Instagram safe zone overlay
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 31 July 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
Add your image
Drag a file here, paste from the clipboard, or choose one below. PNG, JPEG and WebP.
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.
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 |
This one page also answers: instagram reel safe zone, instagram story safe zone, ig safe area. They describe the same asset, so they share a single URL rather than getting a thin page each.
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 zonekeep content hereReel
- 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 railcoveredReel
- The bottom 35% carries the caption, audio row and action buttons. Anything there gets covered.
- Story text safe areakeep content hereStory
- 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 barcoveredStory
- The bottom strip carries the reply field and share actions.
- Profile grid crop (1:1)keep content herePost 4:5
- A 4:5 post is cropped to a square on your profile grid, losing the top and bottom.
- Grid tilekeep content herePost 1:1
- A square post fills its profile grid tile exactly, with no further cropping.
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. The thing to check for them is the grid tile, 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.
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.