Reels ad safe zone: where text goes in 9:16

In a 9:16 Reels ad, put your text in the middle of the frame. Meta asks you to keep the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text, logos and other key elements. On a 1080 × 1920 frame, that leaves a box about 950 pixels wide and 979 pixels tall, from 269 pixels down to 1248.

That is the short answer. The rest of this guide explains where the numbers come from, what covers each band, how the same rule works on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, and how to lay out one vertical film so that its text reads on all three.

What the Reels ad safe zone is

A Reels ad plays full screen, but the screen is not all yours. Instagram draws its own interface on top of your video: the account name and the caption at the bottom, the like, comment, share and audio buttons down the right side, a header and a camera icon at the top, and, on an ad, the call-to-action button. Whatever your film shows under those layers is still there, but nobody can read it.

The safe zone is the part of the frame that the interface leaves open. Meta states it as margins. Its ad specs for Instagram Reels recommend "leaving at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom, and 6% on each side of your asset" free of text, logos or other key creative elements. The same page gives the ratio as 9:16 and the resolution as 1440 × 2560 pixels.

The bottom band is the large one for a reason. Everything that belongs to the ad as a post sits there: the account, the primary text, the button. Meta's page recommends 44 characters of primary text, and that text still takes lines at the bottom of the screen. The top band is smaller because only the header and the camera icon live there. The side margins are narrow, but they keep words away from the rounded corners and the edge of the glass, where a letter is easy to miss.

Who needs to care, and when

Anyone who puts words on a vertical film needs the safe zone: a headline in the first frame, a price, a date, a captioned voice-over, a logo, an end card with an offer. It matters most for the people who make their own marketing video, because nobody else checks the frame before it goes live.

It also matters for more than ads. A launch film, a product explainer or a social clip that plays in Reels gets the same interface on top of it. The numbers on Meta's page are for ads, but organic Reels also show the account, the caption and the buttons on top of the film, so the same layout keeps them readable too.

The best time to think about the safe zone is before the first cut, not after. Text is easy to move in a draft. In a finished film, a headline under the caption often means a new layout, a new animation and a new render.

The numbers in pixels, worked out

Percentages are easy to remember but hard to draw with. Here is the arithmetic for the two sizes you are most likely to export.

On a 1080 × 1920 frame

• Top: 14% of 1920 = 268.8, so keep text below about 269 pixels.
• Bottom: 35% of 1920 = 672, so keep text above 1920 − 672 = 1248 pixels.
• Sides: 6% of 1080 = 64.8, so about 65 pixels on the left and 65 on the right.
• Safe box: 1080 − 65 − 65 = 950 pixels wide, and 1248 − 269 = 979 pixels tall.

On a 1440 × 2560 frame

• Top: 14% of 2560 = 358.4, so about 358 pixels.
• Bottom: 35% of 2560 = 896 pixels, so text stays above 2560 − 896 = 1664.
• Sides: 6% of 1440 = 86.4, so about 86 pixels on each side.
• Safe box: 1440 − 86 − 86 = 1268 pixels wide, and 1664 − 358 = 1306 pixels tall.

In both sizes, the safe box is close to a square. That is the most useful thing to remember: a 9:16 Reels ad has a tall frame, but its readable area is roughly square, and it sits a little above the middle of the screen.

Reels, TikTok and Shorts side by side

Most vertical films run in more than one feed. The three platforms do not use the same interface, so their safe zones are different, and they do not publish them in the same way.

TikTok does not give one number. Its help page for Auction In-Feed Ads says the safe zone is determined by the dimension of the video, the length of the ad caption and any additional formats you use, and it offers template files to download. If the ad uses anchors, the page tells you to download the safe zone files with the anchor. The same page recommends vertical 9:16 video of at least 540 × 960 pixels.

Google draws its zone as a picture. Its help page on square and vertical video says vertical 9:16 video is best suited for the Shorts format, and asks you to keep your logo, product, supers and other important elements inside the red safe area of its diagram. The page also says a vertical ad in Performance Max, App and Demand Gen campaigns may show in-stream, in-feed and on Shorts, across mobile, desktop and TV screens. Google's video ad specs add that overlays, calls to action and buttons may appear in different places depending on the format, the campaign type and the screen.

Because TikTok and Google publish templates and diagrams rather than text, the pixel numbers come from people who measured them. AdCheckLab measured TikTok's In-Feed template, which is drawn on a 720 × 1280 canvas, and scaled it to 1080 × 1920: 240 pixels at the top, 660 at the bottom, 120 on each side, and 300 on the right from 840 pixels down, where the button column sits. It measured Google's vertical template for Shorts ads as 288 pixels at the top, 672 at the bottom, 48 on the left and 192 on the right, which leaves 840 × 960 pixels.

