What is the safe zone?
Vertical video apps draw their interface on top of your content: the like, comment and share buttons down the right, your username and caption at the bottom, and tabs or progress bars at the top. Anything you place in those areas — subtitles, product names, a punchline, even your face — can be partly or fully hidden.
The safe zone is the central area that stays clear on every phone. Keeping on-screen text and key visuals inside it is one of the simplest ways to make your videos look professional and keep viewers watching.
How to check your video
- Upload a video file or a screenshot of a frame. For videos, a frame is captured automatically and the length is detected.
- Choose the platform: TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts or Stories.
- Look at the overlay: red areas are covered by the app; the green box is the safe zone.
- Check the length warning to make sure your video fits the platform.
- Download a transparent 1080×1920 overlay to use as a guide layer in CapCut, Premiere or any editor.
Safe zones by platform
- TikTok: keep clear of roughly the bottom 20–25% (caption, sound, username), the right-hand 15% (action buttons) and the top 8–10% (tabs).
- Instagram Reels: similar, with a slightly smaller right-hand rail and a caption area at the bottom.
- YouTube Shorts: the title, channel name and subscribe button take up the bottom quarter.
- Stories: the profile bar at the top and reply bar at the bottom.
Exact positions vary by device and app version, so the overlay uses conservative margins that work on most phones.
Video length limits
TikTok lets you record up to 10 minutes in the app. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts both support videos up to 3 minutes. Each Story segment is up to 60 seconds. Shorter often performs better: aim for the shortest length that delivers the full payoff of your hook.
💡 Place your hook text in the top-centre of the safe zone, where eyes land first. Get ideas from the Hook Generator.
Related tools
Convert landscape photos to 9:16 with the Aspect Ratio Resizer, plan videos with the Content Calendar Generator and write captions with the Caption Counter.