Instagram safe zone overlay and template
The short answer
Meta’s published Instagram safe zone for Reels leaves roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side clear, while Stories need about 250 pixels clear at the top and bottom of a 1080 × 1920 frame — checked 28 October 2026.
Source: Meta Business Help — text overlays and the safe zone in Stories and Reels · Last checked · READ FROM SOURCE
The 14% / 35% / 6% safe-zone percentages are Meta’s published guidance for Reels. Meta does not publish a fixed byte ceiling for a still image, so this tool reports your output size without asserting a limit.
Safe-zone workbench
1080 × 1920 · 9:16
Blank template
A transparent 1080 × 1920 PNG of the Instagram Reel overlays and labels, with nothing else in it. Put it on the top track in CapCut, Premiere or Canva and frame your footage under it. No image needed.
Add your image
Drag a file here, paste from the clipboard, or choose one below. PNG, JPEG, WebP and still HEIC photos.
Nothing is uploaded. The file is read by this tab only.
Runs on your device. Your image is decoded, cropped and encoded by this browser tab. It is never uploaded, and there is no image-processing service behind this page.
Why this asset is awkward
One image often has to work as a Reel, a Story and a feed post, and each one hides a different part of it. Checking them one at a time in three different tools is how a caption ends up behind a share button.
This page puts all four canvases behind one switcher. Set your focal point once, then step through Reel, Story, 4:5 and 1:1 and watch the overlays change on your own image. Export whichever crops pass, or export a guide proof with the safe zone drawn in for a collaborator.
For video work there is also a blank safe-zone template for each canvas: a transparent PNG at full size with Meta’s Reels or Story zones drawn and labelled, and nothing else. It is made in this tab, needs no upload, and sits on the top track of an editing timeline so you can frame every shot against it.
Exact specification
| Asset | Pixels | Ratio | Formats | File limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | png, jpeg | Not published |
| Instagram Story | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | png, jpeg | Not published |
| Instagram post (portrait) | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 | png, jpeg | Not published |
| Instagram post (square) | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 | png, jpeg | Not published |
What the overlays mean
Each preset carries its own overlays: Meta’s published Reels percentages, the Story text area, and the profile-grid crop for feed ratios. Regions marked as covered are interface; regions marked as safe are what survives on every surface.
- Meta safe zone: keep content here, Reel
- Meta recommends leaving roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free of text and logos so the profile icon, caption and call to action do not cover them.
- Caption and action rail: covered, Reel
- The bottom 35% carries the caption, audio row and action buttons. Anything there gets covered.
- Story text safe area: keep content here, Story
- Meta recommends keeping text and logos out of roughly the top 250 px and bottom 250 px of a 1080 × 1920 Story, where the profile row, timer and reply bar sit.
- Reply bar: covered, Story
- The bottom strip carries the reply field and share actions.
- Profile grid crop (3:4): keep content here, Post 4:5
- The profile grid shows 3:4 tiles, so a 4:5 post loses a thin strip (about 34 px) from each side there. The feed still shows the whole post.
- Profile grid crop (3:4): keep content here, Post 1:1
- Since early 2025 the profile grid shows 3:4 tiles, so a square post loses a strip from each side there. The feed still shows the whole square.
Three things that go wrong
- 01
The strictest crop wins
If a design has to work everywhere, compose inside the Reels safe zone. Everything else is more forgiving.
- 02
A 1:1 post has no safe-zone problem, only a crop problem
Square posts are shown in full in the feed. The thing to check for them is the 3:4 grid tile, which trims an eighth from each side, not the interface.
- 03
Export a proof for anyone else in the chain
Designers and editors work in their own tools. A guide-proof PNG communicates the constraint faster than a paragraph.
Questions people actually ask
What is the Instagram safe zone?
It is the part of a frame that Instagram’s own interface does not cover. Meta publishes guidance for Reels — leave about 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side clear — and advises keeping Story text out of roughly the top and bottom 250 pixels.
Is the safe zone the same for Reels and Stories?
No, and the difference is large. Reels reserve about 35% of the bottom for the caption, audio row and action rail; Stories reserve about 13%. A design safe as a Story can be badly covered as a Reel.
Does the safe zone change with caption length?
In practice yes — a longer caption pushes further up the frame. Meta’s percentages are a conservative allowance. If your caption runs to three lines, treat the bottom as even less usable than the overlay suggests.
Where can I get an Instagram safe zone template?
Pick Reel or Story above and use the blank template button. It saves a transparent 1080 × 1920 PNG with Meta’s safe zone outlined and the area the interface covers tinted, ready to drop over your footage in CapCut, Premiere or Canva. The 4:5 and 1:1 templates mark the 3:4 profile-grid crop instead.
More Instagram sizes
The same job on other platforms
Need several of these at once? The One Image to Social Pack takes a single focal point and exports every destination you choose as one ZIP with a manifest.