Instagram and Facebook ad safe zone checker
A safe zone is the part of an ad the app’s own interface covers: the profile row, the caption, the buttons. Anything you put there is hidden from the person watching. This tool shows the covered area for all six Instagram and Facebook placements at once, on your own files, in your browser.
Add your creative
images and videoDrop files here
PNG, JPG, WebP, MP4, MOV. No size limit, because there is no upload.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Pick the placements
all of them open side by sideKeep dropping files in whenever you like. What is already checked stays put, the new ones are added to it, and the export always sends the full list.
Results
Nothing you opened here was uploaded, stored or sent anywhere.
Drop in every ad you are about to ship, static and video together. Video keeps playing with the zones on top. Nothing uploads, nothing is stored, and there is no account. Every figure is dated and says where it came from.
Why one safe zone per placement is the wrong answer
Every other checker ships a single mask per placement. That is not how the interface behaves. A Reels ad with a call to action button covers a different area than the same ad without one, a Stories ad with a disclaimer tightens the bottom band from 35% to 40%, and a 9:16 file dropped into Feed loses about 30% of its height to the crop before any overlay is drawn at all. The tool models each of those separately and lets you clear whichever one you are actually running.
What Meta publishes, and what Meta’s own tool draws
These were read off Meta’s Ads Guide in a browser, and measured off Meta’s own Safe zone guardrail in Ads Manager on 14 August 2026 by uploading a ruled 1080x1920 file and finding the yellow overlay by colour. They disagree in three placements out of four. Figures are top / bottom / each side, as a percentage of the creative.
| Placement | Meta publishes | Its own guardrail draws | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Stories | 14 / 35 / 6 | 14.0 / 19.7 / 0 | Bottom 15 points shallower, no side margin at all |
| Instagram Reels | 14 / 35 / 6 | 15.3 / 34.6 / 6.2 | Close, slightly deeper at the top |
| Facebook Stories | 14 / 20 video, 14 / 35 / 6 image | 14.1 / 13.6 / 0 | Shallower than either published figure |
| Facebook Reels | 14 / 35 / 6 | 13.8 / 40.4 / 6.1 | Bottom 5 points deeper than published |
| Instagram Feed | No figure published | No Feed preview exists | Meta warns the call to action covers creative, then gives no size |
| Facebook Feed | No figure published | No Feed preview exists | Same |
Precision about plus or minus half a percent, one capture each. Re-checked monthly and dated on every card in the tool.
Three findings you will not read anywhere else
Stories have no side margins. Reels do, and they measure 6.1 to 6.2%, which matches the published 6% exactly. Meta publishes 6% for Stories too and its own tool does not draw it, which suggests the side rule is a Reels rule that was copied onto the Stories page.
Facebook Reels is the dangerous one. The guardrail draws 40.4% where the documentation says 35%. Following Meta’s own published figure puts your text inside a band Meta’s own tool marks as covered, and every competing checker uses 35%.
The action rail everyone quotes does not exist. The numbers going round for the right hand button column on Reels, 90px, 120px, 227px, come from a third party measuring a 2023 file. The current guardrail shows no such shape: the right side of Reels is a plain 6% margin, top to bottom, identical to the left.
Common questions
What is a safe zone in an Instagram or Facebook ad?
A safe zone is the part of your creative that the app's own interface does not cover. The profile row, the caption, the buttons and the progress bar are all drawn on top of your ad. Anything you place underneath them is hidden from the person watching, even though it looked fine in your design file.
What are the Instagram Stories and Reels safe zone sizes?
Meta publishes 14% off the top, 35% off the bottom and 6% on each side for Instagram Stories and Reels. Meta's own Safe zone guardrail in Ads Manager draws something different: on Instagram Stories it marks 14% top, 19.7% bottom and no side margin at all. Both readings are shown in the tool so you can clear either.
Does Instagram Feed crop a 9:16 video?
Yes. Instagram's Feed design page says taller media may be cropped back to the recommended 4:5, which is what live delivery does, so a 9:16 export loses about 30% of its height before the call to action row is drawn. A separate Meta page says 9:16 video in Feed keeps the Reels safe zones. The tool shows both.
What size should I export Stories and Reels at?
Every Meta Stories and Reels page recommends 1440x2560, not the 1080x1920 the industry works in. Both are 9:16 so both run, but 1440x2560 is the size Meta actually asks for. For Feed, export square: a 1:1 loses nothing to the call to action row, and a 4:5 does.
Does cropping an ad stop it running in a placement?
No. Meta is explicit that cropping alone will not restrict delivery, and that you need placement opt-outs as well. This catches people out constantly: a file exported at the wrong ratio still runs in every placement you left switched on, cropped by Meta rather than by you.
Do my files get uploaded anywhere?
No. The check runs entirely in your browser, so your creative never leaves the machine you are sitting at. There is no account, no upload, no size limit and nothing is stored. That matters if you are holding a client's unreleased campaign under an NDA.
Instagram and Facebook are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. This tool is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Meta. Platforms change these figures without notice, so every number here carries the date it was checked. Treat it as a design guide, not a guarantee, and confirm anything that matters against your own live delivery.