Safe Zone Checker for TikTok, Reels and Shorts

How do you use the safe zone checker?

Upload a 9:16 image or video, then pick a platform. The shaded areas show where that platform's interface sits on top of your ad.

1. Click the upload field and choose an image or a video file. A 1080x1920 file fits the frame exactly.
2. Pick a platform: TikTok (In-Feed ads), Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, Facebook Reels or YouTube Shorts. One platform is shown at a time.
3. For a video, drag the frame slider to the moment you want to check, such as the first frame of the hook or the frame where the price appears. The slider moves in 0.1 second steps.
4. Read the box under the platform buttons. It says whether the figures are official or approximate, links the source page and shows the date they were checked.
5. Click Download PNG with overlay to save the frame with the zones drawn on it, ready to send to an editor or a client.

If your file is not 9:16, the checker says so and shows it cropped to fill the frame from the centre, which is how most vertical placements display it.

What does each shaded zone mean?

Each shaded block is an area to keep clear of text, logos and the product. The labels name what the platform puts there.

The unshaded rectangle in the middle is the safe area. Put the hook text, the face, the product and any price or offer there.

Which safe zones are official and which are approximate?

Four of the six presets use numbers the platform publishes. Two are approximate, and the checker labels them that way on screen.

Why TikTok is approximate. TikTok's In-Feed ads help page publishes the safe zone only as downloadable template files, with no numbers in the text. It says the zone depends on orientation, caption length and whether anchors are used. The checker borrows Meta's official Reels top, bottom and left margins and widens the right edge to about 11 percent to cover TikTok's right-hand buttons.

Why Facebook Reels is approximate. Meta's Facebook Reels placement page could not be retrieved, and its safe zone help article gives no numbers beyond keeping the top, bottom and sides clear. The checker applies the Instagram Reels figures as the nearest official reference.

A note on Facebook Stories. Meta gives 14 percent as 250 pixels and 20 percent as 340 pixels, but those pixel counts do not match the percentages of a 1920 px frame (269 and 384). The checker uses the percentages.

All figures were checked 12 Oct 2026.

How do you use the transparent overlays in CapCut or Premiere?

Open Transparent overlays for CapCut and Premiere under the checker and click a platform. It downloads a 1080x1920 PNG with the zones shaded in semi-transparent pink and everything else transparent, with no labels.

• CapCut: add the PNG as an overlay on the top track, stretch it across the timeline, and delete it before export.
• Premiere Pro: import the PNG, place it on the highest video track in a 1080x1920 sequence, and turn the track off before you render.

The overlay is drawn in your browser from the same data as the checker, so it matches what you see on screen.

Worked example: does this caption clear the Reels zone?

Take a 1080x1920 frame with a hook caption whose top edge sits 200 px from the top and a product shot centred at 1,400 px from the top.

• On Instagram Reels, the top zone ends at 269 px, so the caption overlaps it by 69 px. The bottom zone starts at 1,248 px, so the product shot sits in the caption area.
• Move the caption down to start at 300 px and the product up so its lower edge is above 1,248 px. Both now sit in the 950 x 979 px safe area.
• Switch the preset to YouTube Shorts. The top zone ends at 192 px and the bottom zone starts at 1,440 px, so the same layout also clears Shorts, as long as nothing sits in the right-hand 108 px.

A layout that clears the Instagram Reels zone usually clears Shorts too, because Shorts' top and bottom zones are smaller. It does not work the other way round.

What are the limits of the checker?

The zones are a planning guide, not a guarantee. They differ from what a viewer sees in a few ways.

• Caption length changes the bottom. A long caption or an expanded caption covers more of the frame. TikTok says this directly; Meta's help article adds that a Reels ad with disclaimers should leave the bottom 40 percent clear.
• Devices differ. Screen shapes other than 9:16 crop the top and bottom.
• Approximate presets are not platform numbers. For TikTok, check your final export against TikTok's own template from its help page.
• Ads, not organic posts. The official figures come from ad specs. Organic posts use similar interfaces, but the platforms do not publish separate figures for them.

The checker draws generic shapes only, with no platform logos or interface copies.

Where do safe zones fit in the ad workflow?

Check safe zones at two points: when you write the shot list, and before you export. AI video tools generate the whole frame, so a face or product can land in the bottom third on its own. Tell the model where to frame the subject in the prompt, then check the first frame of each shot here.

For the full placement specs (length, file size and aspect ratios), see the ad specs pages. For labelling rules on AI-made ads, see AI ad labels on Meta and TikTok. The safe zone glossary entry has the short definition.

Each platform has its own page with that preset loaded and notes on its interface: the TikTok safe zone, the Instagram Reels safe zone and the YouTube Shorts safe zone.

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