Safe zone checker

Drop in a picture or a video and see what each app’s buttons and captions cover. Your file never leaves your computer.

Top
Bottom
Left
Right
Safe area

TikTok publishes no numbers: these are measured from its templates. Longer captions cover more.

Clear on all four apps at once: the widest band on each side.

The safe zones, in pixels

On a 1080 × 1920 frame (9:16), how much each app covers on each side, and what’s left in the middle:

  • Instagram Reels

    269 px

    672 px

    65 px

    65 px

    950 × 979

  • Instagram Stories

    250 px

    250 px

    65 px

    65 px

    950 × 1420

  • TikTok

    160 px

    480 px

    60 px

    140 px

    880 × 1280

  • YouTube Shorts

    288 px

    672 px

    48 px

    192 px

    840 × 960

  • All four

    288 px

    672 px

    65 px

    192 px

    823 × 960

Where the numbers come from

YouTube Shorts’ are Google’s own, from its guide to safe zones in video ads. Reels and Stories follow Meta’s ad guides: keep 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at the sides clear on Reels, and about 250 pixels at the top and bottom on Stories. Meta uses the same numbers on Instagram and Facebook.

TikTok publishes no numbers, only template pictures and a preview tool, and it says the zone shrinks when the caption gets longer. Its figures here are measured from those templates and rounded out, so treat them as a guide.

They were all checked in October 2026. The apps move their buttons now and then, so look at your post in the app’s own preview before you publish.

One video for every app

If the same video goes to Reels, TikTok and Shorts, design for All four: the middle 823 × 960 pixels are clear on every one of them. That’s about two fifths of the frame, sitting above its middle. Put the words, faces and logos there, and let the picture run to the edges around them.

What to keep inside

Anything people have to read or recognize: titles, captions, lyrics, a face, a logo, a price. The bottom is the most crowded part of the screen, with the account name, the caption, the music line and, on ads, the button. The right edge holds the like, comment and share buttons. Backgrounds, motion and color can fill the whole frame.

How to use the template

Pick the app and download its template, a 1080 × 1920 PNG. Put it on the top layer in your editor (CapCut, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Canva), scaled to fill the frame. The red bands are covered in the app, and the dashed line is the safe area. Hide the layer before you export.

Making lyric videos or song ads?

Clips turns one song into a vertical video for every part, cut on the beat, with the lyrics synced word by word. It keeps every text inside the safe zone you pick, and shows that zone on the video while you design.

Questions

What is a safe zone?

The part of a vertical video that nothing covers: no buttons, no caption, no account name. Text and faces inside it can always be seen; anything outside may sit under the app’s own buttons.

What size should a Reels, TikTok or Shorts video be?

1080 × 1920 pixels, 9:16, the shape of a phone held upright. All four apps show it full screen.

Are the safe zones the same for ads and ordinary posts?

Nearly. Ads add a button and a label near the bottom, so ad guides keep more of the bottom clear. The numbers here are the ad guides’, which makes them the safer choice for both.

Do the Instagram numbers work for Facebook?

Yes. Meta gives the same guidance for Reels and Stories on Instagram and Facebook.

Is my file uploaded?

No. It’s shown from your own computer, in this page, and never sent anywhere.

Which files work?

Pictures (JPG, PNG, WebP) and videos (MP4, WebM and MOV). Safari plays almost any MOV; other browsers play most, depending on how the file was made.