Instagram banned Hashtags You Should Avoid In 2022

Written by:- automonkey

Instagram banned Hashtags:- Hashtags are an incredible way to increase the follower count and boost engagement with relevant and fresh content trending on the charts. However, lately, Instagram has considered hashtag usage seriously and has been taking down a few hashtags that they deem fake news, spamming, or insensitive.

If you use such Instagram banned Hashtags in your posts, they will automatically be hidden from hashtag searches and exploring pages, leading to reduced engagement and views.

Banned hashtags keep changing, based on Instagram’s investigations and community reports. Sadly, Instagram does not publish a complete list of presently Instagram banned Hashtags, which is why we have come up with an entire article on it!

Continue reading to know the list of banned hashtags to avoid in 2022 and what you need to do to protect your posts from being penalized.

Why Do Certain Hashtags Get Banned?

Certain Hashtags Get Banned

User experience is a major reason why Instagram bans certain hashtags.

Instagram took the decision to ban certain hashtags due to user reports or complaints. Ideally, that happens when an account does not adhere to Instagram’s policies, like buying followers, publishing inappropriate content, and using hashtags that are not relevant.

The other reasons why Instagram may stop showing your account include:

You use a bot for posting spammy content
You engage in suspicious or doubtful behavior like unfollowing and following people very quickly
Your account gets reported very frequently by other accounts
You use banned hashtags like the ones we’ll discuss below

At times (not always, though), Instagram warns its users if they violate policies. You must immediately stop posting this kind of content or hashtag in such a case.

A-Z List of Common Instagram Banned Hashtags

A

#abc7ny
#adultlife
#armparty
#alone
#adulting
#americangirl
#always
#asia
#ass
#attractive
#assday
#abcess
#addmysc
#abdl
#assworship
#africanexpeditions
#akiralane
#agariogaming
#allbreasts
#asiangirl
#amearalavey
#afourchamberedheart
#audaciousprayer
#animenoobs

B

#beautydirectory
#beautyblogger (*Note that #beautybloggers plural isn’t banned)
#babe
#brain
#bbc
#boho
#bikinibody
#besties
#beyonce
#books

C

#cpr
#curvy
#costumes
#customers
#curvygirls

D

#dating
#direct
#date
#dm
#desk
#dogsofinstagram
#dadylove

E

#eggplant
#easter
#edm
#elevator

F

#fishnets
#fitnessgirls

G

#goddess
#gloves
#graffitiigers
#girlsonly

H

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

I

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

K

#kissing
#killingit
#kansas
#kickoff

L

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

M

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

N

#newyearsday
#newyears
#nudity
#nasty

O

#outdoorbirth
#orderweedonline
#overnight

P

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

Q

#quadveins
#qatar

R

#ravens
#rate

S

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

T

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

U

#undies (just one we know of as of now)

V

#valentinesday (surprisingly)

W

#womancrushwednesday
#woman
#wtf
#workflow
#women

X

#xenociteclad
#xanax
#xxx

Y

#youngmodel
#yochale
#your_sinful_memory

How Does Instagram Determine Which Hashtags to Ban?

banned hashtag

A hashtag is banned when either the community or Instagram flags it.

Hashtags that spammers or bots use to spam
Obscene hashtags, which don’t comply with the Community Guidelines of Instagram

Though a few Instagram banned Hashtags permanently, like #eggplant, or #wtf, others are removed or added to the banned hashtag list as and when spammers alter their tactics.

What Will Happen If You Use Instagram banned Hashtags?

What Will Happen If You Use A Banned Hashtag

Your post won’t show up in other users’ feeds if you happen to use any of these banned hashtags unless they visit your profile. If you use banned hashtags very frequently, Instagram may even flag your handle, which can further result in a shadowban or removal of your account.

Instagram Shadowbanning is when any of your video, image, or post shares aren’t shown to users who do not follow you. Most of the time, you won’t even come to know that you have been shadowbanned on Instagram except when you notice a massive drop in views and engagement. That can be disastrous for follower growth, revenue, and business.

Hence, the best move is to stay cautious and avoid using those hashtags that Instagram does not like.

How To See If A Hashtag Is Banned on Instagram?

banned-hashtags-on-instagram-

The banned hashtag list keeps changing with time, making it important for you to conduct thorough research before including any hashtag in your post. You can search for banned hashtags on Instagram in the ‘Search Bar.’ To do this, tap on the ‘Magnifying Glass’ icon that appears in the ‘Explore’ tab and enters the hashtag you wish to use.

Next, click on it. When you arrive at that hashtag feed, you may see a message saying that the recent posts are ‘Currently Hidden.’ This implies that Instagram has banned that particular hashtag. A few of the hashtags get banned temporarily. But it is highly advised to reframe your hashtag to evoke high engagement.

If you didn’t get the chance to go through your hashtags and have noticed a fall in your engagement rate, it might indicate that one or more of the tags you are using is banned. Make time to check your hashtags and determine which is the one. Next, remove it, insert a new tag and see your engagement boost again.

How Can You Avoid Using Hashtags That Are Banned?

People often fall victim to their own bad user habits on Instagram. That can lead to a major fall in engagement rates or even the removal of your account by Instagram. Thus, you should ensure that you avoid using the banned Instagram hashtags of 2022 while posting.

