Glossary
Safe zone
The part of the frame that stays visible when the app puts its buttons, captions and names on top of your video.
Updated
A safe zone is the area of a video frame that stays visible after a platform draws its own interface on top. On short-video apps, buttons, captions, usernames and progress bars sit over your video, so anything important (text, faces, products, prices) has to stay inside the safe zone, while backgrounds can run to the edges.
The term comes from television, where "title safe" and "action safe" areas kept text away from screen edges that older TVs cut off. On phones, the cause is different, but the idea is the same.
The numbers for Reels, TikTok and Shorts
On a vertical 1080 x 1920 video, a safe box of x 60 to 940 and y 250 to 1440 keeps text clear of the interface on Reels, and the same box works for TikTok and Shorts:
| Zone | Pixels | What covers it |
|---|---|---|
| Top | y 0 to 250 | Status bar, tabs, the app's title |
| Bottom | y 1440 to 1920 | Caption, username, sound or title, comment bar |
| Right | x 940 to 1080 | Like, comment, share and remix buttons |
Apps change their layouts from time to time, so test an upload when a layout is tight. The full breakdown, including other formats and type sizes, is in the guide to Reels safe zones.
Other formats
Square and 4:5 feed posts use even margins of 60 px; landscape 1920 x 1080 video uses 96 px. A Reel cover has its own safe area: the profile grid shows only the middle 1080 x 1350 of it, y 285 to 1635.
How to use it
Write the box into your prompt in numbers ("all text inside x 60 to 940, y 250 to 1440"), check snapshots before rendering, and put captions in the lower part of the safe box, around y 1000 to 1440, so they sit above the app's own caption. In HyperFrames, a check with a caption zone can flag text in the bottom band automatically.
Related terms
The safe zone depends on the aspect ratio. Captions and lower thirds are the elements that most often end up outside it.
The vertical templates in Motion Cheat Code keep their text inside this safe box, and the free starter kit's Counter Card template shows it in a real render.
Questions
What is the safe zone for Instagram Reels?
On a 1080 x 1920 Reel, keep text and key visuals inside x 60 to 940 and y 250 to 1440. The top 250 px, the bottom 480 px and the right 140 px are covered by the app's interface.
Does the background have to stay inside it?
No. Backgrounds and footage run full-bleed to the edges. Only text, faces, products and anything people must read or see go inside the safe zone.
Is a safe zone the same as a margin?
Related but not the same. A margin is breathing room you choose for design reasons. A safe zone is set by what the platform covers, so it is uneven on Reels, with much more space reserved at the bottom and on the right.