TikTok’s New Hashtag Limit Leaves Some Creators Seeing Big Drops in Views

For some TikTok creators, the more hashtags, the better. Depending on what hashtags you use and how specific you get, you can potentially reach a larger audience by using the right ones. However, when the users who tend to go a little overboard with them noticed that TikTok was limiting their hashtags, they immediately wanted to know why.

Before, users on TikTok could use as many hashtags as they saw fit for their videos. Some longtime hashtags like #fyp, which stands for "for you page," are a given for some creators. But if that one alone takes up a limited amount of hashtags allotted, it could make it harder for users to reach broader audiences. At least, that's the fear now.

Some users saw the change go into effect in July 2025, as reported on Reddit. Others saw it a month later. But everyone who has encountered it wants to know what caused the change on the app.

TikTok now limits users to five hashtags per post. If you attempt to add another hashtag to the caption, a box pops up that says, "Maximum 5 hashtags. Use accurate hashtags to get more views."

TikTok has not explained to users through pop-ups or in the support section of the website why the hashtag change was made. According to Juicer, though, five might be the magic number when it comes to engagement through hashtags.

The outlet reported that using hashtags not directly related to your post could reduce engagement. Using at least three hashtags and up to five could increase your chances of getting more views.

The limit on hashtags, however, could also be part of the character limit. Hashtags on TikTok are limited to 100 characters. That averages out to around five hashtags in most cases.

Again, that character limit might be another change that has not been explained further by anyone associated with the app.

When one user shared a Reddit post about the hashtag change on TikTok, they wrote that the limit on hashtags was affecting their views negatively. When someone commented, "You should really only be using 2-3 hashtags. And that's all you'll need to get to your niche," the user responded that using so few hashtags never worked for them before.

Other users commented on the thread to claim that hashtags are no longer as important for creators as they used to be. Instead, according to one comment, the caption is far more important. Some also pointed out that using TikTok Studio for creators allows more freedom for hashtags and enhances content in general.

Still, another TikTok creator agreed with the original poster and wrote that, since the change, their "views and likes are significantly lower."

Someone else reported seeing a significant drop in views, whereas before, they had numbers in the millions at times.