TikTok, Reels & Shorts safe zone checker
Drop in a screenshot or video frame and see which parts TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts cover with their buttons, captions and headers, plus the area that's safe on all three at once.
Free · no signup · runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
The file stays on your device; nothing is uploaded.
2. Pick a platform
3. Options
Rule of thumb
Keep captions, faces and key text inside the green box: roughly the middle 64% of the height and the left 85% of the width of a 1080×1920 frame. Red areas are covered by TikTok's interface.
How to check your video's safe zones
- Export a frame from your edit (or use the video file itself) at 9:16, ideally 1080×1920.
- Drop it into the checker above or choose the file.
- Switch between TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts to see each app's interface areas in red.
- Move any caption, face or text that falls in a red area into the green box, then re-export.
What is a safe zone?
A safe zone is the part of a vertical video that isn't covered by the app's interface. On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, the bottom of the screen holds the username, caption and sound; the right side holds the like, comment and share buttons; and the top holds tabs or a header. Text or faces placed there get hidden or are hard to read.
The exact areas vary by phone size, app version and how long your caption is, so this checker uses conservative estimates. If something sits close to an edge, give it more room.
Safe zone sizes for a 1080×1920 video
TikTok: keep the bottom ~20% (about 380 px), the right ~13% (about 140 px) from the middle of the screen down, and the top ~8% clear.
Instagram Reels: keep the bottom ~22% and the right ~14% clear; long captions push the bottom area higher.
YouTube Shorts: keep the bottom ~25% and the right ~15% clear; the channel name, title and subscribe button sit lower left.
One layout for all three: keep key content between about 10% and 74% of the height and within the left 85% of the width.
Where to put captions on vertical video
Place burned-in captions in the middle third of the frame, slightly below center. That keeps them clear of the bottom caption area and right-hand buttons on every app, so one export works everywhere, and it keeps them close to the speaker's face where viewers are already looking.
FAQ
What is the TikTok safe zone?
The part of a 9:16 video that TikTok's interface doesn't cover. Avoid the bottom ~20%, the right ~13% and the top ~8% for captions, faces and text.
Are Reels and Shorts safe zones the same as TikTok?
Similar but not identical. Reels and Shorts reserve slightly more of the bottom. Designing for the overlap of all three keeps one export safe everywhere.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The checker displays your file locally in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
Skip the manual steps
OptimaClip turns a long podcast, stream or webinar into captioned vertical clips that already sit inside every platform's safe zone, exported in 9:16, 1:1, 4:5 and 16:9 and scheduled to 8 platforms.