Knowing which hashtags will help your social media grow is crucial, whether your account is old or new. This also means understanding how banned Instagram hashtags will work against your profile. This guide will walk you through the ways in which hashtags will harm your account. If you aren’t careful, the platform might shadowban you and stop you from connecting with new people.

Why Instagram Bans Certain Hashtags

Instagram is always updating its internal list of offensive hashtags. If they go against Community Guidelines or are otherwise inappropriate, the platform blocks them. However, most bans come from user reports. If several problematic posts make use of the same hashtag, the app blocks this temporarily or permanently.

Even if the tag itself is entirely innocent, spambots usually target popular keywords. This means anyone looking for them could be a target if they aren’t careful while browsing. A temporary ban will only be in effect until the bots stop using it. After this, you can use it normally.

Temporary or even permanent bans are essential for making sure everybody has a good overall Instagram experience. Spammy behavior could make it impossible to view your favorite tags, for example. Similarly, a permanent block helps guarantee that hate speech hashtags never end up trending on the platform.

Some people even use hashtags to coordinate illegal activities. This could be to find people who share their desire to spread hate speech, for example. Criminals might also use keywords to sell illegal goods. This is yet another reason why the app may temporarily block seemingly innocent terms from general use.

What Happens if You Use Banned Instagram Hashtags?

You’ll usually face no direct consequences when using these hashtags. For example, you won’t have to worry about Instagram shutting your profile down for using inoffensive words. So long as you’re just using innocent terms, your account will generally stay in good standing.

However, as Instagram suppresses banned hashtags from public view, your posts can suffer. It’s possible that your content won’t even appear in your followers’ feeds. Depending on the term, it might not even be possible to check the hashtag using Instagram’s search bar.

If you continue to use tags that clearly signify inappropriate content, Instagram may shadowban you. This is when the platform massively lowers your presence in the algorithm. In many cases, even your posts without these hashtags will not be visible to other users.

If you want to grow organically on the platform, you need to avoid banned IG hashtags wherever possible. This could mean checking regularly to see which words aren’t showing on the Explore page. Alternatively, there are third-party tools that will help identify them.

How To Tell if You’re Shadowbanned on Instagram

If Instagram shadowbans you, it might take some time to notice. This could start as a major drop in your engagement rates before your profile is basically invisible. Here are some ways you can see if your profile is hidden:

• Account status: If you have a professional profile, click on Account Status while viewing your settings. This should show if Instagram is limiting your social media posts, usually with the platform’s reason.
• Check analytics: A shadowban instantly leads to a massive drop in engagement across your profile’s content. If you suddenly stop seeing the number of likes you’re used to, a shadowban could be why.
• Use rare hashtags: Add rare hashtags (with very few posts) to your next upload and ask somebody to check it. If they cannot find you while they’re looking at the hashtag, you’re likely shadowbanned.
• Ask people: You can put out a story asking followers if they’ve seen your content across the past few days. If people who often like your posts say they haven’t, this might be due to a shadowban.
• Check your posts: See if you used any new tags in your recent posts. These might be banned hashtags on Instagram. Edit these tags out, and check if your engagement gets better in the days that follow.

What Is an Instagram Banned Hashtag Checker?

A hashtag checker lets you identify if the tags you’re using are limiting your engagement. These checkers are websites where you simply add hashtags. If the ones you hope to use are banned, the site flags this up. For anyone wondering how to check if a hashtag is banned on Instagram, this is perhaps the best way.

There are thousands of hashtags that Instagram bans, adding new ones every day. You need to use an up-to-date checker that can stay on top of these changes. These websites also show the full sets of hashtags that Instagram is currently banning. This lets you see tags you should avoid using for your next few posts.

Even if you plan on using an innocent hashtag, you’ll need to check first. The keywords you plan to use might be full of spambots. In fact, check these with Instagram’s hashtag search feature. If you see a lot of bots, avoid these tags. It could be a matter of days before that keyword is on the checker’s list.

How To Check if a Hashtag Is Banned on Instagram

Instagram officially recommends using 3-5 hashtags per post. Each one you add brings a risk of accidentally using a banned one. Even beyond third-party tools, there are ways to verify if a tag you want to use will limit your engagement. This includes:

1. Manually Searching

Click the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of your feed to access the Explore page. Type the exact hashtag you want to use into the search bar and click on Tags. If the app simply says, ‘No hashtags found,’ this likely means Instagram has banned the hashtag.

2. Checking Your Tags

Click on your recent post’s hashtags and see if the pages load with results. If Instagram is hiding a tag, it will only load old posts. You will then see a notice saying ‘Recent posts are hidden’ due to guideline violations. Even innocent and accurate hashtags could be banned.

3. View Your Engagement

When looking at a post that hasn’t taken off, click View Insights. This will show you analytics of the post’s views and likes. If the reach is much lower than other posts, the reason could be one of your hashtags. Compare this with posts that don’t use the same keywords.

Which Hashtags Are Banned on Instagram?

With new hashtag bans every day, it’s hard to compile a full list without third-party tools. However, we can group the bans into broad categories. For example, hashtags with clearly offensive or cruel language aren’t allowed on the platform. People use these terms across all social media platforms to spread hate, making the hashtags possibly dangerous.

Instagram is also likely to ban especially popular hashtags. This is because spambots see these trends as full of easy targets and potential victims. It’s even possible that Instagram suppresses popular terms after a while in order to let new ones take over. This promotes a healthy variety of hashtags across the platform and helps recent trends grow naturally.

The best way to figure out which hashtags are banned on Instagram is with a checker. A simple online list from yesterday might already be out of date. An Instagram banned hashtag checker is simply invaluable when trying to check if your posts will succeed. This can steer you away from keywords that would work against your content strategy without you noticing.

You can only grow on social media if you know the banned Instagram hashtags that you need to avoid. With snsflow.com, you can benefit from real followers who’ll help to keep your engagement high.

After one simple payment, we can make sure you get the followers, likes, and comments you’re looking for. Try snsflow.com today, and you’ll stay one step ahead of any Instagram shadowban.