Mastodon Featured Hashtags on Profile: How to Use Up to Five

When you visit a Mastodon profile, you see a row of hashtags below the bio. These are featured hashtags. They let visitors instantly see your posts about specific topics. Mastodon allows you to feature up to five hashtags on your profile. This article explains how to add, reorder, and remove those hashtags. It also covers what happens when you exceed the limit and how to avoid common mistakes.

What Are Featured Hashtags on a Mastodon Profile

Featured hashtags are a profile-level feature. When you add a hashtag to your featured list, that hashtag appears in a dedicated row on your public profile. Visitors can click a featured hashtag to see all your public posts that include that tag. This works like a curated timeline of your content on a specific topic.

The feature is available on Mastodon version 3.5 and later. It is supported on both the official Mastodon web interface and most third-party apps such as Tusky and Ivory. The feature does not require any special permission from your instance admin. Any user on any instance can use it.

Featured hashtags are separate from hashtags you use in your bio. The bio is a free text field. Featured hashtags are a structured list that Mastodon displays in a separate section. Each featured hashtag links to a search result of your public posts containing that tag.

Mastodon indexes only public posts for featured hashtag results. Posts with followers-only or direct visibility are not included. This means the featured hashtag row shows only content that anyone on the fediverse can see.

How to Add and Manage Featured Hashtags

You can add, reorder, and remove featured hashtags from your profile settings. The process is the same on the Mastodon web interface and most mobile apps. Follow these steps to set up your featured hashtags.

1. Open your profile settings
   On the web interface, click the gear icon in the right sidebar. On mobile, tap the hamburger menu and select Preferences. Then choose Profile from the left navigation menu.
2. Scroll to the Featured Hashtags section
   Below your display name, bio, and avatar fields, you see a section labeled Featured Hashtags. This section lists any hashtags you have already added. If the list is empty, you see a placeholder message.
3. Add a hashtag
   Click the Add button or the plus icon. A text field appears. Type the hashtag without the hash symbol. For example, type photography not #photography. Press Enter or click Add to confirm.
4. Reorder the hashtags
   To change the order, click and hold the drag handle icon, which looks like six dots, to the left of the hashtag name. Drag the hashtag up or down to your preferred position. Release the mouse to save the new order.
5. Remove a hashtag
   Click the trash icon or the X button next to the hashtag you want to remove. Mastodon asks for confirmation. Click Remove to confirm. The hashtag disappears from your profile immediately.
6. Save your changes
   After adding, reordering, or removing hashtags, click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the Profile page. If you navigate away without saving, your changes are lost.

Adding Hashtags from Third-Party Apps

Most third-party Mastodon apps support featured hashtags. In Tusky, go to your profile, tap the edit icon, and scroll to Featured Hashtags. In Ivory, go to Settings > Edit Profile > Featured Tags. The process mirrors the web interface. The five-hashtag limit applies across all apps.

Common Mistakes and Limitations

Attempting to Add a Sixth Hashtag

Mastodon enforces a strict limit of five featured hashtags. If you try to add a sixth, the interface shows a warning message. The new hashtag is not added. You must remove an existing hashtag before adding a different one. There is no workaround. This limit applies to all users regardless of instance size or account age.

Featured Hashtag Not Showing on Profile

If a featured hashtag does not appear on your profile after saving, check two things. First, confirm you clicked Save Changes after editing. Second, verify the hashtag is spelled correctly. Featured hashtags are case-insensitive but must match the tag you use in your posts. If you add photography but always use PhotoGraphy, the featured tag still works. Mastodon normalizes all tags to lowercase internally.

Posts Not Appearing Under a Featured Hashtag

Clicking a featured hashtag on your profile shows a filtered view of your public posts that use that tag. If a post does not appear, the post is likely not public. Check the post visibility. Only public posts are indexed. Followers-only, mentioned-only, and direct posts are excluded. Also check that the hashtag in the post exactly matches the featured tag. Mastodon treats photography and photo-graphy as different tags because of the hyphen.

Featured Hashtags on Private or Limited Accounts

If your account is set to private, also known as locked, your featured hashtags still appear on your profile. However, clicking a featured hashtag shows only your public posts with that tag. If you have no public posts, the hashtag row displays an empty state. Visitors see the hashtag name but no posts. This can confuse visitors. Consider making at least a few public posts for each featured hashtag if you use a locked account.

Hashtag Not Found When Adding

When you type a hashtag in the Add field, Mastodon suggests existing tags from the fediverse. If your tag does not appear in the suggestions, you can still add it manually. Type the exact tag name and press Enter. Mastodon adds it to your featured list even if no other posts use that tag. The tag becomes visible on your profile immediately after saving.

Featured Hashtags vs Bio Hashtags: Key Differences

Item	Featured Hashtags	Bio Hashtags
Location on profile	Separate row below the bio	Inside the bio text field
Maximum number	5	No hard limit, but limited by bio length
Click behavior	Shows only your posts with that tag	Shows all public posts with that tag from the fediverse
Editing method	Profile > Edit Profile > Featured Hashtags	Profile > Edit Profile > Bio field
Visibility control	Always visible on public profile	Always visible on public profile

Use featured hashtags to curate your own content. Use bio hashtags to connect with the broader fediverse conversation on a topic. Both types are useful. Featured hashtags give you more control over what visitors see first.

Now you know how to add up to five featured hashtags to your Mastodon profile. You can reorder them, remove them, and fix common issues like missing posts. Next, try adding a featured hashtag for your most active topic and check how it looks on your public profile. For a more advanced setup, combine featured hashtags with pinned posts to create a topic-focused landing page on your profile.