What Hashtags to Use on TikTok (and How Many)

What hashtags do on TikTok

Hashtags are labels. They help TikTok understand what your video is about, and they help people find it when they search or tap a hashtag. TikTok has said that information in a video, such as captions, sounds and hashtags, is one of the things it considers when recommending videos.

What hashtags cannot do is make a video good. They help the right viewers find a video; whether those viewers watch, react and share is still down to the content.

The four kinds of hashtags to mix

A good set of hashtags usually combines a few of these:

• Niche hashtags name your community, like #booktok, #gymtok or #plantmom. They reach people who care about your topic.
• Topic hashtags describe this specific video, like #pastarecipe or #legday.
• Trending hashtags are rising right now. Use one only when your video really fits it.
• Branded or series hashtags are your own, so viewers can find more of your videos.

How many hashtags should you use on TikTok?

Three to five relevant hashtags is a sensible default. More is not better: a long list of unrelated tags makes it harder for TikTok to tell what the video is about and looks like spam to viewers. Captions have a character limit too, so spend it on words that help.

Broad hashtags like #fyp and #viral

Hashtags such as #fyp, #foryou and #viral are used on an enormous number of videos, so they say almost nothing about yours. There is no evidence they get a video onto the For You feed. If you include one, do not let it replace a specific hashtag that describes your content.

How to find the right hashtags

A quick routine before each post:

• Search your topic in TikTok and note the hashtags on recent videos that are doing well in your niche.
• Check what is trending today. The live list on this page shows the top trending TikTok hashtags from DiscoTok's latest daily collection, and the DiscoTok trends hub breaks them down further.
• Use the free DiscoTok hashtag generator to get relevant and trending hashtags for your content category, then keep the ones that fit.
• Look at which hashtags your best performing videos used, and reuse the ones that brought the right viewers.

Where to put hashtags

Put hashtags in the caption, after a short line that says what the video is about. Lead with the words people search for; hashtags support the caption rather than replace it. Saying the topic out loud and putting it in on-screen text helps too.

Hashtag mistakes to avoid

• Using a trending hashtag that has nothing to do with your video. Viewers who came for that trend swipe away.
• Copying the same long block of hashtags onto every video regardless of topic.
• Using hashtags that are banned or restricted, or that attach your video to unrelated sensitive topics.
• Never changing your hashtags, even when they are clearly not bringing the right viewers.

Frequently asked questions