Do hashtags still work on LinkedIn in 2026?
You can still search for them, but the evidence says they don't add reach, and since January 2024 LinkedIn has moved away from them. Here is the trail, oldest first.
- January 2024. Asked by Social Media Today whether hashtags were still needed, LinkedIn said they help viewers see what a post is about, and that "we also consider conversation topics and keywords" to surface relevant posts.
- February 2024. LinkedIn told Social Media Today it was removing the Talks About hashtags from profiles as it dropped the creator mode toggle.
- The help centre. LinkedIn's old help article on hashtags, titled Use Hashtags and Follow Topics on LinkedIn in a July 2023 Internet Archive copy, returns a page-not-found message (checked 4 Nov 2026). An Internet Archive copy from 29 December 2023 already shows the same message.
- Search. The current Search on LinkedIn help page, shown as last updated seven months ago, says suggested searches won't suggest any hashtags, though you can still search one by typing it into the search bar and pressing Enter.
- June 2026. Davang Shah, LinkedIn's VP of Marketing, ends a LinkedIn marketing blog post on AI search visibility with a checklist whose second line reads "Avoid using hashtags in your copy."
The feed itself now reads meaning. LinkedIn's 12 March 2026 engineering post on its new feed lists what describes each post to the retrieval model: format, author information (name, headline, company, industry), engagement counts, article metadata and the post text. Hashtags aren't named in that list, though any hashtag you type is part of the post text. Our explainer on what LinkedIn's new feed actually reads covers the rest of that post.
What does LinkedIn's own advice say about hashtags?
LinkedIn's pages disagree, and the newest one says to leave hashtags out. Here is what each LinkedIn source we found says about hashtags, checked 4 November 2026.
| LinkedIn source | Date | What it says about hashtags |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Pages best practices | No date on the page | Pick 3 to 5 hashtags that are top of mind for your organisation and add them to posts when relevant |
| Statement to Social Media Today | 12 Jan 2024 | Use hashtags closely related to the post's topic; topics and keywords are also used |
| Statement to Social Media Today | 5 Feb 2024 | Talks About hashtags to be removed from profiles |
| Search on LinkedIn help page | Updated 7 months ago | Hashtags aren't suggested in search but can be typed in and searched |
| Trending Employee Content help page | Updated 9 months ago | Page super admins can activate up to 3 hashtags on a Life or What We Do page; members apply them to their video and photo posts |
| Davang Shah, LinkedIn marketing blog | 30 Jun 2026 | Don't start a post with a hashtag; avoid hashtags in your copy |
Shah's reason for the first line is mechanical and worth knowing. LinkedIn builds a post's URL from its first line, so a post opening with #ContentMarketing gets a generic address, and Shah notes that editing the post later won't change the URL. Whatever you decide about hashtags, keep them out of the opening line.
Where the undated Pages guide and the June 2026 checklist disagree, we'd follow the dated one. LinkedIn's help pages we checked give no maximum number of hashtags per post.
What do studies of LinkedIn hashtags show?
The two studies with stated samples agree that hashtags go with more reactions or a higher engagement rate. The larger one also finds that posts without hashtags get seen more.
| Study | Sample | Finding | Read it with this in mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinal, LinkedIn hashtags analysis, 26 May 2026 | 270,306 posts published since January 2024 | 26.68% used hashtags. With hashtags: median engagement rate 2.56% against 1.75%, but average impressions 2,269 against 6,632 | Ordinal sells LinkedIn content software and still recommends 3 to 5 hashtags for most posts. Its own explanation is that hashtags narrow distribution to a smaller, more engaged audience. It also says high-impression posts often come from established creators who've stopped using hashtags, so the gap may partly reflect who uses them |
| University of Texas at Arlington researchers Daniel Usera and Natalie Durham, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly (journal record), 16 May 2025 | A random sample of 991 posts | Tags and hashtags significantly increase expected reactions; tags also substantially increase comments | Measures reactions, comments and reposts, not reach, and the sample is small |
| LinkedIn expert Richard van der Blom's research, as reported by Social Media Today, 12 Jan 2024 | Not given in the article | 3 to 10 hashtags gave a significant reach boost in earlier years, and now give no additional boost | Secondhand; we read the article, not the report |
Ordinal's breakdown by count shows the trade clearly.
