We need to know Instagram’s rules and limitations when global audiences worldwide are increasingly using Instagram. Also, brands with various Instagram marketing strategies should be aware of new Instagram regulations, restrictions, and policies for 2024 to know how to reach their audience and boost their Instagram engagement rates.
Every social network has rules and limitations to let users experience a healthy social atmosphere. Multiple sets of Instagram limitations, users can keep their Instagram accounts safe and avoid the probable problem of getting Instagram banned or blocked.
This article walks you through everything you need to know about Instagram limits, terms, and account policy.
The Key Factors That Impact Instagram Limitations
There are no public statements about Instagram rules and limitations. So far, the only most significant thing is all about your Instagram account background.
It is essential to know that Instagram rules and limitations are based on multiple factors. There are no same Instagram rules and limits for all types of accounts because the restrictions and rules are defined based on different factors.
#1 Account’s Age
Account age specifies how much credibility your Instagram account has. Every Instagram account should be created for more than three months to be considered an old Instagram account. The account age has a direct impact on the strength of Instagram’s rules and restrictions.
#2 The Number of Followers
The more Instagram followers you attract, the lower Instagram limits you will experience. Notice that this key factor comes from real Instagram engagement, consistent use, and old Instagram account age.
#3 Account Activities
Instagram account activity means Instagram engagement. More achievement appears as a result of working on your Instagram account’s growth. Be sure that organic engagement with a high number of likes, comments, shares, and saves can cut through Instagram restrictions.
An Overview of Instagram Limits in 2024
Instagram has daily limits in place to cut down on bot activity and automated actions. In this section, we’ll mention all Instagram daily limits. The numbers mentioned are just averages, as the exact limits can vary based on your account’s history and activity.
All Instagram Limitations and Rules
Do you wonder why you need to know all Instagram limitations? Well, it is important because Instagram monitors people who violate platform rules. But there is another aspect to this.
Instagram hates bots and detects if users use automation to grow their audience. For instance, if you follow 500 accounts in an hour. This will encourage Instagram to investigate your account to execute robotic action.
Therefore, it’s critical to understand how many likes, comments, follows/unfollows, and tags you can complete in a single day in order not to be detected as bots and have your account blocked/ banned without even sending a prior notice.
#1 Instagram Caption Character Limit
If you like to maximize your Instagram post engagement, you should craft your captions’ ideal length. The Instagram caption limit is up to 2200 characters.
#2 Instagram Follow Limit
Follow and unfollow are considered the same. The follow/unfollow limit is about 20 accounts per hour and about 300-500 accounts per day. Moreover, Instagram doesn’t allow you to follow more than 7500 people on the platform.
It’s worth noting that, the speed at which actions happen impacts how Instagram judges your behavior. If you follow 50 people in 2 minutes, Instagram will be suspicious of you.
So, it’s a good idea to start out following fewer individuals and subsequently increase the number of people you follow.
Here is an example:
- Week 1: 50 follow/unfollow per day,
- Week 2: 100 follow/unfollow per day,
- And, Week 3: 150 follow/unfollow per day.
Also, it is recommended to send no more than 10 follow requests within an hour. Using Instagram follower trackers helps you manage your follow/unfollow activities more effectively and organized.
#3 Instagram Like Limit
Instagram like limit varies for each Instagram account. In 2024, every user can like up to 1,000 posts per day, but some accounts might be banned after 700 likes. It is generally better for new Instagram accounts to keep their accounts safe by limiting likes to 20 likes per hour.
#4 Instagram Post Limit
Instagram hasn’t set any limits on the number of posts you can share. So, users can post as many times as they want during the day. The main thing about Instagram posts is knowing the best time to post to take advantage of your Instagram content and increase your Instagram engagement, and leaving time between each post (a few minutes or even hours) you share.
#5 Instagram Direct Message Limits
Instagram DM is one of the best features of the platform and fortunately, there is no official limitation for it. At first, new Instagram users can send between 20 to 50 DMs per day. And as your Instagram account gets older, it is possible to send up to 100 Instagram DMs within 24 hours.
However, if a lot of users block you from sending DMs, Instagram will restrict you. Here are some tips to avoid being blocked because of DMs:
- Avoid sending identical text to several recipients,
- Make various text versions of the same message,
- Send personalized messages,
- Try to respond to DMs in batches if you get a lot of them (for example, some in the morning, midday, and afternoon, so you avoid getting action blocked).
#6 Instagram Comment Limit
Instagram’s limitations for comments are not very restricted. The number of comments that every Instagram user can write per day is from 180 to 200 comments. The more users spend time on Instagram, the more comments they can leave.
#7 Instagram Unlike Photos Limit
It sometimes happens when you accidentally like multiple Instagram posts, and you decide to unlike them. Remember that Instagram’s limitation to unlike photos is 100 an hour.
#8 Instagram Hashtag Limit
You are allowed to use up to 30 hashtags per post. This means if you use over 30 hashtags in a post, Instagram will only consider the first 30. Moreover, you are allowed to use 10 hashtags for your stories.
