Tagging your friends and followers on Instagram is a great way to share memories and posts with specific individuals, drawing their attention to the content and connecting posts with their account via the ‘Tagged Posts’ feature.
But sometimes, Instagram prevents you from tagging certain users – creating a frustrating step that stops you from posting and tagging the friends and users that you want to.
In this article, we’re identifying the main reasons why Instagram may prevent you from tagging certain individuals on Instagram – along with any fixes that can help.
1. You’re Searching For the Wrong Username
It’s important to recognise that when you go to tag someone in an Instagram post, you are tagging their profile via the username rather than the profile name.
So, if someone’s username is vastly different to the profile name that you know them by, you might forget and try searching for their profile via the wrong name.
If this is the case, double check what their username is before posting and attempting to tag them.
2. Their Account is Private
Did you know that you can’t tag private accounts in your Instagram posts or stories unless you follow them?
If you want to be able to tag other profiles and accounts in connection with a marketing post or alternative campaign, without following them first, you will find your tag blocked from any private accounts.
If this is the case, request to follow and wait for them to accept before you try tagging them.
3. You’ve Forgotten The @ Sign!
This is a really common stumbling block, with countless users forgetting that in order to effectively tag another profile, you need to precede their username with a @ sign.
This lets Instagram know that you are searching for a username, just like adding a # sign lets Instagram know that you are posting a keyword hashtag.
This @ sign needs to sit before each individual username, with no gaps between the symbol and the username.
4. The Account Is Deactivated Or Has Blocked You
An account that you have no access to, whether as a result of deactivation or blocking, cannot be tagged in your posts or stories.
If you haven’t seen a friend or connection being active on Instagram for a while, check the status of their profile before attempting to tag them. If they have closed or deactivated their account, or blocked you as a user, you won’t be able to tag them!
5. They Have Restricted Tags
Another detail that many users aren’t aware of is the ability to restrict or block tags altogether.
Just like in an earlier point where we mentioned how some users will only allow tags from followers, it is also possible for users to block tags completely. This tends to be activated by users who want to avoid spam tags, though it is also regularly employed by influencers and content creators who find themselves tagged in countless posts unless they restrict them.
6. You’ve Hit Your Tagging Limit
Instagram has a number of limits to reduce excess activity, using certain statistics as a way to indicate spam and bot accounts.
One restriction that Instagram has in place is the number of tags that you can attach to a single post or story, to ensure that you are not a spam account that is tagging users unnecessarily.
You can typically tag around 20 users on each Instagram post, though doing this too often will render your account spam in the eyes of Instagram. On stories, this limit is lower with up to 10 tags allowed per story.
How to Unlock Tagging On Instagram
If you are experiencing any of the issues above, then the chances are that you are either misspelling a username, trying to tag a restricted account, or pushing your Instagram to its limit in terms of tagging and activity.
Where possible, and to make your tagging as effective as possible, cut down on how many accounts you try to tag in a single post, and make sure that you have full access to – and confirmation on – the username and account before trying to tag.
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We hope this helps!