Platform (1080 × 1920)	Top	Bottom	Left	Right	Source
Instagram Reels ads	269	672	65	65	Meta: 14%, 35%, 6%
TikTok In-Feed ads	240	660	120	120, then 300 from 840 down	TikTok's template, measured by AdCheckLab
YouTube Shorts ads	288	672	48	192	Google's template, measured by AdCheckLab

One layout for all three feeds

If one film goes to all three feeds, take the largest margin on each side. That is the second worked example:

• Top: the largest of 269, 240 and 288 is 288 pixels.
• Bottom: the largest of 672, 660 and 672 is 672 pixels, so text stays above 1248.
• Left: the largest of 65, 120 and 48 is 120 pixels.
• Right: the largest of 65, 300 and 192 is 300 pixels, in the lower part of the frame.
• Common box: 1080 − 120 − 300 = 660 pixels wide, and 1248 − 288 = 960 pixels tall.

A 660 × 960 box is smaller than any one platform's zone, but it is enough for a headline of a few words, a short line of supporting text and a label. If you need more room, keep the right margin at 192 pixels above 840 and leave the lower right corner empty. That is where TikTok's buttons sit.

The Ritual Coffee film shows the other half of this problem: one launch ad cut in four formats, where each size gets its own layout instead of one frame stretched to fit. For the sizes themselves and where each one plays, read One video, every feed.

How to lay out text in 9:16, step by step

1. Set the frame to 1080 × 1920 or 1440 × 2560 and draw the safe box first, as guides, before any text.
2. Decide which zone you design for: Reels only, or the common box for all three feeds.
3. Put the headline just under the top margin, in the upper half of the box. It reads first and stays clear of the caption.
4. Put supporting text, a price or a date in the middle of the box, close to the product or the person on screen.
5. Keep the logo inside the box too, small, not in a corner. Corners are where the header and the buttons sit.
6. Leave the bottom third for picture only: hands, product, motion. The interface will cover it with text of its own.
7. Check every frame where text appears, not only the first one. End cards and captions move.
8. Preview the film on a phone, with the platform's template or preview tool, before you publish.

Common mistakes and their fixes

Captions burned in at the very bottom

Subtitles at the bottom edge are a habit from television. In Reels, they land under the primary text and the button. Move them up into the lower part of the safe box, about where the bottom margin begins. For more on captions that work with the sound off, read 6 rules for captions in video ads.

The offer on the end card under the button

The last frame often holds the most important line: the price, the date, the code. Put it in the middle of the box and keep it on screen long enough to read.

A logo in the top-left corner

The top-left corner is where the header sits. Put the logo inside the top of the box instead, or in the first frame next to the headline.

Text right against the side

Even inside the top and bottom margins, a headline that runs edge to edge is hard to read next to the rounded corners and the buttons. Keep the side margins, and wrap long lines.

One layout, resized for every format

A 16:9 film shrunk into a 9:16 frame puts its text in the bands that the interface covers. Lay out each size on its own, from its own safe box.

A checklist before you publish

• The frame is 9:16, and the safe box is drawn for the right platform or for all three.
• No text, logo or price sits in the top 14%, the bottom 35% or the 6% side margins of a Reels ad.
• The lower right corner is empty if the film also runs on TikTok.
• The headline sits in the upper half of the box.
• Captions sit inside the box, not on the bottom edge.
• The end card's offer is in the middle of the frame.
• You watched the film on a phone, with the interface on top, from the first frame to the last.

For the other checks a film needs before it goes live, see the launch checklist.

Questions and answers

What is the safe zone for a Reels ad in pixels?

On a 1080 × 1920 frame, keep text below about 269 pixels from the top, above 1248 pixels (672 from the bottom) and about 65 pixels from each side. That follows from Meta's 14%, 35% and 6%, and leaves a box of about 950 × 979 pixels.

Is the TikTok safe zone the same as the Reels safe zone?

No. TikTok says its safe zone depends on the video's dimension, the caption length and any extra formats, and it gives template files instead of one number. Its buttons sit lower on the right, so keep that corner empty.

Does the safe zone apply to organic Reels, not only ads?

Meta publishes its numbers for ads. Organic Reels also show the account name, the caption and the buttons on top of the film, so the same layout keeps your text readable in both.

Can I design one 9:16 film for Reels, TikTok and Shorts?

Yes. Take the largest margin on each side from the three platforms. On 1080 × 1920 that gives a box of about 660 × 960 pixels, from 288 pixels down to 1248 and from 120 pixels in on the left to 300 pixels in on the right.

Make the vertical cut without measuring

FoxyLab makes marketing films from a chat: launch and product films, explainers, social video and ads. You paste a link or write a line, and the studio writes, voices, animates and renders the film in 9:16, 1:1, 4:5 and 16:9, each size with its own layout, and changes it from your notes. To see your own film in 9:16 with its text inside the frame, start a film in the studio.