| Hashtags in the post | Posts | Median engagement rate | Average impressions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 198,175 | 1.75% | 6,632 |
| 1 to 2 | 13,162 | 2.11% | 3,133 |
| 3 to 5 | 33,601 | 2.26% | 2,779 |
| 6 to 10 | 18,141 | 3.02% | 1,434 |
| 11 or more | 7,227 | 3.91% | 502 |
A rising engagement rate can hide a worse post. Ordinal defines engagement rate as likes, comments, shares, saves and sends divided by impressions, so a smaller audience can push the rate up. A worked example with made-up numbers:
- Post A, no hashtags: 3,000 impressions and 54 engagements. 54 ÷ 3,000 = 1.8%.
- Post B, five hashtags: 1,200 impressions and 30 engagements. 30 ÷ 1,200 = 2.5%.
Post B wins on rate and loses 1,800 impressions and 24 engagements. If you want buyers to see you, Post A is the better post. Our LinkedIn engagement rate calculator works out the rate from a post's reactions, comments, reposts and impressions. It leaves out the saves and sends Ordinal counts, so compare the result with your own posts, and log it next to the post's impressions.
Usera's own advice, in a September 2025 University of Texas at Arlington interview, was that two to three hashtags is the sweet spot and the benefits drop off quickly with more, adding that tagging people is far more powerful than hashtags for reactions and comments. If you want more activity on a post, our guide to tagging people and companies in a LinkedIn post is the better lever.
What do people on Reddit report about LinkedIn hashtags?
Little or no difference. We read four r/linkedin threads from March 2025 to April 2026, and in the three that ask whether hashtags help, replies ranged from no difference to helping a little. These are individual reports, not measurements.
- April 2026. In a thread asking whether hashtags on LinkedIn are worth adding, 8 of the 11 replies said they saw no difference or didn't need them. One commenter said seeing hashtags makes them suspect a post is AI-generated.
- June 2025. In a thread on how many hashtags to use, only one reply gave a number: none, or not more than three. One commenter said they had posted with and without hashtags and seen no difference; another said LinkedIn had removed the ability to follow hashtags.
- August 2025. In a thread on whether hashtags help reach, replies ranged from never having worked to helping a little. One claimed, citing LinkedIn's engineering blog without a link, that too many hashtags get a post flagged as spam.
- March 2025. A poster said LinkedIn no longer showed how many people follow a hashtag; one reply said the counts had gone from desktop but still appeared in the mobile app.
Across the four, no reply backs a gain with numbers, and the counts people mention run from none to five.
How many hashtags should you use on LinkedIn?
For most founder and small-team posts, use none, or one or two at the end, and never one in the first line. Pick by what the post is for.
| Your post | Hashtags | The deciding fact |
|---|---|---|
| A text post from your profile where reach matters | 0 | In Ordinal's data, text-only posts got the smallest engagement-rate lift from hashtags (1.76% against 1.52%), and Ordinal itself says to skip them on text-only posts if reach is the priority |
| A post about an event whose tag your buyers search | 1, the event's own | Hashtags can still be searched by typing them in, so people looking for the event can find you |
| A video or single-image post | 1 or 2 specific ones | Ordinal found the largest engagement-rate lifts here (video 3.22% against 2.01%, single image 3.04% against 1.88%) and suggests 3 to 5 on these formats; across all its posts, 1 to 2 hashtags averaged 3,133 impressions against 2,779 for 3 to 5 |
| A company Page using Career Pages' Trending Employee Content | The 1 to 3 hashtags you activated | Employees' video and photo posts with those hashtags can appear on your Life or What We Do page |
| Any post | None in the opening line | Shah says LinkedIn uses the first line to build the post's URL, and editing won't change it |
A five-hashtag rule does exist, on Instagram. Social Media Today reported on 18 December 2025 that Instagram would gradually limit captions on posts and reels to five hashtags. It says nothing about LinkedIn, where the nearest thing is the undated Pages guide's 3 to 5.
How do you test hashtags on your own account?
Run a four-week test on your own posts, because your audience may not match anyone's average. You need eight posts and the log line below.
Write eight posts on your usual topics
Two a week for four weeks, same days and times, same mix of formats. Alternate: odd posts get two specific hashtags at the end, even posts get none.
Log each post seven days after publishing
Impressions, total engagements, and comments from people in your target roles. The last column is the one that turns into conversations.
