YouTube Shorts safe zone checker

The YouTube Shorts safe zone on a 9:16 1080 × 1920 Short is everything at least 288 px from the top, 672 px from the bottom, 192 px from the right and 48 px from the left, the margins Google publishes for vertical video ads. This YouTube Shorts safe zone checker draws them over your frame.

Free. Runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded. Download the overlay 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.

Sign up free to download

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 YouTube Shorts safe zone checker works

Shorts keeps a wide margin on the right for its buttons and a deep one at the bottom, so the problems it catches are usually low or to the right in the frame.

1
Load a frame or the Short
Drop in a thumbnail, a still or the video. With a video, the slider picks the frame to check.
2
Read the shaded areas
The top 288 px and the bottom 672 px are shaded, with 192 px down the right side, where the buttons run, and 48 px on the left.
3
Compare with the other apps
Switch to TikTok or Instagram to see whether the same export works there, or choose All three for the margins that fit every app.

YouTube Shorts safe zone sizes

The margins Google publishes for Shorts, next to TikTok and Instagram, so a video made for one can be checked for the others.

App	Top	Bottom	Left	Right	Safe area
YouTube Shorts	288 px 15%	672 px 35%	48 px	192 px	840 × 960 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
Instagram Reels and Stories	269 px 14%	672 px 35%	65 px	65 px	950 × 979 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:

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.
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.
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.

YouTube Shorts safe zone template

The Shorts template is a 1080 × 1920 PNG with a transparent middle, the covered areas shaded, and a dashed line around the safe zone. Add it above your footage while you edit and switch it off for the export.

Because the overlay is the same drawing as the preview here, anything you place inside its line in the editor is inside the margins Google gives.

Top 288 px (15% of the height).
Bottom 672 px (35%): the title, the channel and any call to action.
Right 192 px: like, comment, share and the other buttons.
Left 48 px: the screen edge.

Free YouTube Shorts safe zone

Check as many frames as you like for free without an account; the file is opened by your browser and nothing is uploaded. Sign up free to download the preview and the overlay templates for Shorts and the other apps.

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Questions about the YouTube Shorts safe zone

What is the YouTube Shorts safe zone size?

On a 1080 × 1920 Short, the safe area is 840 × 960 px: 288 px down from the top, 672 px up from the bottom, 192 px in from the right and 48 px in from the left.

Where do these numbers come from?

From Google Ads Help, which publishes a 1080 × 1920 image of the safe zone for vertical video ads on YouTube, Shorts included, with each margin labelled in pixels. It is linked under the table above.

Do the margins apply to regular Shorts, not just ads?

Google publishes them for vertical video ads, and notes that buttons can move with the format and the screen. A regular Short has the same title and buttons without an ad's call to action, so the margins are a cautious guide.

Is the Shorts safe zone the same as TikTok's?

No. Shorts keeps a wider margin down the whole right side, while TikTok's button column only starts partway down. The table above lists both side by side.

What shape should a Short be?

Vertical 9:16, ideally 1080 × 1920. A Short in another shape gets bars or a crop, and the safe zone then moves with the picture.

Does the checker upload my video to YouTube or Postdom?

Neither. It runs on a canvas in your browser, and the file never leaves your device.