Keep titles, captions, logos and faces clear of app controls. Choose a sourced preset, preview your image locally, adjust any edge and download a transparent PNG overlay.
A social media safe zone is the part of an image or video where important elements are least likely to be covered by interface controls. Reels, Stories, TikTok and YouTube Shorts place captions, profile details, reactions and calls to action over a vertical creative. An export can have the correct 1080×1920 resolution and still hide a headline or logo behind those controls.
The red bands in this checker are reserved areas. Keep essential text, subtitles, faces, products and calls to action inside the outlined rectangle. Backgrounds can extend to every edge. This distinction lets a vertical post remain immersive without sacrificing the information a viewer must see.
| Preset | Top | Bottom | Left | Right | Resulting safe area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Reels & Stories ads | 269 px | 672 px | 65 px | 65 px | 950 × 979 px |
| YouTube Shorts guidance | 192 px | 480 px | 0 px | 108 px | 972 × 1248 px |
| YouTube universal vertical ad | 288 px | 672 px | 48 px | 192 px | 840 × 960 px |
| TikTok in-feed, 1-line caption | 108 px | 300 px | 56 px | 120 px | 904 × 1512 px |
| TikTok in-feed, 4-line caption | 108 px | 364 px | 56 px | 120 px | 904 × 1448 px |
| Safe across platforms | 288 px | 672 px | 65 px | 192 px | 823 × 960 px |
Pixel values are rounded where a publisher specifies percentages. A preset is a design aid, not an upload requirement or a guarantee across every device.
Select Safe across Reels, TikTok & Shorts when the same 9:16 master will be posted in several apps. That preset uses the largest reserve found on each edge among the included platform guides.
This conservative intersection is useful for reusable titles and logos, but it creates a smaller working area. Platform-specific versions can use more of the screen and usually produce a better composition.
Meta's current design guidance for vertical Reels and Stories ads recommends keeping roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side clear of text, logos and other key elements. On a 1080×1920 canvas, this becomes approximately 269 px at the top, 672 px at the bottom and 65 px on each side.
These percentages are ad guidance. Organic interface layouts and publishing previews can differ, so avoid treating the outline as a cut line.
TikTok states that its in-feed safe zone depends on the creative dimensions, caption length and additional formats such as anchors. The two TikTok presets model the standard downloadable overlays for one-line and four-line captions. Longer copy requires a larger bottom reserve.
If your ad includes an anchor or another add-on, start with TikTok's matching template and copy its measurements into Custom margins.
Google's Shorts guidance recommends keeping critical elements out of the top 10%, bottom 25% and right 10% of a 9:16 frame. Google also provides a more conservative universal vertical video ad template because calls to action and overlays vary by inventory and device.
Use the Shorts preset for that placement or the universal preset when one video ad may appear across several YouTube surfaces.
A safe zone describes interface overlap; it does not mean the outer pixels will always be cropped. A platform may still display the background edge to edge. If you need to change a landscape source into 9:16, calculate the removed image area separately with the crop loss calculator.
For export dimensions and ratios, use the social media size calculator.
Social apps test layouts, move controls and render slightly differently across devices. Captions, translated text, ad calls to action, stickers and accessibility settings can also consume more space. That is why this checker shows the source date, keeps every margin editable and does not call any preset universally guaranteed.
Before launching a paid campaign, compare the finished creative with the current preview in Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads Manager or Google Ads. For organic content, test a private or draft post on the devices that matter to your audience.
1080×1920 pixels at 9:16 is the common full-screen working size. A platform may accept other sizes, but native 9:16 avoids unnecessary fitting and gives the safe-zone overlay a consistent reference canvas.
No. Background imagery, color and nonessential decoration can extend to the edges. Keep only information that must remain readable inside the safe outline.
No. The image is loaded with a temporary local browser URL. The preview and PNG overlay are produced on your device.
TikTok's official help says the safe zone changes with caption length and added formats. The presets show two common caption cases; use Custom margins for another template.
Yes. Download the transparent PNG at the same dimensions as your canvas, place it on the top layer, design underneath it, then hide or delete the overlay before export.
No. Safe-zone placement is only one creative consideration. Platform policies, file specifications and the final in-app preview still apply.
Choose current dimensions and ratios for common formats.
Measure how much of a source is removed by a new shape.
Plan horizontal, square and vertical video dimensions.
Explore common full-screen vertical resolutions.
Prepare taller feed images without using full-screen 9:16.
Fit content without cropping and calculate empty bars.