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How to Fix Instagram Tagging Not Working

Are you trying to tag someone on Instagram but the tagging is not working?

Many Instagram users reported that when they tag someone, it disappears.

Others reported that the tags doesn’t show up after they’ve posted the picture.

Lastly, some people mentioned that their friends can’t tag them in their picture.

It can be frustrating because tagging someone is crucial on Instagram as people want to know who the people in your picture(s) are.

It also gives recognition to the people that are in your picture.

In this article, you’ll learn why you can’t tag people on Instagram and how to fix it.

  1. Why can’t I tag people on Instagram?
  2. How to Fix Instagram Tagging Not Working
  3. Conclusion

Why can’t I tag people on Instagram?

Instagram tagging not working

You can’t tag people on Instagram either because the person has disabled tagging, your account is new, or you tagged too many people in your picture.

Tagging is not working on Instagram either due to disabled tagging, a new account, or you’ve tagged too many people.

If tagging is not working for you, you need to first figure out the main cause of the error.

After you figured out the main issue, then you can take the appropriate action to solve it.

Instagram is known for having many glitches/bugs in their app, and tagging is one of them.

The worst part about this is that Instagram doesn’t provide any information on what causes the error.

Hence, this article compiles the most well-known causes for the error, and how you can fix it.

Let’s get to each one of those causes in detail below.

1. Disabled tagging

Instagram manually approve tags

The first reason why tagging is not working on Instagram is that the user that you’re trying to tag has disabled tagging.

If the user that you’re trying to tag has enabled “manually approve tags” in their privacy settings, their tag won’t show up on your post unless they approved it.

Instagram has a feature where users can control who gets to tag them in posts.

You can do that by enabling the feature called “manually approve tags” in your privacy settings.

If the person that you’re trying to tag has enabled that feature, the tag won’t show up on your post unless they approved it.

At times, the person might have forgotten or is yet to approve the tag.

Other times, the person might have missed the notification, which explains why the tag doesn’t show up on your post.

Either way, if someone has enabled “manually approve tags” you’ll have to wait until they approve it in order for their tag to show up.

Otherwise, only the tags of people who’ve disabled the setting will appear.

2. Your account is new

Next, your account might be too new.

New accounts have restricted actions such as the number of people they can follow/unfollow, the number of posts that they can like, and limited tagging.

If your account is too new, you may not be able to tag people in your posts.

Many people have reported that they couldn’t tag people in their posts in a new account.

Instagram aims to reduce spam, bots, and automation in their platform.

As such, Instagram has many temporary blocks that prevents actions from being repeated.

An example of such blocks are limited tagging.

New accounts are restricted in terms of how many people you can follow/unfollow, the number of posts you can like, and so on.

It’s sort of like a “sandbox” where a new account’s actions are restricted in order to prevent platform misuse.

Some new accounts are bots that utilize bulk tagging to their advantage, so Instagram aims to mitigate that.

So, if your account is new, you may not be able to tag people for the time being.

3. You tagged too many people

Lastly, you might have tagged too many people on your Instagram post.

You can only tag up to 20 people on your Instagram post.

The maximum number of people you can tag in a single post is 20.

If you tag more than 20 people on Instagram, you may not be able to post the picture.

Additionally, you cannot include more than five mentions (e.g. @followchainorg) in a single comment.

If you do so, you won’t be able to post your comment.

There’s a limit to how many people you can tag in an Instagram post because Instagram wants to reduce spam on their platform.

If you want to tag more than 20 people, you can either mention the people in the caption or the comments of your post.

Carousels are no exception as well.

Even if you have multiple pictures on your carousel, you can only tag up to 20 people in total—it’s not a per-post basis.

How to Fix Instagram Tagging Not Working

To fix tagging not working on Instagram, you can either try asking the person to approve your tag, waiting for 1 to 3 weeks, or not tagging too many people.

You can also try following the person before tagging them on your post.

Try asking the person to approve your tag, waiting for 1 to 3 weeks, not tagging too many people, or following the person before tagging them.

If your account is new, the number of actions you can carry out is limited.

This includes limited tagging, or the inability to tag others.

