Safe areas for Shorts, Reels and TikTok covers

What sits on top of vertical video

The layouts differ per app and change with updates, but the pattern is the same everywhere. A column of buttons runs down the right-hand side. The account name, caption and sound sit across the bottom, and the caption can expand over the lower part of the video. Tabs, search or a back arrow sit along the top. The middle of the frame is the only area no app regularly covers.

YouTube now counts square or vertical uploads of up to three minutes as Shorts, so these overlays apply to longer clips too, not only to 60-second ones.

Why there's no single official template

Platforms publish exact safe zones mainly for advertisers, and the numbers differ by app, by ad format and over time. Third-party templates fill the gap. One widely shared guide for Meta's Reels ads suggests keeping key elements out of the top 14%, the bottom 20–35% and about 6% on each side. Treat figures like these as a starting point for your own checks, not as a platform rule.

Covers are cropped again on your profile

The cover isn't only shown full screen. On your profile and in grids it's cropped to a different shape. Instagram, for example, switched its profile grid from squares to 3:4 rectangles in January 2025, so the top and bottom of a 9:16 cover are cut off there. Text placed in the middle third of the cover survives both the full-screen view and the grid crop.

Placing text that survives

Design the cover at 1080×1920, then keep these habits:

• Put titles and faces in the centre of the frame, well away from the right edge and the bottom quarter.
• Keep important text inside the middle third, so the grid crop doesn't cut it.
• Use large type; the cover is seen at full screen and as a small grid tile.
• If you turn a 16:9 picture into a cover, fit it on a blurred background instead of stretching it.