Muze AIInstagram Reels · 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 pxSound control, the menu, and on some builds a Reels label and a sponsored tag.
- Bottom35% · approx. 672 pxAccount name, caption, the call to action button and the audio ticker. A long caption pushes this band taller, and you do not control how tall.
- Right rail12% · approx. 130 pxLike, comment, share, save and the menu, stacked vertically.
- 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
The Instagram Reels safe zone is the part of a 9:16 frame left clear once Reels draws its own interface. Keep essential text and logos out of roughly the top 14 percent, the bottom 35 percent, and a strip of about the right 12 percent. On a 1080 by 1920 file that is approximately 269 pixels at the top, 672 pixels at the bottom and 130 pixels down the right edge. The bottom band is deep because it carries the account name, the caption, the call to action and the audio ticker, and it grows when the caption is long. Build to the percentages, keep the message central, and preview in the real placement before launch.
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.
The top 14 percent and bottom 35 percent figures are the values Meta's Reels guidance is commonly documented as recommending, and they match what the checker draws. The right-hand rail is quoted less consistently, so the 12 percent here is a conservative reading rather than a published number. Treat the right edge as unusable rather than as exactly 12 percent unusable.
Instagram Reels safe zone, in numbers
| Area | Share of frame | Approx. px | What sits there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 14% | 269 | Sound control, the menu, and on some builds a Reels label and a sponsored tag. |
| Bottom | 35% | 672 | Account name, caption, the call to action button and the audio ticker. A long caption pushes this band taller, and you do not control how tall. |
| Right rail | 12% | 130 | Like, comment, share, save and the menu, stacked vertically. |
| Clear area | 51% h / 88% w | 950 x 979 | Your headline, price, logo and offer. Nothing else needs to be here. |
Percentages are the figure to build against. Pixel values are calculated from them against a 1080 by 1920 canvas at 9:16, and are approximate.
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.
Reels takes about half your frame
Add the bands up. Fourteen percent at the top and 35 percent at the bottom leaves 51 percent of the height, and the right-hand rail takes a further slice of the width. Roughly half of a Reels frame is a background, not a canvas.
That is not a design constraint to argue with, it is the placement. Every Reel that works is built for the middle half of the screen, and the people who make them do not think of the rest as wasted. They think of it as the part that carries colour and motion while the message sits where it can be read.
The caption is the part that moves
The top band is fairly stable. The bottom band is not, because it wraps around whatever caption the ad carries. Two lines and it sits where you expect. Four lines and it climbs into territory you thought was safe.
The practical response is to write shorter captions when the creative has burned-in text near the bottom, and to keep the burned-in text above the 65 percent mark regardless. Do not solve a layout problem by hoping the caption stays short.
Burned-in subtitles need a decision
A lot of vertical video carries burned-in subtitles, usually at the bottom because that is where subtitles go on television. On Reels that is the worst available position. Move them up into the central band and centre them horizontally, clear of the right-hand rail.
Subtitles sitting at 70 to 80 percent of the frame height read perfectly well and stay clear of the caption block. They look unusual for about two seconds, then they look normal.
The durable version of this advice
Treat Reels as a 9:16 frame with a usable window of about 51 percent of the height. If your message does not fit there, the message is too long, not the window too small.
Verify against the platform before a production sign-off. The official specification is the only source that reflects the current build of the app:
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Instagram Reels safe zone size?
- On a 1080 by 1920 frame, keep essential content out of approximately the top 269 pixels, the bottom 672 pixels and the right 130 pixels. As percentages of the frame, which are the more durable figures, that is roughly the top 14 percent, the bottom 35 percent and the right 12 percent.
- Why does Reels reserve so much more than Stories?
- Because Reels shows more. A Story shows a progress bar at the top and a call to action at the bottom. A Reel shows the account name, the caption, the call to action, the audio ticker and a full column of engagement buttons. More interface means less frame.
- Why is my text covered by the caption on Reels?
- The caption block is drawn over your video after the fact and its height depends on how long the caption is. Text placed below roughly 65 percent of the frame height is at risk, and text below 80 percent will almost certainly be covered. Move it up rather than shortening it.
- Is there a Reels safe zone overlay I can put in my editor?
- You can build one in a minute. On a 1080 by 1920 artboard draw a rectangle from 269 pixels down to 1248 pixels from the top, and inset the right edge by 130 pixels. That rectangle is your usable area. The checker on this page shows the same thing over your actual creative, which catches the mistakes a blank overlay does not.
- Do Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels use the same safe zone?
- They are close enough to build one file for. Both reserve roughly the top 14 percent, roughly the bottom third and a right-hand button rail. The labels differ and the exact heights drift apart between app versions, so a file built for the deeper of the two will run in both.
- Does the 9:16 requirement ever change?
- The aspect ratio is the stable part. 9:16 at 1080 by 1920 has been the vertical standard for years and is safe to build against. It is the interface drawn on top of it that moves.
Other placements
Related
Creative that lands, in an account someone is watching.
Getting the safe zone right is one job. Knowing which of your ads is losing money this week is another. Muze reads Meta, Google, Amazon and Shopify from ChatGPT or Claude, and previews every change before it runs. New campaigns are created paused.
See how Muze works