Instagram Story safe zones: check your 9:16 in seconds.
The 2026 safe zone for Story and Reels ads: keep roughly the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side clear of text, logos and CTAs - that is where Meta's UI sits. Drop your creative below to see the zones drawn over it, or download the overlays for your design tool. Free, no signup, nothing leaves your browser.
Drop a 9:16 image, see the zones
JPG, PNG or WebP. You get the shaded UI zones over your creative plus a ratio and resolution verdict against Meta's recommended 1440 x 2560 px.
Download the overlays
Transparent 1080 x 1920 PNGs - drop one as a top layer in Figma, Canva or Photoshop and design inside the dashed area. Free to use, no attribution needed.
Shaded overlay
UI zones shaded red with the safe area outlined - the same view the checker draws.
Guides only
Just the dashed safe-area outline on a transparent canvas - the quiet version for working over your design.
Zone figures mirror the Meta ad specs cheat sheet, verified against Meta's Ads Guide. More free tools: ad mockup generator, character counter, full preflight check. Figma, Canva and Photoshop are trademarks of their owners; Adhook is not affiliated with them. Want the ads themselves? The AI Facebook ad generator writes and renders them from a product URL - see pricing.
4:5 and 1:1 safe zones: what actually applies
A search for a "4:5 safe zone" or a "1:1 safe zone" usually expects the same percentages as Stories. There are none. Meta only draws UI over the creative in the full-screen 9:16 placements; in Feed the profile row and your copy sit above and below the image, not over it.
4:5 safe zone
No UI clearance is needed. What bites instead is reuse: the same creative gets served in placements at other ratios, so keeping the product, the logo and any text away from the outer edges is what survives the crop.
1:1 safe zone
The same rule, plus size. 1:1 runs in the right column and in Marketplace, where the image renders small. Text that reads cleanly at 1080 px is unreadable there, so keep on-image text short or leave it off.
Placement ratios and minimum sizes for every format are on the Meta ad specs cheat sheet.
Safe zones, answered
What is the Instagram Story safe zone in 2026?
Keep roughly the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side of your 9:16 creative free of text, logos and CTAs. Meta's profile row, captions and call-to-action UI render in those areas and will cover whatever you place there.
Do Reels ads use the same safe zone as Stories?
Close enough to design once: both are 9:16 full-screen placements with UI at the top and a heavier UI band at the bottom. Designing inside the ~14% / ~35% / 6% frame keeps a single creative safe across Stories and Reels.
What size should a Story ad be?
9:16, with 1440 x 2560 px recommended (1080 x 1920 minimum in practice). Sharper masters survive Meta's compression better - the checker above verdicts your exact file.
Is there a 4:5 safe zone for Meta Feed ads?
No. Meta publishes no UI clearance for 4:5, because Feed does not draw its interface over the image the way Stories and Reels do. The real constraint is reuse: the same creative is served at other ratios, so keep the product, the logo and any text away from the outer edges.
Is there a 1:1 safe zone for Facebook ads?
Not a UI one, no. The constraint on 1:1 is size: it runs in the right column and in Marketplace, where the image renders small. Text that reads cleanly at 1080 px becomes unreadable there, so keep on-image text short or leave it off entirely.
Can I skip the safe-zone work entirely?
Yes - every Story creative Adhook generates is composed with the safe zones respected from the start, so the text and CTA land inside the visible frame. Try it with 10 free credits, no card.