Muze AIInstagram Stories · 9:16 · 1080 x 1920
The image never leaves your browser. It is read locally with an object URL and drawn on this page. There is no upload, no server call and nothing stored.
- Top14% · approx. 269 pxProgress bar, profile picture, account name, the sponsored label and the close button.
- Bottom20% · approx. 384 pxThe call to action button, the swipe affordance and the reply field. On organic Stories this is where stickers and link buttons land.
- Pixelson a 1080 x 1920 canvasPercentages are the figure to build against. Pixel values are derived from them and are approximate, because the interface changes and captions wrap.
In short
A safe zone is the part of an ad frame that the app's own interface does not sit on top of. In full-screen vertical placements such as Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, the platform draws a progress bar and account name across the top, a caption and a call to action across the bottom, and on some placements a column of buttons down the right edge. Anything you place under that furniture can be covered, and you will not see it happen in your design file. The rule that holds up over time is to treat safe zones as percentages of the frame rather than pixel values, and to keep headlines, logos and offers inside roughly the middle 60 percent of the height.
Before you build to these numbers
Reserved interface areas move. They differ by placement, by app version, by device, and by whether the viewer has captions turned on. A longer caption makes the bottom band taller on the same day with the same file. The percentages here are deliberately conservative and are a starting point, not a final production specification. Check the platform's current official guidance before you sign off a file, and preview the ad in the real placement.
How to use the checker
Pick the placement you are buying. Load a still from your creative, or the flat image if it is a static ad. The red bands are the areas the app draws its own interface over. The green box is what is left.
If a word you need is under a red band, move it. That is the whole method. It takes about twenty seconds and it catches the mistake that no amount of creative testing will fix, because a covered headline does not underperform, it simply is not there.
The feed crop guides are the second thing worth checking. Turn them on and you will see where a 4:5 or 1:1 centre crop would cut your 9:16 master, which is what happens when one vertical file is delivered into a Feed placement.
Why percentages beat pixel values
Almost every safe zone reference on the internet gives you pixel numbers. Those numbers were measured from a screenshot, on one device, on one build of the app, with one caption. All three of those change, and the pixel value goes quietly wrong while still looking authoritative.
A percentage of the frame degrades more gracefully. When a platform adds a row to its caption block, a pixel figure becomes wrong and a percentage becomes slightly conservative. Slightly conservative is a survivable error. That is why every figure on this page is stored as a share of the frame and the pixel equivalents are calculated from it, rather than the other way round.
Keep essential text, logos and offers inside the middle 60 percent of the frame. Nothing a platform does to its interface takes that away from you.
The reserved areas, side by side
| Placement | Top | Bottom | Right rail | Clear height |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Stories | 14% | 20% | None | 66% |
| Instagram Reels | 14% | 35% | 12% | 51% |
| Facebook Stories | 14% | 20% | None | 66% |
| Facebook Reels | 14% | 35% | 12% | 51% |
| TikTok | 10% | 30% | 13% | 60% |
| YouTube Shorts | 10% | 30% | 12% | 60% |
| Meta | 14% | 35% | 12% | 51% |
| 14% | 35% | 12% | 51% |
Every figure is a share of the frame, rounded outward. All six placements are 9:16, so a 1080 by 1920 master is the right starting file for all of them.
One layout that clears all six
You do not need six files. Take the strictest value from each column above: about 14 percent clear at the top, about 35 percent clear at the bottom, about 13 percent clear on the right. On a 1080 by 1920 artboard that is a rectangle starting 269 pixels down, ending 672 pixels up from the bottom, inset 140 pixels from the right edge.
Put every headline, price, logo and offer inside that rectangle. Let colour, product and motion run to the edges, because a vertical ad with empty margins looks like a mistake rather than a decision. Fill the frame, communicate in the centre.
That single rectangle is the safe zone template most people are searching for. It is four guides in your design tool, not a file you need to download.
Check a specific placement
Frequently asked questions
- What is a safe zone in advertising?
- A safe zone is the part of an ad frame that the app's own interface does not sit on top of. In full-screen vertical placements the platform draws a progress bar and account name across the top, a caption and a call to action across the bottom, and on some placements a column of buttons down the right edge. Anything placed under that furniture can be covered. The durable rule is to keep headlines, logos and offers inside roughly the middle 60 percent of the frame height.
- What is the Instagram Story safe zone?
- Keep essential text and logos out of roughly the top 14 percent and the bottom 20 percent of a 9:16 frame. On a 1080 by 1920 file that is approximately 269 pixels at the top and 384 pixels at the bottom, leaving a clear centre band of about 66 percent of the height.
- What is the Reels safe zone size?
- Reels reserves more than Stories. Keep essential content out of roughly the top 14 percent, the bottom 35 percent and a strip of about the right 12 percent of a 9:16 frame. On 1080 by 1920 that is approximately 269 pixels at the top, 672 at the bottom and 130 on the right, which leaves a usable window of just over half the height.
- Why is my text covered by the caption?
- Because the caption is drawn over your creative after it is delivered, and its height depends on how long the caption is, which device is showing it and which version of the app is installed. Your design file does not simulate any of that. Text placed in the bottom third of a vertical frame is at risk even when it looks correct on your own phone.
- Is there a safe zone template I can download?
- You do not need one. On a 1080 by 1920 artboard, add a horizontal guide at 269 pixels from the top and another at 672 pixels from the bottom, then inset the right edge by 130 pixels. That single set of guides clears Stories, Reels, TikTok and Shorts. The checker on this page does the same job against your real creative, which catches the specific headline a blank template will not.
- Are safe zones the same on every platform?
- No, but they are similar enough to build one file. Stories placements reserve roughly the top 14 percent and the bottom 20 percent. Reels, TikTok and Shorts reserve a deeper bottom band, between 30 and 35 percent, and add a column of buttons down the right edge. A master built to the strictest combination runs correctly everywhere.
- Why do safe zone numbers differ between sources?
- Because they are measured, not published in full, and because the interface changes. A pixel value taken from a screenshot is accurate for that caption, that device and that app build. That is why this tool leads with percentages of the frame and rounds outward rather than inward.
- Does the uploaded image get sent anywhere?
- No. The checker reads the file in your browser using a local object URL and draws it on the page. There is no upload, no server call and no storage. Close the tab and it is gone.
Related
The creative is one part. The account is the other.
A safe headline still needs a campaign behind it that someone is watching. Muze reads Meta, Google, Amazon and Shopify from ChatGPT or Claude, tells you what is wasting spend, and previews every change before it runs. New campaigns are created paused.
See how Muze works