Instagram limits: captions, hashtags, carousels and video
An Instagram caption holds 2,200 characters and up to five hashtags, the cap Instagram's help centre now states; it was 30 until December 2025. Here is every Instagram limit that decides whether a post goes out, with the page each number comes from, including two places where Meta's own documents disagree.
Every number checked against its source on Nov 11, 2026.
Instagram limits at a glance
| Limit | Instagram allows | In PostDaily | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caption | 2,200 characters | 2,200 characters | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Hashtags | 5 per post, per Instagram's help centre; Meta's API reference still says 30 | Warns above 5, counting the caption and first comments together | Instagram Help: Use hashtags on Instagram |
| Hashtag length | No published limit. Letters, numbers and emoji work; spaces and special characters such as $ or % don't | — | Instagram Help: Use hashtags on Instagram |
| @ mentions in a caption | 20 | — | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Carousel | Up to 20 images, videos or a mix per Meta's guide and API reference; its error-code page still says 10 | Up to 20 photos, or 10 on an account connected through a Facebook Page (photos and videos can be mixed; a single video on its own goes out as a Reel), within your plan's media per post: 4 on Free, 6 on Starter, 8 on Pro and 12 on Agency | Meta for Developers: Instagram content publishing |
| Feed image | JPEG only, up to 8 MB, 4:5 to 1.91:1, 320 to 1,440 pixels wide | Converts PNG and WebP to JPEG and resizes large images. Doesn't check the shape: PostDaily's own 3:4, 2:3 and 9:16 posts published uncropped | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Reel | 3 seconds to 15 minutes, up to 300 MB, H.264 or HEVC | Checks the length and warns over 300 MB; your plan caps each file at 25 MB on Free, 50 MB on Starter, 100 MB on Pro and 250 MB on Agency | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Story video | 3 to 60 seconds, up to 100 MB | Checks the length and warns over 100 MB | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Collaborators | Up to 3, on feed images, Reels and carousels | Up to 3, on an account connected through a Facebook Page | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| People tags | Tagged by username, on images and videos | Up to 20 per post | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Alt text | On feed and carousel images | 1,000 characters | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Posts published by apps per day | 100 in a rolling 24 hours per the Rate Limit section; the same page says 50 under carousels. A carousel counts as one | Reads your account's live cap from Instagram and shows it in the composer | Meta for Developers: Instagram content publishing |
| Product and location tags | Shopping tags aren't supported for API publishing; location tags are | Neither is available yet | PostDaily Instagram scheduler |
Five hashtags, and a document that hasn't caught up
On 18 December 2025 Instagram's @creators account said it would gradually limit the hashtags in a post or Reel caption to five, down from 30, arguing that a few targeted hashtags beat many generic ones. Instagram's help centre now says the same: you can use up to five on a post. Meta's developer reference for publishing still lists 30. Write to five: it is what Instagram allows, and an API that later catches up will reject the rest.
The help centre also says hashtags can go in the caption or in a comment, and that a comment won't post if a photo or video carries more than five. Our reading is that the five cover the post and its comments together, so count the hashtags in a scheduled first comment too.
What to do with five, and whether hashtags still matter, is in Instagram's hashtag limit.
How many posts an app can publish in a day
Meta's content publishing guide contradicts itself. Its Rate Limit section says an account can publish 100 posts through the API in a rolling 24 hours; the carousel section of the same page says 50. Both agree a carousel counts as one post. A multi-image Story is different: it is published frame by frame, so each frame is a post of its own.
Because the documents disagree, PostDaily doesn't assume a number. It asks Instagram for the account's current limit and usage, shows it in the composer, and when a post hits the cap it waits and retries once the 24-hour window moves on rather than failing it.
What PostDaily checks before a post is scheduled
The caption length, the carousel size against your plan, the Reel and Story video length, and the image format, which it converts to JPEG for you. It warns when a video is over Meta's documented size for its format, and when a post has more than five hashtags across its caption and first comments. It can't add product or location tags yet. Everything PostDaily can post to Instagram.
It doesn't check a photo's shape. Meta's API reference lists 4:5 to 1.91:1, but PostDaily's own posts at 3:4, 2:3 and 9:16 published uncropped between July and October 2026. The profile grid shows every post cropped to 3:4.
For the pixel sizes, aspect ratios and safe zones of each format, see Instagram post sizes.
Common questions
- How long can an Instagram caption be?
- 2,200 characters, on posts, carousels and Reels. Stories take no caption.
- How many hashtags can you use on Instagram?
- Five per post, according to Instagram's help centre. It was 30 until December 2025, and Meta's developer reference for publishing still says 30.
- How long can a hashtag be?
- Instagram doesn't publish a length limit for one hashtag, so the only ceiling is the 2,200-character caption. Numbers and emoji work, but spaces and special characters such as $ or % don't.
- How many photos can an Instagram carousel have?
- Up to 20 images, videos or a mix, in the Instagram app and through Meta's API. Meta's error-code page still says 10, but on 11 November 2026 the API published a 20-photo carousel from PostDaily and refused 21. PostDaily takes up to 20 photos, or 10 on an account connected through a Facebook Page, which we haven't tested past 10. Your plan's media per post applies too: 4 on Free, 6 on Starter, 8 on Pro and 12 on Agency.
- How long can a Reel be when it's scheduled?
- From 3 seconds to 15 minutes, up to 300 MB, for Reels published through Instagram's API. A Story video runs 3 to 60 seconds.
- How many posts can a scheduler publish to Instagram a day?
- Meta's guide says 100 in a rolling 24 hours in one place and 50 in another. A carousel counts as one post; each Story frame counts on its own.