sure there is nothing else on that line (no spaces following the characters) or the line breaks will disappear when you post to Instagram, even if it looks fine in the scheduler.

Now you have a handy template which will save you time every time you schedule a post – AND keep those hashtags out of sight!

You just copy and paste in your caption and formatting, and then use Hashtag Finder to find the best hashtags for your Instagram post.

Option #3: Some Hashtags in your caption and more in a comment

If you have a branded hashtag, or tightly niched tags you use often, you may want these visible in your caption – but not the whole barrage of 30!

Or you may have a hashtag that would spark conversation, as Alisa shows below.

Beware of overdoing hashtags within a sentence, as they hamper communication.

And #people find #THIS #annoying. #JustSaying!

Alisa explains that sometimes it can feel a bit playful to include a clever hashtag in the conversation.

With Tailwind’s hashtag in first comment, only the hashtags at the END of your caption will be moved to the first comment. So, go ahead and include some in the caption just for fun.

Instagram Hashtags in Comments or Caption – Which Is Better?

Some people think they see more engagement when using hashtags in the caption instead of a comment.

It might make a difference – IF you are letting time elapse between the time you post and when you add the hashtag comments. Don’t do that!

Let Tailwind make it super easy for you by posting the hashtags in the first comment immediately after publishing your post.

Test it out for yourself! Try a week each way, then check Tailwind’s fabulous analytics to see which worked better for you.

The best news is, you can set it all up in advance and have it posted to your business Instagram for you – automatically and hands-free.

You can even auto-post videos! If you haven’t tried it yet, just head over to the Tailwind dashboard and upload a video. It’s so easy 🙂

Streamline your social media marketing with Tailwind for Instagram!

• • • Click here to try Tailwind for Instagram FREE • • •

Disclosure: I’ll earn a referral fee if you upgrade to a paid plan. Or use Tailwind FOREVER FREE! 

Instagram hashtags in comments or caption – the choice is yours!