TL;DR
- To tag your friends on Instagram posts from your mobile, you have to tap “Tag People” before sharing your content, and touch the area on your photo or video you want the tag to be, type their username, and hit done.
- To tag someone on Instagram posts from your desktop, you just have to touch the spot you want to tag, type their username, and save.
- If you want to mention someone in your stories, type their username with @ behind it in text mode, find their profile, and that’s it. And it works the same on Android and iPhone phones.
- To mention someone in a comment or your caption, just type @ and then their username.
If you are active on Instagram, you know that tagging people can connect you with your loved ones or even a coworker. You can do it to share a photo with friends or just a business update. Whatever your goal is, knowing how to tag someone on Instagram correctly makes a big difference.
In 2025, Instagram has updated and changed a few options, so if you don’t know how to work with it lately, you are not alone. In this guide, I’m going to walk you through the latest methods and privacy settings so you can learn it all in one minute.
How to Tag Another Account on Instagram
To answer this question, remember you can tag people on Instagram in many places, posts, Reels, Stories, and even on content you’ve already published. So let’s learn them all step-by-step:
How to Tag People on Instagram Posts from Your Mobile
To start talking about tagging people on Instagram posts, you should know that this process is not the same on Android and iPhone phones. So with any type of phone, you can use this step-by-step guide:
- Select your content to share
- Tap “Tag People”
- Tap the area you want in the post
- Type their username
- Save your tags and tap “Done”
How to Tag Someone on Instagram After Posting from Mobile
If you’ve already posted your content and forgot to tag people, you can add them now. Here’s how to do that:
- Go to your profile
- Open the post you want to edit
- Find the three dots in the top right corner (Options)
- Select Edit
- Tap Tag People
- Touch the area of the content you want to add the tag
- Enter the username
- Tap Done
This process is the same for your posts and reels, so you can tag someone on your Instagram Reels using this guide.
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How to Tag People on Instagram Posts from Desktop
You can also tag people on your desktop, but the process is a little bit different. If you learned to tag people on your mobile, you can easily learn to do that on your desktop too. Here’s how to do it before posting:
- Click on “Tag people” and select the area of your content you want to tag someone
- Enter the username
- Complete your tag
How to Tag Someone on Instagram After Posting from Desktop
But if you’ve already shared a post and forgot to tag someone, you should follow these steps to add the tag from your desktop:
- Find the post
- Click Options (the three dots icon in the top right corner)
- Select Edit
- Click on “Tag people”
- Enter the username
- Click Done
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How to Mention Someone in an Instagram Story
Now, it’s time to talk about mentioning people in your stories. You should know this process is exactly the same on Android and iPhone, and very easy. Just follow these steps:
- Choose the content for your story
- Tap the Text icon (Aa)
- Type the “@” symbol and write the username you want
- Select the right profile from the list Instagram shows you
- Tap Done
How to Mention Someone in a Story Without Making It Visible
But sometimes we just want to mention someone in our stories without it showing and people seeing who that person is. So I have a few ideas for that:
After typing the username, you can drag it off your screen; this way, the person will know you mentioned them, but no one can see their name or go into their profile. Or you can simply hide the username behind a sticker.
How to Mention Someone in an Instagram Comment or Caption
If you want to mention someone in your comment or even in your post’s caption, you can type @ with their username.
It is that simple, but you have to remember you can’t leave any space between the @ symbol and the username. Now, if the person you mentioned follows you, they will get a notification.
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How Do You Limit Who Can Tag or Mention You on Instagram?
On Instagram, you have control over who can mention or tag you on something. And it’s not different for posts, stories, or comments. You can always choose to limit the people who can tag or mention you.
How to Manage Mentions
You can limit the people who can mention you, with these easy steps:
- Open your Instagram app and tap the three horizontal lines.
- Find Tags and Mentions
- Under Who can @mention you, choose one of these options:
- Allow mentions from everyone
- Allow mentions from people you follow
- Don’t allow mentions
How to Manage Tags
If you need to have some limits on the people who tag you on their content, just follow these steps:
- Tap the three horizontal lines and choose Tags and Mentions again.
- Under Who can tag you, select:
- Allow tags from everyone
- Allow tags from people you follow
- Don’t allow tags
Bonus Tip: If you block someone, then they can’t tag or mention you anymore. So if you want to keep your account safe and have some privacy, this is a great way to use it.
In this world, there is always someone or something that makes us feel unsafe, so Instagram gives you these features to keep yourself and your account safe from them. It can be unwanted attention or spam messaging; you can stop them all.
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Final Thoughts
It’s important not to take advantage of these features and use them smartly. You don’t want to overdo it and make your followers mad because you’re tagging them all the time. You should always think about people’s privacy and the type of content you are sharing. Being thoughtful about these things can help you grow without making people sick of your content.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What’s the difference between tagging and mentioning on Instagram?
A tag is when you add someone’s account to your content. But a mention is when you write someone’s username in your caption or comments.
- Why can’t I mention someone on Instagram?
It can be because the person has restricted mentions in their privacy settings. Some people do that to limit the users who can mention them. So, unless they change this setting, you can’t tag or mention them anywhere.
- Can I tag people who don’t follow me?
Yes, you can, but there are a few things to know you do. If you have a public account, the person will get a notification for that post. But if you have a private account, the person only sees that if they follow you back.