How to check your Instagram safe zone
- 01
Add your picture or video
Pick it, drop it or paste it. It’s read on your device and never uploaded. No file yet? Try a sample.
- 02
Pick the format
The phone shows your post exactly where Instagram shows it, under Instagram’s own buttons, name and caption.
- 03
Look at the red stripes
Everything outside the dashed box can be covered. Hide the buttons to see your whole frame, or name each area.
- 04
Download the overlay
A transparent PNG at the real size, to put on top of your design in Canva, Premiere, CapCut or Figma. The template version names each area.
The safe area here is the same one aiCarousels uses for its own layouts, so a carousel made in the app keeps its text inside it on every slide.
Instagram safe zones in pixels (2026)
| Format | Size | Keep clear |
|---|---|---|
| Reel | 1080 × 1920 | Top 211 px · bottom 461 px · left 65 px · right 173 px (the like, comment and share buttons) |
| Story | 1080 × 1920 | Top 240 px (progress bar and profile) · bottom 240 px (reply bar) · 65 px each side |
| Post 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | About 65 px from every edge; the profile grid shows the middle 3:4 |
| Post 3:4 | 1080 × 1440 | About 65 px from every edge; the grid shows it whole |
| Square | 1080 × 1080 | About 65 px from every edge; the grid shows the middle 3:4 |
The Reel’s bottom is the biggest one to watch: the caption, your name, the audio and the follow button sit over the lowest quarter of the video. On the right, the buttons run down the middle of the screen.
The safe zone template (PNG)
Three downloads, each at the real size of the format you picked:
- Overlay: transparent, with the covered area striped and the safe area dashed. Put it on the top layer while you design, then hide it before you export.
- Template: the same, with each of Instagram’s areas outlined and named.
- Your picture with the safe zone: to check a cover or share it with a client or your team.
Tips for text that stays visible
Hook in the upper middle
Below the header, above the caption: that’s where people look first.
Keep the right edge for pictures
The like, comment and share buttons cover it on Reels.
Check the cover too
Your profile grid shows the middle of a Reel’s cover, so keep its title in the centre.
Same margins on every slide
A carousel looks designed when the text never jumps around.
Free, and what the app adds
The checker and the PNG templates are free, with no account. In aiCarousels every layout already keeps its text inside the safe zone for the format you choose (Stories, 4:5 or 3:4 posts), so you don’t have to check by hand.
