THE TOP 20 MOST POPULAR INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS IN 2025

The top 20 most popular Instagram hashtags in 2025. The top 20 most used hashtags on Instagram in 2025. Use some of this popular hashtags on Instagram and increase the chances of your content to reach potential customers and fans.

Copy and paste some of these top 20 most popular hashtags on Instagram to get more chances of increasing your Instagram content reach, likes and followers.

Written by Mau, a Senior Instagram Marketing Specialist at eDigital.

Our Instagram virtual assistants have just completed research that uncovers the top 20 Instagram hashtags in 2025.

Find below the top 20 most popular hashtags on Instagram globally.

You can also find the top 25 most trending hashtags on Instagram right now.

THE TOP 20 MOST POPULAR INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS IN 2025

Before you start using some of the top 20 most popular hashtags on Instagram in 2025, let me tell you something you have probably been turning a blind eye to…

Instagram is not helping your business 

• If you are lucky, your posts on Instagram may reach 5% of your followers. This is a massive issue affecting thousands of marketers.
• You have been trying hard to build an audience on Instagram that you will never own. Yes, that’s right; you cannot transfer your hard-earned Instagram followers to your best CRM software.
• Your customer acquisition costs from Instagram ads are through the roof.

The solution

I can offer you the best digital marketing strategy workshop that will help you:

• Lower customer acquisition costs.
• Minimise dependency on paid media.
• Build a marketing engine with marketing assets and channels you fully own.
• Craft the best digital marketing plan and social media strategy that boosts sales and customer lifetime value.

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THE TOP 20 MOST POPULAR INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS IN 2025 – LIST

Discover below the most popular Instagram hashtags to connect with your target audience.

Tip: You can only add up to 30 hashtags on an Instagram post. Copy and paste some of these 20 hashtags on your Instagram posts if relevant to the theme/topic of your content shared on Instagram.

20. #tbt

The #tbt hashtag is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram used in 589+ million posts.

The #tbt hashtag stands for “Throwback Thursday.”

Social media users use this hashtag on posts that “throwback” to an older version of themselves.

Related: #throwback – #throwbackthursday

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19. #style 

The #style hashtag is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram used in 680+ million posts.

Marketers are also reading the top 25 fashion hashtags on Instagram

18. #cute

The #cute hashtag on Instagram has been used on 686+ million posts

“Globally, each social media platform offers a unique set of popular and trending #hashtags. For example, the most popular TikTok hashtags are quite different to these popular Instagram #hashtags. Compare these lists and have a platform-specific #hashtag strategy”

Mau

17. #happy

The #happy hashtag on Instagram has been used on 725+ million posts.

Related: #happybirthday – #happynewyear

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16. #instadaily 

The #instadaily hashtag on Instagram has been used on 728+ million posts

“Publishing both popular and niche hashtags on your Instagram content will increase the chances of being displayed on the Instagram explore feed”

Mau

You can also find the top 25 most trending hashtags on Instagram right now.

15. #explore

The #explore hashtag is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram used in 738+ million posts.

Related: #explorepage

You will also enjoy using some of the top 25 most popular food hashtags on Instagram

14. #trending

The #trending hashtag is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram used in 739+ million posts.

Marketers are reading: The top 25 most-followed British on Instagram

“As Instagram is showing content to just a few of your followers, forget about hashtags and invest in proven marketing strategies and activities that drive real sales in channels you fully control”

Mau – Global Head of Marketing Strategy at eDigital.

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Marketers are also reading this year’s top 10 social media marketing trends

13. #follow

The #follow hashtag is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram used in 745+ million posts.

Related: #followforfollowback – #follow4follow – #f4f  – #foryou – #fyp – #follow4followback – #following – #follower – #followme – #followtrain – #foryoupage – #follow4like – #followforlike – #followalways – #followus

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12. #travel

#travel is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram published on 762+ million posts

Related: #beautifuldestinations

11. #viral

#viral is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram used in 847+ million posts

Next: The top 10 most popular hashtags on Instagram or the top 25 most popular hashtags on Instagram

You can also find the top 25 most trending hashtags on Instagram right now.