But remember if you use more than 30 hashtags for each photo/video, your caption won’t be shared. Moreover, using too many hashtags can make your stories less interesting. So, be selective and choose the best hashtags. You can use an Instagram hashtag generator to find the best hashtags for posts.
#9 Instagram Bio Limits
Instagram bio is known as one of the most eye-catching places that can define your Instagram profile. The limit for the number of characters for the Instagram bio is 150 characters including text, hashtags, links, and emojis. So, try to craft it well enough with this character limitation. And you can use just one link in your bio.
Instagram’s “one link in bio” rule can make it challenging for you to share multiple links. However, you don’t need to worry about this anymore! Using third-party apps such as Beacon, Linktree, and Lnk.bio, you can add multiple links all in one place, making it easier for followers to find all your important content.
#10 Instagram Mass Deleting Posts Limit
It is good to know that you can mass delete all Instagram posts at once. If you have an Instagram account with a few photos, you can easily delete them all individually; otherwise, it is better to use a third-party app to get rid of this action’s hardship.
#11 Instagram Unfollow Limit
If you want to unfollow some accounts on Instagram, don’t do it all at once. Because if you unfollow more than 200 accounts per day, your account could get temporarily banned. So, you’d better unfollow no more than 20 accounts per hour and about 150 per day if your account is young.
But remember that if you want to unfollow a lot of users, it’s better to use an Instagram unfollow app. However, if you want to unfollow users manually, don’t unfollow more than one person per minute.
All in all, the Instagram account’s age directly affects the total number of unfollows you are allowed to do. For instance, a six-month Instagram account can do more unfollowing actions, almost 200-400 unfollows with a shorter gap of 10-22 seconds.
Note: The few first-time Instagram bans you, you will be unbanned shortly. But then, you may be banned for up to 21 days, and eventually permanently banned.
#12 Instagram Multi-Photo Limit
Recently, Instagram has increased its limit from 10 to 20 photos and videos per post. However, this update is being rolled out for users worldwide and it isn’t available for everybody yet. For instance, Indian users can only upload up to 10 photos and videos for a single post.
#13 Instagram Number of Activities
One of the biggest Instagram daily restrictions is that the total number of activities is only 500 actions. Activities consist of different actions such as following, likes, and unfollows. If you have a new Instagram account, it would be better to limit your activities to 100 actions, unless you are a trusted user, to go up to 1000 daily actions.
#14 Instagram Login Limitations on Multiple Devices
Instagram lets multiple logins from multiple devices at once, but the important thing is that you should not use any VPN to log in because your IP address keeps changing, which is against the Instagram policy; otherwise, you can’t log in to Instagram and you may face we restrict certain activity error.
#15 Tagging People Limit
For a single post or story, you can tag as many as 20 people, and for a carousel post, you are allowed to tag 35 people per post. Moreover, for the comment section of a post, you can tag only 10 people.
#16 Instagram Story Limitation
Fortunately, there’s no limit for stories. Typically, you can share 100 Instagram Stories per day. The time limitation for video posts to your Instagram Story used to be up to 15 seconds, but now your stories can be as long as 60 seconds. And Instagram Story dimensions should be 1080 by 1920px.
Fun Fact: Stories of pictures will be shown for 7 seconds.
#17 Instagram Story Highlight Limit
Instagram Highlights are the circular links you encounter at the top of every Instagram profile right under your bio. It’s a way to organize and retain any Stories, pictures, or videos that you want to keep for more than 24 hours.
The highlight title character limit is 12 characters, you can create unlimited highlights, and every highlight can include 100 Stories.
#18 Instagram Live Story Limit
Live Video limitation is possible for up to 4 hours, and IGTV video (Instagram feed videos) is up to 60 seconds.
#19 Instagram Reels Limitations
A Reel can be 90 seconds long. However, you should be careful about Instagram copyright rules. If you use a song that violates the intellectual property rights of others, Instagram will remove your post and warn you.
#20 Instagram Account Profile Limit
Here are other useful Instagram limits and rules:
- Display name: 30 characters,
- Instagram bio: 150 characters,
- Square post dimension: 1080 by 1080px,
- Portrait post dimension: 1080 by 1350px,
- Landscape post dimension: 1080 by 608px,
- Feed video length limit: 1 hour,
- Reels video length limit: 1 minute,
- Captions: 2200 characters,
- Instagram account limit: 5 logged-in accounts.
The Most Important Instagram Rules in 2024
Observing Instagram rules is essential for both Instagram businesses and users. Here, we provide you with some of the most important Instagram rules because by knowing Instagram policies and Instagram regulations, you will never make a mistake, and you will never have your account restricted, blocked, etc.
Let’s read these rules and carefully follow them.
#1 Do Not Use Instagram Bots, And Don’t Act Like Them
It is important to know that bots can fall you into the trap of facing the error “you can not follow any more people.” Many Instagram business accounts might prefer to use some third-party apps and software to grow their accounts fast. If Instagram discovers this trick, it will block your Instagram actions, such as liking, commenting, following, unfollowing, and direct messages.
