Instagram safe zone checker for Reels and Stories

The Instagram safe zone is the part of a 1080 × 1920 Reel or Story that Instagram's profile row, caption and buttons leave clear. For ads, Meta recommends 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at each side: 269 px, 672 px and 65 px. This Instagram safe zone checker draws it over your own frame.

Free. Runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded. Download the overlays with a free account.

Check your frame

Choose a picture or a video, then switch between apps. Your file stays in this browser tab: nothing is uploaded.

Choose a picture or video

Or drop a file here. PNG, JPG, WebP, MP4 or MOV, ideally 1080 by 1920.

Which app

Show

App interfaceLabels

The green dashed line is the safe zone the app publishes. Choose a file to see your own frame under it.

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A free account downloads your preview and the transparent 1080 by 1920 overlay for every app, to lay over your edit. No card.

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How the Instagram safe zone checker works

Drop in a frame and the checker shades the margins Meta publishes for Reels and Stories, with the safe zone outlined in green.

1
Add your frame
Use a cover, a still from the Reel, or the video file itself and slide to the busiest moment. Pictures that aren't 9:16 are shown filling the screen, as Instagram shows them.
2
Read the shaded margins
The top 269 px holds the profile and header, the bottom 672 px the caption and call to action, and 65 px at each side keeps words off the screen edge.
3
Fix, then export
Pull text, logos and faces inside the green line. Prices, dates and calls to action matter most: those are what people miss when the caption sits on them.

Instagram safe zone sizes

Meta gives one set of margins for both Reels and Stories. TikTok and Shorts are beside it for anyone posting the same video everywhere.

App	Top	Bottom	Left	Right	Safe area
Instagram Reels and Stories	269 px 14%	672 px 35%	65 px	65 px	950 × 979 px
TikTok	240 px 12.5%	660 px 34.4%	120 px	120 px 300 px below 840 px down (the button column)	840 × 1020 px
YouTube Shorts	288 px 15%	672 px 35%	48 px	192 px	840 × 960 px
All three	288 px 15%	672 px 35%	120 px	192 px 300 px below 840 px down (the button column)	768 × 960 px

For a 1080 × 1920 px (9:16) frame. Each app publishes these margins for its full-screen ads; none publishes one for regular posts, which show the same screen without the ad's button. "All three" is the largest margin on each side. Sources, last checked 8 October 2026:

Facebook Ads Guide: Instagram Reels video ad specs. Meta gives 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side, converted to pixels on 1080 × 1920.
Facebook Ads Guide: Instagram Stories video ad specs. The same 14%, 35% and 6% for Stories.
TikTok Ads Manager: In-Feed ads safe zone template. Read from TikTok's in-feed safe zone file (720 × 1280, labelled in pixels) and scaled to 1080 × 1920.
Google Ads Help: Safe zones for vertical video ads on YouTube. Read from Google's 1080 × 1920 safe zone image, which labels each margin in pixels.

Instagram Reels safe zone

For a Reel, keep words and faces 269 px below the top, 672 px above the bottom and 65 px in from each side. That leaves a 950 × 979 px area in the middle of the screen.

The bottom is the tight side: the profile picture, the caption, the audio name and the buttons all sit low on the screen, and the caption grows taller when it is opened.

Reels safe zone

A Reel's safe zone is about the moment people watch it full screen: the cover and the first second carry the hook, so keep that text inside the middle 950 × 979 px and well above the caption. The profile grid later shows only a 3:4 crop of the cover, so a centred title survives both.

Posting the same video as a Reel, a TikTok and a Short? Pick All three above the preview. It keeps 288 px at the top, 672 px at the bottom, 120 px on the left and 192 px on the right, and 300 px from 840 px down where TikTok's buttons sit: the largest margin any of the three apps publishes on each side.

Meta safe zones

Meta's ads guide gives the same advice for Instagram Reels and Instagram Stories: leave about 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side free of text, logos and other key elements, so the profile icon and the call to action don't cover them.

Meta publishes these margins for ads. A regular Reel or Story has the same profile row and caption without the ad's button, so the ad margins are a cautious guide for every post.

Instagram safe zone template

Download a transparent 1080 × 1920 PNG for Instagram, or every app in one ZIP. Lay it over your edit as the top layer, line everything up inside the green dashed line, then hide it before export.

Each template is drawn by the same code as the preview, so your edit lines up with what you checked here.

Free Instagram safe zone

Using the checker is free with no account: your picture stays in the browser and nothing is sent anywhere. A free Postdom account downloads your preview and the transparent templates for Instagram, TikTok and Shorts.

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Questions about the Instagram safe zone

What is the Instagram Reels safe zone in pixels?

On a 1080 × 1920 Reel: 269 px from the top, 672 px from the bottom and 65 px from each side, which is Meta's 14%, 35% and 6%. The area inside is 950 × 979 px.

Is the Stories safe zone the same as Reels?

Meta's ads guide gives the same percentages for both: 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at each side. So one frame checked here works for a Reel and a Story.

Where do these numbers come from?

From Meta's ads guide pages for Instagram Reels and Instagram Stories video ads, converted from percentages to pixels on a 1080 × 1920 frame. Both pages are linked under the table above.

Does the profile grid crop my Reel cover?

Yes. The grid shows a 3:4 crop from the middle of the cover, so keep the cover's title in the centre as well as inside the safe zone.

Will Instagram compress the overlay template?

The template is only for your editor; you hide it before export, so it never reaches Instagram. Your exported video should be 1080 × 1920.

Is anything uploaded when I check a frame?

No. Your browser opens the file and draws it on a canvas in this page; Postdom never receives it.