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Instagram Reels Safe Zones
Reels overlays cover the right rail (icons), bottom 22% (caption + CTA), and top 8% (camera + nav). Keep type and product centered.
Instagram Reels uses the same 9:16 canvas as Stories, but the UI behaves more like TikTok than like a Feed surface. The right rail — like, comment, share, send, audio — covers the right 14% of the canvas from approximately 30% Y down to 80% Y. That's over half the height of the right edge. Below that, the username block plus the caption cover roughly 22% of the bottom, with a sponsored CTA strip taking another 8%.
What this means in practice: any product shot, any logo, any text overlay placed on the right side of a Reels ad disappears under the engagement column. Even worse, the bottom 30% of the canvas is double-occupied — by your composed caption (if you have one) and the sponsored CTA strip. Brands that center their hero in the safe middle 72% × 56% rectangle reliably outperform brands that compose to the edges.
@brand · Sponsored
Verified 2026 safe zones
| Field | Hard max | Visible before truncate | Warn at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary text | 2200 | 72 | 60 |
| Headline | 100 | 10 | 8 |
Source: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/instagram-reels · Last verified 2026-04-15.
The Reels safe rectangle
Treat the safe canvas as a centered rectangle from 0%–86% wide and 8%–78% tall. That is a 86% × 70% box that survives every overlay. If your creative has a hero element, drop it inside that rectangle. If it has copy, the same rule applies — anything in the right 14% is covered by engagement icons.
FAQ
- Do Reels ads share specs with Stories?
- Same canvas, different UI. Reels has the right-rail engagement column that Stories does not. Stories has the top progress bar that Reels does not. Plan creative for both surfaces if running them together.
- Why does the engagement column go down to 80% Y?
- Because Instagram Reels groups the audio button with the engagement icons. The audio chip sits below the share button, pushing the column down further than on Facebook Reels.
- Can I move the username block out of the way?
- No. The username + caption block is always anchored to the bottom-left and always visible.
- Does the safe zone change for paid Reels vs organic Reels?
- Paid Reels add the sponsored CTA strip at the very bottom. Organic Reels do not. The simulator reflects the paid-ad version.