Reels and Shorts safe zone checker, with a 1080 × 1920 template
See where Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts cover a vertical video, from Meta’s and Google’s figures, and get a 1080 × 1920 template. Nothing is uploaded.
By Mellow · UpdatedCheck a frame against the safe zones
- Instagram Reels, from Meta, for ads in Instagram Reels: top 14% (269 px), bottom 35% (672 px), left and right 6% (65 px) each. Clear area: 65–1015 across, 269–1248 down. Meta’s page.
Sizes are on a 1080 × 1920 frame; the pages were read on 7 October 2026. All three pages are written for ads. Instagram’s help page on reel sizes and YouTube’s on uploading Shorts give no figures for ordinary posts, so these are the only official ones.
The example is a 3:2 photograph, shown as its middle 9:16.
The template is a transparent PNG with the figures written on it. Put it on the top layer of your video editor, keep words and faces inside the clear area, then hide the layer before you export.
Opens Mellow Hub. Signing up and connecting your accounts are free; publishing starts with a 7-day free trial. What you made here waits in this browser and goes into your first post, which you can change before anything is sent.
What is the safe zone for Reels, TikTok and Shorts?
For Instagram Reels, Meta asks you to keep the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text, logos and other important elements: on a 1080 × 1920 video, keep them within 65–1015 across, 269–1248 down, in pixels. For YouTube Shorts, Google’s safe zone keeps 288 pixels clear at the top, 672 at the bottom, 48 on the left and 192 on the right. The area 65–888 across, 288–1248 down is clear on both. TikTok publishes no figures: its Ads Manager help gives the safe zone only as template files, and the zone shrinks as the caption grows. All three pages are written for ads; Instagram’s help page on reel sizes and YouTube’s on uploading Shorts give none for ordinary posts.
The published safe zones on a 1080 × 1920 video
| App | Keep clear | Clear area | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels | Top 14% (269 px), bottom 35% (672 px), 6% (65 px) on each side | 65–1015 across, 269–1248 down | Meta, for ads in Instagram Reels |
| YouTube Shorts | Top 288 px (15%), bottom 672 px (35%), left 48 px (4%), right 192 px (18%) | 48–888 across, 288–1248 down | Google, for vertical video ads on YouTube, Shorts included |
| TikTok | No figures: template files to download, with a smaller zone for a longer caption | Not published | TikTok, for In-Feed ads |
| Reels and Shorts both | Top 288 px, bottom 672 px, left 65 px, right 192 px | 65–888 across, 288–1248 down | Both figures above |
Percentages are of the video’s height for the top and bottom and of its width for the sides; pixels are rounded. Meta gives top 14%, bottom 35%, 6% each side; Google gives top 288 px, bottom 672 px, left 48 px, right 192 px on 1080 × 1920, in the diagram on its page rather than in the text. Sources, read on 7 October 2026: Meta Ads Guide: video ad specs for Instagram Reels; Meta Business Help Center: About text overlays and the safe zone for ads in Stories and Reels; Google Ads Help: Use square and vertical video to engage mobile customers, Safe zones for vertical video ads on YouTube; TikTok Ads Manager Help: TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads (updated June 2026); TikTok Ads Manager Help: TikTok reservation in-feed ad specifications (updated July 2025).
Where to put words and faces
- Keep the hook in the middle. On a 1080 × 1920 video, 288 to 1248 pixels down is clear on Reels and on Shorts: the place for the first line people read.
- Burn captions in above the bottom 35%. It is the largest strip in both Meta’s and Google’s safe zones, 672 pixels on a 1080 × 1920 video. Meta keeps its margins so that the profile icon and the call to action cover nothing important; Google keeps its for overlays, calls to action and buttons.
- Leave the right edge alone on Shorts. Google keeps 192 pixels clear on the right, four times the 48 on the left.
- Mind taller phones. Meta says that on screens taller than 9:16 it may zoom a video to fill the screen, which can cut off what lies outside the safe zone, or show it at 9:16 on black.
- On TikTok, check with TikTok’s template. Its safe zone gets smaller as the caption gets longer, so a short caption leaves more of the picture clear.
- Check the cover too. The reels cover maker keeps a title inside the same clear area and shows how Instagram’s profile grid crops it.
Questions
What is the Instagram Reels safe zone in pixels?
On a 1080 × 1920 reel, keep words, logos and faces within 65–1015 across, 269–1248 down, in pixels. That is Meta’s guidance for Reels ads: leave at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side free, so that nothing important is cropped, covered by the profile icon or the call to action, or too close to the edges of phones taller than 9:16.
What is the TikTok safe zone?
TikTok does not publish it as figures. Its Ads Manager help says the safe zone depends on the video’s shape, the caption’s length and any extra formats, and that the longer the caption, the smaller the safe zone; it offers the zone only as template files to download. So the checker draws nothing for TikTok rather than a guess. TikTok’s templates are on its In-Feed ads page, linked in the sources under the table above.
What is the YouTube Shorts safe zone?
Google’s diagram for vertical video ads on YouTube, Shorts included, keeps 288 pixels clear at the top of a 1080 × 1920 video, 672 at the bottom, 48 on the left and 192 on the right. That leaves 48–888 across, 288–1248 down for words, faces and logos.
Do these safe zones apply to ordinary reels and Shorts, not only ads?
Meta and Google publish them for ads in Reels and Shorts. Instagram’s help page on reel sizes and YouTube’s page on uploading Shorts give no figures of their own, so the figures for ads are the only official ones, and the checker uses them for both.
How do I use the safe zone template?
Download the PNG and put it on the top layer over your 1080 × 1920 video in your editor. It is transparent apart from the shaded strips, with the figures written on it. Keep words, faces and logos inside the clear area, then hide or delete the layer before you export.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The picture or video stays in this page and every frame is drawn in your browser. The template is made on your own device too.
Then post the reel everywhere at once
Mellow Hub publishes one vertical video to Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, and to X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest and Facebook, now or on a schedule, and checks each network’s rules before anything is sent. The guide to repurposing one video covers the editing that comes first.
Schedule on Instagram and TikTokHow to repurpose one video for YouTube, Reels and TikTok
This tool is free and needs no account. Mellow Hub is paid, after a 7-day free trial, and publishes only what you, or an assistant you have authorised, send or schedule.
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