However, if your account is an old one, tagging might not be working for you because you’ve tagged too many people.

Otherwise, the person might have enabled “manually approve tags” in their privacy settings.

In that case, you’ll have to ask them to approve your tag.

Otherwise, their tag won’t show up/disappear on your post.

1. Ask the person to approve your tag

Instagram pending tags

The first method to fix failed tags on Instagram is to ask or wait for the person to approve your tag.

If the person that you’re trying to tag has “manually approve tags” enabled in their settings, you need to ask them to approve it for it to show up on your post.

This method is only applicable to people who’ve enabled the “manually approve tags” feature in their privacy settings.

If you happen to see someone’s tag disappear on your post, then the person might have enabled the “manually approve tags” feature.

If that’s the case, you have to first ask them whether they have that feature enabled.

In the event that they have it enabled, ask them to approve your tag via the same setting.

Otherwise, you just have to wait for them to approve it.

Once they approved your tag, it will show up on your post.

Their tag won’t show up on your post unless they’ve approved it.

2. Wait for 1 to 3 weeks

For newer accounts, you may have to wait 1 to 3 weeks for tagging to be enabled on your account.

Tagging is limited/restricted for new accounts on Instagram so you might have to wait for 1 to 3 weeks if you want to tag others.

If your account is new, tagging might be restricted for you.

Instagram restricts the number of actions a new account can carry out, which includes limited or restricted tagging.

To bypass this, you can try following the person (if you haven’t already) before tagging them on your post.

As a new account, you may not be able to tag people who you’re not following.

Hence, you can try following them before tagging them in your post which may fix the tagging issue.

Otherwise, you have to wait 1 to 3 weeks for Instagram to “trust” your account.

After 1 to 3 weeks, you’ll have increased limitations (such as tagging) and you’ll be able to carry out actions like a normal account.

3. Don’t tag too many people

Instagram remove tag

Lastly, you need to refrain from tagging too many people on Instagram.

Don’t tag more than 20 people on Instagram.

If you tagged more than 20 people, remove the additional tags and you should be able to post the picture.

If you tag too many people on Instagram, your tags might disappear/not show up on your post.

The maximum number of people you can tag on a post is 20.

If you’re posting a carousel, the maximum number of people you can tag is also 20.

So, even if you have 5 pictures on a carousel, you can only tag up to 20 people and not 100.

Tagging on Instagram is not limited on a per-post basis, but for all of your posts if you’re posting a carousel.

If you happened to tag more than 20 people, you need to remove the extra tags for it to post.

However, if you’re still looking to tag more people, you can either mention them in the caption or the comments of your post.

Conclusion

Tagging on Instagram is important as you’re introducing the people on your post.

In other words, tagging is a form of etiquette on Instagram.

If you don’t tag people that appear in your post(s), it may seem rude to them.

Unless the person specifically mentioned not to tag them on your post(s), then you should tag them.

At times, tagging might not work as intended on Instagram.

If that’s the case, then you need to follow the methods that are mentioned in this article to fix it.

Further Reading

Why Am I Getting no Likes From Hashtags on Instagram?

11 Cute GIFs to Search For on Instagram

Instagram Music Isn’t Available in Your Region (How to Fix)

Author: Lim How Wei is the founder of Followchain. Feel free to follow him on Instagram.

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About the author

Lim How Wei

Lim How Wei is the founder of followchain.org, with 8+ years of experience in Social Media Marketing and 4+ years of experience as an active investor in stocks and cryptocurrencies. He has researched, tested, and written thousands of articles ranging from social media platforms to messaging apps.

Lim has been quoted and referenced by major publications and media companies like WikiHow, Fast Company, HuffPost, Vice, New York Post, The Conversation, and many others. One of his articles about the gig economy was quoted by Joe Rogan who hosts The Joe Rogan Experience (arguably the most popular podcast in the world), in the This Past Weekend podcast by Theo Von.

In his free time, Lim plays multiple games like Genshin Impact, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Hearthstone, RuneScape, and many others. He creates guides, walkthroughs, solutions, and more on games that he plays to help other players with their progression.