Instagram safe zones for Stories and Reels, and how to crop around your subject
Instagram does not publish a universal safe zone for organic Stories and Reels. The account name, progress bar, captions, buttons, and reply bar move with the placement, device, and app version, so no rectangle is guaranteed to stay clear.
The only published numbers are Meta's guidance for Story and Reels ads: keep key elements out of roughly the top 14%, the bottom 35%, and 6% on each side. On a 1080 × 1920 frame that is:
| Edge | Meta ad guidance | On 1080 × 1920 |
|---|---|---|
| Top | 14% | about 269 px |
| Bottom | 35% | about 672 px |
| Left and right | 6% each | about 65 px each |
| Area left clear | about 950 × 979 px, from 269 px to 1248 px down |
It is a sensible margin for organic posts too, as long as you treat it as a starting point and check the preview in the app. To crop a photo with the subject inside that area, open the 9:16 Story preset.
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What do Meta's ad percentages look like?
Meta's Story and Reels ad guidance drawn to scale on a 9:16 frame. The clear area is not centered: it sits toward the top.
Meta's Ads Guide gives the same percentages for Story image ads, Reels image ads, and Reels video ads. It says the margins keep text, logos, and key elements from being covered by the call to action or the profile icon.
Organic Stories and Reels have no call-to-action button, but they do have the reply bar, captions, and buttons near the bottom, so the ad margins are a reasonable default. They are not a guarantee.
Are the 1080 × 1420 box and 250 px margins real?
Not as far as we can find. Several size guides repeat a centered 1080 × 1420 safe area, 250 px margins at the top and bottom, or a 2025 change from 200 to 250 px. None of these appear on a current Instagram or Meta page. Meta's own numbers are percentages and are asymmetric: 269 px at the top and 672 px at the bottom on a 1080 × 1920 frame, not 250 and 250.
How to crop a Story around your subject
A 9:16 crop removes a lot from a landscape or 3:4 photo. The focal point tells the crop where your subject is, so it keeps the subject instead of cutting from the center.
- Open the Story preset and add your photo. It stays on your device.
- Turn on the focal point control (labeled Focus on larger screens) and click your subject. The crop centers on that point; drag the marker to adjust it.
- Keep the Grid overlay on (it is on by default). Its upper line sits at one third of the height, 640 px on a 1080 × 1920 export, which is inside the clear area. Put eyes or the main product there.
- Zoom out if the subject's edges touch the sides; the 6% side margin is only about 65 px.
- Click Crop Image and download. The export is 1080 × 1920. JPEG, PNG, and WebP keep their format; HEIC and DNG are exported as JPEG.
- Add text in Instagram after uploading, inside the clear area, then check the preview before you post.
For text you design before upload, keep it between roughly 270 px and 1250 px from the top and 65 px from each side.
Which preset for which post?
The same focal-point workflow works for feed posts. These are SnapCompress export presets; feed photos can be any ratio from 1.91:1 to 3:4, as the Instagram image size guide explains.
| Post | Preset | Export size |
|---|---|---|
| Story or Reel | Story, 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| Feed, phone-native portrait | Portrait, 3:4 | 1080 × 1440 |
| Feed portrait | Portrait, 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 |
| Feed square | Square, 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 |
| Feed landscape | Landscape, 1.91:1 | 1080 × 566 |
| Profile photo | Profile, 1:1 | 320 × 320, shown as a circle |
Where to put the focal point:
- Portraits: on the eyes, not the center of the face.
- Products: on the product, with space around it so the crop has room.
- Landscapes and buildings: on the horizon or the strongest vertical line.
- Profile photos: centered, because the circle cuts off the corners.
How does the profile grid crop posts?
Since January 2025 the profile grid shows taller rectangular tiles instead of squares (The Verge reported Adam Mosseri's announcement). The tile is widely reported as 3:4; we could not find an Instagram help page that states the ratio. The tile is only a preview: the full post appears when someone opens it.
If the tile is 3:4, here is how much width each feed ratio loses in the grid:
| Post ratio | Grid preview |
|---|---|
| 3:4 | Shown whole |
| 4:5 | About 6% trimmed from the sides |
| 1:1 | About 25% trimmed, 12.5% from each side |
| 1.91:1 | About 60% trimmed; only the middle remains |
So if your grid matters, post at 3:4, or keep the subject in the middle of square and landscape posts. Putting the focal point near the horizontal center keeps it visible in both the post and the tile.
Sources
Reviewed by Óscar Gallego Ruiz, who builds SnapCompress. The presets and the organic-post advice here are SnapCompress recommendations; only the ad percentages come from Meta.
- Meta Ads Guide: Instagram Stories image ads (9:16; 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% sides), accessed 2026-10-08
- Meta Ads Guide: Instagram Reels image ads, accessed 2026-10-08
- Meta Ads Guide: Instagram Reels video ads, accessed 2026-10-08
- Instagram Help Center: Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram (feed range 1.91:1 to 3:4), accessed 2026-09-24. The page did not render for automated fetching on 2026-10-08.
- The Verge: Instagram profile grids move to rectangles (secondary source; the original announcement was an Instagram Story), accessed 2026-09-24
Further reading
- Guides
Instagram Image Sizes (2026): Posts, Carousels, Stories, Reels
Instagram sizes: 1080 × 1350 (4:5), 1080 × 1440 (3:4), 1080 × 1080 (1:1), 1080 × 566 (1.91:1), and 1080 × 1920 (9:16) for Stories and Reels.
Read - Guides
Image Resizing Best Practices: Which Pixel Size to Use
What pixel size to resize to for websites, email, and online stores, why to resize before compressing, and how to avoid upscaling and blur.
Read - Guides
How to Compress an Image Without Visible Quality Loss
Compress a photo or screenshot step by step: resize first, pick the right format, then lower quality until you see a difference. Free, in your browser.
Read