HOW MANY HASHTAGS DOES INSTAGRAM RECOMMEND?

You can add up to 30 hashtags per post. However, Instagram’s recent recommendation is to only use between 3-5 hashtags per post while Instagram continues to develop semantic keyword search for content discoverability: the words added to captions or the topics in your videos will become searchable too.

INSTAGRAM CHALLENGES AND HASHTAGS

Hashtags become even more powerful when used in challenges, which prompt Instagram users to create videos showing themselves performing a specific action ie: fitness challenge or fans are challenged to reinvent an influencer’s video, show off a football trick or make a funny dance move. Each participant then posts their video on Instagram along with specific hashtags for the challenge.

Sometimes these popular “challenge” competitions offer great prizes for winners, but usually, it’s just for fun.

When brands sponsor a hashtag challenge, it’s called a Branded Hashtag Challenge—and it’s an incredibly effective way to boost awareness, drive engagement, and build a bigger fanbase.

Find the top 30 photography hashtags for Instagram

HOW TO SEARCH INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS COUNT FROM PC

If you want to search for a specific hashtag on Instagram, simply click on the magnifying glass at the top of the Instagram website’s screen, then type #[yourhashtag] and Instagram will automatically show you the hashtag total count. You can then click on it to see all the content for that specific hashtag.

Marketers are using > The best social media strategy plan template

Alternatively, you can type this URL on your web browser: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/hashtag/.

Change the “hashtag” word for your desired hashtag on that URL.

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INSTAGRAM MARKETING SUCCESS IS NOT ONLY ABOUT HASHTAGS

You and your team should also learn about:

• Popular Instagram video styles and trends
• Top trending effects and filters
• Influencers in your industry and their audiences.
• The Instagram influencer creator culture and its jargon

Ready to book an Instagram marketing training session? Contact us.

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WHY USE POPULAR INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS

• Instagram is well known for sparking trends and inspiring shoppers.
• Instagram has a fun, inspiring and persuasive atmosphere that prompts participation and shopping helping propel numerous products and brands into viral status – and not just the big brands in fashion or sports but even smaller businesses selling affordable and innovative products!
• Hashtags play an important role in Instagram marketing strategies. Writing the right hashtag for Instagram helps users find the content they’re interested in, join conversations they care about and meet other users with similar interests and hobbies.
• More importantly, hashtags increase a post’s visibility in the “Explore” feed, where users spend most of their time, and that visibility can push your videos to go viral.

✅  Marketers are using the best social media marketing plan template

Conclusion

This top 20 most popular Instagram hashtags ranking list is dynamic. Every year, some new hashtags become extremely popular and others fade away. Popular hashtags on Instagram tell marketers what topics and themes people enjoy uploading content about. Only use popular Instagram hashtags if your brand has earned the right to add to the conversation related to a particular hashtag, otherwise, your content will look spammy.

Need training on how to boost your leads and sales online and increase conversions? Contact us today!

eDigital can help you conceptualise, plan, develop, run and optimise successful Instagram marketing campaigns that generate leads and sales for your brand.

Our digital marketing services include:

• Strategic planning for social media and other digital marketing channels.
• Online advertising management and optimisation (Search, Display, social media ads and re-marketing).
• Marketing training: social media training and digital marketing training.
• SEO strategy and execution. Including content development (articles, stories, eye-catching and SEO-optimised visuals).
• Celebrity and influencer marketing campaign strategy.
• Brand development. Logo creation, brand personality development and design of marketing materials.
• Consumer contests/competitions/giveaways.
• Email marketing. Dip sequence design and deployment.
• Conversion rate optimisation. It is also called “path to purchase” optimisation.

Next: The top 10 most popular hashtags on Instagram or the top 25 most popular hashtags on Instagram

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THE TOP 20 MOST POPULAR INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS IN 2025

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