To remain on the safer side, try to follow the steps listed below while you post content on Instagram.

Ensure that you remove broken or abused hashtags

Instead of guessing and using any hashtag that comes to your mind, have a thorough look at the hashtags in your list to ensure that they don’t fall under Instagram’s banned list of hashtags.

Instagram will consider your content spam if your post has 20 hashtags. Instead, limit your hashtag usage to a max of 10. Besides, if you include the same hashtags on each post, Instagram’s algorithm may detect you as a fake or a bot account. Therefore, make sure that you use different hashtags for each post.

Utilize niche-specific hashtags

When you utilize niche-specific or location-specific tags, you will likely receive more followers on Instagram from your target audience.

Besides, niche-specific tags are not as likely to get banned on Instagram as generic ones; thus, they are typically safer to use and would offer better results for the content you post.

Make your own unique hashtags

Do none of the available hashtags ideate with your thoughts? Are you tired of the ones you have been using for a while? Just break the ice and make your own!

Create or use your own unique hashtag that is relevant to your brand. You can also make a central Instagram feed that the users can look for and see when they’re interested to learn more about your brand’s products/services.

These days, one of the most followed strategies is to place your ‘#brandedhashtag’ under your profile’s bio and motivate the users to use it in the content they post to get featured on your Instagram page. By doing so, your hashtag Instagram feed would be filled with posts published by other users, thus establishing your reputation and credibility.

You could even feature these posts as content under your Instagram account, which will work wonders as content that’s user-generated generally receives more engagement than other kinds of posts.

Create a list of go-to hashtags

Want to do something good for yourself? Create a go-to list of hashtags that will stay with you always.

It is likely that you will have an array of content and might wish to change your hashtags sometimes; however, identifying a stock of, say 5-10 hashtags relevant to your Instagram content would help save your time and also maintain your content under the hashtag feeds for a long time.

Keep tracking the progress and ensure that all these hashtags deliver results. It is a great idea to evaluate them for around 15 days and make changes wherever required.

Do not take the help of bots

People often take the help of bots to increase comments and likes on their posts. However, that can eventually lead to Instagram banning your account. Paid comments and likes further lead to unnatural high interaction rates, which Instagram’s algorithm considers spam. Instagram can spot such activity easily, which could result in a ban.

What Should You Do if Instagram Shadowbans Your Account?

Instagram Shadowbans Your Account

Though there is no guaranteed solution to handle this issue, however you can try the steps mentioned below to keep things safe.

To start with, you should correct your content on the post by taking down the banned Instagram hashtags. You must also delete irrelevant tags and maintain consistency to prevent these tags from being considered spam by Instagram.

Besides, using 3rd-party applications with Instagram can often lead your account to be shadowbanned. In such situations, you must disconnect the applications if they seem similar to bots or automated interactions.

Removing spammy content could be your initial step to preventing shadowban. Using excessive or inappropriate hashtags may result in your content being tagged as spam.

At times, influencers may fail to come up with fresh ideas and could publish the same content repetitively, which may result in shadowban. Hence, if you feel all worked up, you must consider taking a short break from the platform.

That will provide Instagram’s algorithm the time it needs to reset your account and help you make a comeback. Besides, this can also lower the chances of your account being identified as some bot which may happen because of excessive posting, commenting, and liking.

Sometimes, Instagram accounts tend to get shadowbanned due to some unthought-of misunderstandings. In such situations, you must immediately report the matter to Instagram via official communication to reverse the account ban manually.

People who use their personal accounts to conduct business are more vulnerable to a ban. Hence, if you’re using your personal Instagram account for advertisement and promotional purposes, you must get it converted to an official business account.

Why Are Hashtags Important on Instagram?

hashtags

Below are the three ways through which hashtags could help you; these are benefits you might not have taken into consideration yet:

Establish your reputation

When you use a ‘branded hashtag,’ it helps spark interest among your followers. It further encourages them into tagging it in their content, making a user-created feed of posts related to your business or brand. That helps you enjoy more credibility and authority in your specific niche.

You could also try promoting more reach in other relevant hashtag feeds that could likely land you under a hashtag feed’s ‘top’ section. That will provide you with more opportunities for content engagement, views, and more followers.

Know more about your audience

Look for a hashtag feed and go through the content posted within it. See which users are engaging with and liking that content. You’ll then have a better idea about your audience, the kind of content they like and how you can create captions and content that grabs their attention.

Keep an eye on your competition

As most people on Instagram use hashtags nowadays, you can track hashtags to understand what kind of tactic your competitors are using regarding hashtags. Take a look at their profile, check out their content, observe what brings them more engagement and views and try reaching out to a few of their followers. They are more likely to show an interest in your brand as they’re already following one similar account.

Conclusion

As discussed above, banned hashtags could be tricky to navigate as they are constantly changing, and there are never direct details from Instagram regarding them. But the growth and engagement that you can get from using accurate, good hashtags are worth the additional steps you need to take to avoid using any banned hashtags.

To sum it up, ensure that you remain up-to-date about your hashtag and content performance. When you monitor your high-performing content, you’ll be able to learn and replicate the same strategy to gain more followers and reach.