Compare medians
With four posts per group, the median is the average of the middle two. Example with made-up numbers: no-hashtag impressions of 900, 1,150, 1,400 and 2,300 give a median of (1,150 + 1,400) ÷ 2 = 1,275; hashtag posts of 700, 1,000, 1,100 and 1,900 give (1,000 + 1,100) ÷ 2 = 1,050.
Keep hashtags only if they win on what matters
If the hashtag posts don't beat the others on median impressions and on buyer comments, drop them. Eight posts is a small test, so treat a close result as no difference.
Two jobs for this week while the test runs. Take any hashtag out of the first line of your drafts. And since LinkedIn said in 2024 it was removing profile hashtags, put the topic you want to be known for in your headline, which LinkedIn's engineering post lists among the author details its feed reads; our LinkedIn headline examples for founders show how. If posts still get no reaction after that, work through our zero engagement diagnostic checklist before blaming the tags.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 5 hashtag rule?
A firm five-hashtag rule exists on Instagram. Social Media Today reported in December 2025 that Instagram would gradually cap captions on posts and reels at five hashtags, after testing a three-hashtag limit with many users. On LinkedIn, the undated Pages guide suggests 3 to 5 hashtags for company posts, the help pages we checked set no limit, and LinkedIn's VP of Marketing advised in June 2026 against putting hashtags in post copy at all.
How do I add hashtags to my LinkedIn profile?
You can't in the old way. Profile hashtags, shown as Talks About, came with creator mode, and LinkedIn said in February 2024 that it was removing them along with the creator mode toggle. Put your topic words in your headline and About section instead. LinkedIn's March 2026 engineering post says the author's headline is part of how each post is described to its feed.
What are the best LinkedIn hashtags for engagement?
There is no list worth copying, because the right tag depends on who uses it. Type a candidate tag into LinkedIn's search bar, open the posts it returns and look at the authors: buyers, or vendors and recruiters. A tag your buyers use for an event or community earns a slot. Ordinal also recommends specific tags over broad ones such as #Business.
How do I add hashtags to a LinkedIn post?
Type the hashtag in the post text, written as # followed by the words run together, like #ContentMarketing, and put it at the end rather than in the first line. To change a live post, select the More icon at the upper right of the post (click on desktop, tap in the mobile app), choose Edit post, change the text and select Save. LinkedIn then marks the post as Edited.
Do people use hashtags on LinkedIn?
Fewer than the advice suggests. In Ordinal's sample of 270,306 posts published since January 2024, 26.68% carried any hashtag at all. In r/linkedin threads from 2025 and 2026, the counts commenters mentioned ran from none to five. Searching for a hashtag still works if you type it into the search bar, though LinkedIn's help page says suggested searches won't offer hashtags.
Sources
- Social Media Today: Do You Need To Use Hashtags on LinkedIn? (12 Jan 2024; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Social Media Today: LinkedIn's Removing Its Creator Mode Option (5 Feb 2024; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: old hashtag article (page not found) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Internet Archive copy of the old hashtag article (captured 29 Dec 2023; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Search on LinkedIn (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Marketing Blog (Davang Shah): How to Maximize AI Visibility for Your LinkedIn Posts (30 Jun 2026; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Engineering: Engineering the next generation of LinkedIn's feed (12 Mar 2026; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Pages best practices (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Manage LinkedIn Trending Employee Content hashtags (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Ordinal: LinkedIn Hashtags, What We Know About Reach/Engagement (26 May 2026; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Crossref record: Usera and Durham, What Predicts Engagement on LinkedIn? (16 May 2025; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- UTA News Center: What makes a LinkedIn post take off? (10 Sep 2025; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/linkedin: Are hashtags on LinkedIn actually worth adding? (13 Apr 2026; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/linkedin: How many hashtags should one use on LinkedIn? (11 Jun 2025; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/linkedin: Do LinkedIn hashtags actually move the needle? (14 Aug 2025; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/linkedin: LinkedIn no longer showing population sizes for hashtags? (3 Mar 2025; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Social Media Today: Instagram Implements New Limits on Hashtag Use (18 Dec 2025; checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Edit a shared post (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Internet Archive copy of the old hashtag article, July 2023 (captured 14 Jul 2023; checked 4 Nov 2026)