Keep important content about 250 px from the top, 340 px from the bottom, 65 px from the left and 65 px from the right of a 1080×1920 frame. Instagram Stories: a progress bar and your profile row cover the top, and the message bar and reply controls cover the bottom.
Stories are the most forgiving Instagram format on the sides and the least forgiving at the top and bottom. A progress bar, your profile name and the close control crowd the upper edge, and the message field and sharing buttons fill the lower edge. Put a headline or a link sticker in either place and it is partly covered.
This guide covers where those bands fall, how to place stickers, and what changes when you cross-post a Story from a Reel. The margins in the overlay follow Meta's widely repeated guidance of leaving about 14 percent at the top and 20 percent at the bottom clear. That guidance is reported by secondary sources and we mark it as such.
What the Stories interface covers
At the top, the progress segments, the profile picture and username and the close icon take roughly 250 pixels of a 1080×1920 frame in our overlay. At the bottom, the reply field, the heart and the share icon take about 340 pixels.
The sides are the easiest part. We reserve only about 65 pixels each, so most compositions can use nearly the full width.
These numbers are the most useful guideline we have, but they are not a published Instagram specification, and the display varies with the viewer's device. Keep important content well inside the dashed rectangle.
Stickers, links and polls
Interactive stickers are where Stories most often go wrong. A link sticker, poll or question box placed near the bottom collides with the reply bar, and one near the top collides with the profile row.
Put stickers in the middle band of the safe rectangle, and leave a little space around them so the tap target is easy to hit. A sticker that is half hidden is also half unusable.
If you plan to add stickers after you upload, leave an empty region in your design for them, so you do not place them on top of important content.
Text and captions
Stories do not use a caption. The words are on the frame, which makes the safe zone even more important. Short lines of large text near the vertical center are the most reliable.
Because there is no native caption band measured for Stories in Frameguard, the yellow caption zone is turned off. Use the text collision tool on a still frame to catch any words that sit under the interface.
Hashtags in Stories behave as stickers, not as caption text, so Frameguard does not count them the way it does for Reels.
Cross-posting a Reel to a Story
A Reel shared to a Story is often scaled or cropped, and the Story interface is different from the Reels one. Check the Story overlay separately rather than assuming the Reels layout carries over.
The Reels top margin is a little shallower than the Story margin in our overlay, so a headline that fits on Reels may be cut on a Story. Check the Reels overlay and then switch to the Stories tab.
When you create a Story from scratch, design vertically at 1080×1920 and leave the bands clear from the start.
Common mistakes
The classic error is a call to action at the bottom. It sits right where the reply bar appears.
The second is a headline at the very top, which collides with the progress bar and username.
The third is ignoring the edges of the frame. Large backgrounds are fine there, but a logo or a face crammed against the edge can be cut by rounded screen corners.
Specs at a glance
Story duration and file limits vary by account and format, and we could not confirm them from Instagram's own pages, so the table marks them as varies. Check the app for your real limits.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Canvas | 1080 × 1920 px (9:16) |
| Safe margins (top / bottom / left / right) | 250 / 340 / 65 / 65 pxMeasured estimate |
| Native caption band | Not measured for this platform |
| Caption limit used by the tool | 2,200 characters. Stories use text and stickers on the frame rather than a caption.Varies - verify |
| Visible caption lines (estimate) | 1Measured estimate |
| Hashtags | Not limited in the tool; about 3 recommended |
| Maximum duration | Varies by account and format - check the appVaries - verify |
| Maximum file size | Not verifiedVaries - verify |
Verification labels: Official means read on the platform's own help page; Official (quoted) means platform wording quoted by independent sources; Reported means secondary sources only; Varies means sources disagree. Reviewed 2026-10-26.
Pre-export checklist
- Design at 1080×1920 (9:16).
- Keep the top 250 pixels free of headlines.
- Keep the bottom 340 pixels free of calls to action.
- Place stickers in the middle band.
- Use large, short lines of text.
- Check the sides for faces and logos.
- Run the text collision check on a still.
- Switch to the other platform tabs if you are reusing a Reel.
Instagram Stories safe zone FAQ
What is the Instagram Story safe zone?
Leave roughly the top 250 and bottom 340 pixels of a 1080×1920 Story free of important content. This follows reported Meta guidance of about 14 percent at the top and 20 percent at the bottom.
Where should I put a link sticker?
In the middle band, away from the profile row at the top and the reply bar at the bottom, so it stays visible and easy to tap.
Are Story safe zones the same as Reels?
No. Stories have a deeper top margin and a different bottom bar, so check the Stories overlay separately.
Are these safe zones official?
No. The margins are Frameguard's own measured estimates, drawn conservatively. They are not published by the platforms, and apps change their layouts, so each page shows when it was last reviewed.
Is my video uploaded anywhere?
No. Frameguard runs entirely in your browser. Your file is decoded and drawn to a canvas on your device and never sent to a server. The optional text check loads a script library, but your image is still processed locally.
Can I download a template instead?
Yes. Use the Blank template button in the tool, or download ready-made PNG overlays from the safe zone templates page.
Other platform guides
- TikTok safe zoneMargins, caption limits and a template
- Instagram Reels safe zoneMargins, caption limits and a template
- YouTube Shorts safe zoneMargins, caption limits and a template
- Facebook Reels safe zoneMargins, caption limits and a template
- Snapchat Spotlight safe zoneMargins, caption limits and a template
- LinkedIn Video safe zoneMargins, caption limits and a template
Need a file instead? Download a ready-made overlay from the safe zone templates, or compare sizes on the video sizes page.