Social ad safe zone checker.
Upload your ad once and see it in Reels, Stories, TikTok and feed placements: with the areas the app’s buttons and captions cover. Your file never leaves your browser.
Showing an example. Upload your own ad to check it, or download blank templates for your designer.
Safe zones follow each platform’s published guidance at the time of writing: TikTok’s are approximate. Interfaces vary by device, so leave a little extra room and check the final ad in the platform’s own preview.
Free, no sign-up. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Designing for safe zones.
On Reels, Stories and TikTok, the app draws its own interface on top of your ad: the account name and “Sponsored” label at the top, the caption, music and call-to-action button at the bottom, and like, comment and share buttons down the side. Anything underneath is hard to read or hidden completely.
Safe zones by placement
- Instagram & Facebook Reels (1080 × 1920): keep the top 14%, bottom 35% and 6% at each side free of text and logos.
- Instagram & Facebook Stories (1080 × 1920): keep the top and bottom 14% (about 250 pixels) clear.
- TikTok In-Feed (1080 × 1920): as a guide, keep clear of the bottom quarter, the top 8% and the right-hand 13% where the buttons sit.
- Feeds (1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080): no buttons over the image, but a 9:16 or 4:5 asset may be cropped, check nothing important is lost.
How to design one asset for every placement
- Work in 9:16, think in the middle. Put headlines, offers and logos in the central area that’s clear on Reels and TikTok and survives a 4:5 crop.
- Place subtitles above the bottom zone, not at the very bottom where captions and buttons sit.
- Keep the first second clean. The hook has to work with the interface on top of it.
- Supply native sizes where you can. A dedicated 4:5 and 9:16 version usually beats one asset stretched across everything.
- Text is fine: clutter isn’t. Meta dropped its old 20% text rule, but short, readable text still performs better.
Creative is now one of the biggest levers in paid social: see why in creative is the new targeting, how to run creative tests, and TikTok Smart+ best practices. Writing search ads instead? Try the Google Ads ad preview. Or see how we run paid social and creative.
Keep calculating.
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Open tool →Safe zone questions.
01What is a safe zone in social ads?
A safe zone is the part of a vertical ad that isn’t covered by the app’s own interface, the profile name, caption, buttons and call to action. Text, logos and key product shots should sit inside it, or people won’t see them.
02What is the Instagram Reels safe zone?
Meta recommends keeping the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side of a 1080 × 1920 Reels ad free of text and logos. That leaves roughly the middle half of the frame for anything people must read.
03What is the Instagram and Facebook Stories safe zone?
For Stories, Meta recommends leaving about 14%, around 250 pixels, at the top and bottom of a 1080 × 1920 ad free of text and logos, where the profile and call-to-action button appear.
04What is the TikTok safe zone?
TikTok’s interface covers the bottom of the video (caption, sound and call to action) and a column on the right (like, comment and share buttons). As a guide, keep text out of the bottom quarter, the top 8% and the right-hand 13%, and check your ad in TikTok’s own preview.
05What size should vertical ads be?
1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16) for Reels, Stories, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. For feeds, 1080 × 1350 (4:5) takes up the most space on mobile; 1080 × 1080 (1:1) works almost everywhere.
06Can I use one video for every placement?
Yes, if you plan for it. Design in 9:16 but keep key content in the central area that survives a 4:5 crop and stays clear of the Reels and TikTok interface. Then check each placement here or in the ad platform’s preview before launching.
07Is my image uploaded anywhere?
No. The checker runs entirely in your browser: your image or video is never sent to us or anyone else, and it disappears when you close the page.
Concepts, hooks and formats planned for each platform, and tested on results. That’s how we run paid social.