Hashtags are keywords preceded by a # symbol. Hashtags allow you to easily connect your content with other videos or playlists that share the same hashtag on YouTube and YouTube Music. Hashtags also allow viewers and listeners to find related content via searches.
Add hashtags to your YouTube videos or YouTube Music playlist
You can add hashtags to a title and description when you upload a video or record a Short on YouTube or when you create a playlist in YouTube Music.
To add a hashtag to your video on YouTube:
- Enter a # symbol in the title or description begin entering the topic or keyword that you want to associate with your video. Our system will then suggest popular hashtags based on your input.
- Choose a recommended hashtag to promote your video among others with the same hashtag or create your own to find the hashtag appropriate for your content.
Out of all the hashtags that you add to the video's description, up to three hashtags that are considered the most engaging will appear by your video title. Your hashtags will still appear in the video description and your videos can still appear in search results. Hashtags in the title and description will link to a results page featuring other videos sharing that hashtag.
To add a hashtag to your playlist in YouTube Music:
- Select Library Playlists.
- Find the playlist that you've created and would like to edit.
- Select More Edit playlist to change the title of your playlist or add a description.
- Enter a # symbol in the playlist title or description.
Once saved to a playlist title or description, hashtags work like clickable links. Hashtags in the title and description will link to a results page featuring other videos and playlists sharing that hashtag.
Recommended hashtags:
When you add text to a Short and start to add a hashtag, you will see suggestions to help you apply relevant hashtags to this content. These hashtags are recommended based on a variety of signals, such as suggestions from past content uploads and, in some countries, any entered text.
Previously used hashtag suggestions will have a clock icon beside them to show that you have used them before.
Hashtag use policies
Much like videos uploaded to YouTube, hashtags must meet our Community Guidelines. Hashtags that violate our policies won't be shown below your content and may be removed. Make sure that you follow these policies when using hashtags:
- No spaces: Hashtags don't contain any spaces. If you want to have two words in a hashtag, you can join them together (
#TwoWords, #twowords
). - Over-tagging: Don't add too many tags to a single video or playlist. The more tags that you add, the less relevant they become for viewers or listeners who are searching. If a video or playlist has more than 60 hashtags, we'll ignore each hashtag on that content. Over-tagging may result in the removal of your video from your uploads or from searches.
- Misleading content: Don't add hashtags that are not directly related to the video or playlist. Misleading or unrelated hashtags may result in the removal of your video or playlist. Learn more about our misleading metadata policies.
- Harassment: Don't add a hashtag with the purpose of harassing, humiliating, intimidating, exposing or threatening an individual or group. Violating this policy will result in the removal of your video or playlist. Learn more about our harassment and cyberbullying policies.
- Hate speech: Don't add any hashtags that promote violence or hatred against individuals or groups. Don't add hashtags that contain racist, sexist or any other slurs. Violating this policy will result in the removal of your video or playlist. Learn more about our hate speech policy.
- Sexual content: Adding sexual or explicit hashtags may result in the removal of your video or playlist. If a video is intended to be sexually provocative, it's less likely to be acceptable for YouTube. Learn more about our sexual content policy.
- Vulgar language: The use of profanity or offensive terms in your hashtags may lead to an age restriction or removal of your video or playlist.
- Non-hashtags: Whilst adding hashtags is allowed, adding ordinary descriptive tags or repetitive sentences in the description is (still) prohibited. If you violate this policy, your video or playlist may be removed or penalised. Learn more about our misleading metadata policies.