If you don’t want to face limitations, pay careful attention to the specific number we provide for each IG activity (like, post, follow/unfollow, comment, etc.) above, and don’t exceed the limitations.
#2 Avoid Using Banned Hashtags
Although hashtags are one of the most important features on Instagram, not every hashtag works. It’s essential to pay attention to hashtags you use because some are forbidden and contain spam content. Using these hashtags may put your account in danger of being restricted or blocked.
#3 Avoid Publishing Spam Content
Instagram takes incorrect content publication very seriously. Users have the option to report problems they see, which will restrict your account.
#4 Do Not Copy
Instagram is strongly opposed to copying content. Make sure you get permission from the owner if you want to publish their content.
#5 Avoid Publishing Prohibited Content
When it comes to prohibited Instagram content, you might picture copy content and some inappropriate ones. But you will soon find out that it does not limit such things, and a long list appears to show it.
- Buying and selling firearms,
- Sale of live animals,
- Buying and selling alcohol,
- Buying and selling tobacco,
- An illegal prescription drug (even if legal in your region),
- Online gambling,
- Sexual content,
- Hate speech,
- Blackmailing or harassing someone,
- Encourage the violence,
- Threats of physical harm, financial harm, vandalism, etc.
- Encouraging people to embrace self-injury,
- Videos of intense violence.
Instagram Ban Policy
The importance of Instagram ban policies is no less precious than Instagram restrictions. To take advantage of social capabilities, know what kills life on your Instagram account when doing some Instagram activities. Types of blocks, banned and disabled, can happen once in a while.
#1 Buying And Selling Instagram Likes And Followers
This is one of the most important parts of Instagram rules and limitations. Buying and selling Instagram likes and followers can hurt your Instagram account, and it would be worse if you were running a business account.
Unfortunately, most Instagram brands are likely to buy fake likes and accounts to improve their marketing performance. In the long run, Instagram late or soon becomes suspicious of the total number of activities and searches through the actions and blocks both Instagram fake accounts and you.
#2 Buying And Selling Forbidden Goods, And Services on Instagram
Buying and selling some types of goods and services are not allowed on Instagram. In that case, if a user commits, Instagram can easily ban their account. Illegal goods and products refer to the rules of posting content on Instagram.
#3 Action Block on Instagram
The most significant thing that leads to an action block is trying to engage with so many likes and followers. Totally action block shortens spam activities, which can be done manually or by third-party apps and Instagram bots. To grow your Instagram page organically, avoid fast follow, unfollow, and likes, and keep the maximum number of actions at 60 per hour.
#4 Instagram Shadowban
Instagram shadowban is one of the most common Instagram issues that restricts your Instagram content visibility and causes not showing up your hashtags on the Instagram Explore page. There is a shadow on the posts preventing them from being seen by others. Several different reasons that cause an Instagram shadowban include using banned hashtags or a specific set of Instagram hashtags for a long time, beating daily limits on Instagram, and getting reported by others
#5 Holding Illegal Contests
The Instagram contest is a highly effective way of page growth. It can bring new followers, grow brand awareness, and increase your Instagram engagement. One thing you should know more about is how to run a contest that does not break any rules.
The official rules offer terms and eligibility requirements (for example: age and residency restrictions); and compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered (for example: registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals)
How To Break Through Instagram Limits?
Undoubtedly there should be some great ways to break through Instagram limitations to take over all your Instagram account actions. Doing Instagram actions manually takes a lot of time and effort to grow your Instagram account on the other side, not beating Instagram restrictions is a vital tip we should not skip easily. Now we recommend two ways to go over Instagram limitations successfully.
#1 Using Instagram Automation Tools
If you have multiple Instagram accounts and want to improve your marketing performance, you might come across some difficulties because of Instagram like and follow limit, but this is possible with some of the best Instagram tools to not only save more time and make a trusted relationship but also coordinate the actions with considering Instagram restrictions.
#2 Following a Practical Instagram Marketing Strategy
To get the best reactions, grow your Instagram profile organically by acting like humans, sharing videos, viewing stories, visiting Instagram accounts, etc., to build a great marketing strategy. Thus, it means spending time on various activities such as leaving comments on followers’ posts, answering questions, and reposting user-generated content. Also, boost the number of your daily messages and comments step by step.
Conclusion
We talked about the most important Instagram rules and limitations in 2024. It is essential to follow these Instagram community guidelines to keep your account safe and secure for growth. If you ignore Instagram’s rules and limitations, you’re more likely to receive warnings like “Action Block” or even face temporary or permanent bans on your account.
FAQs
1- Don’t use banned hashtags,
2- Use trusted third-party apps,
3- Don’t behave like a bot,
4- Know Instagram advertising rules,
5- Avoid Instagram’s forbidden content,
6- Share other people’s content correctly.
Posting multiple times in a row can look spammy and cause you to get penalized by the Instagram algorithm, meaning your posts will be shown to fewer people.