TikTok Safe Zone Checker (FREE TOOL)
Drop a TikTok ad, image or video, and see which parts the tabs, the buttons and the caption cover, drawn on your own frame. An image can then be cropped or fitted to 1080 x 1920. Nothing is uploaded.
Upload ad
No file? Type a size
Fill the frame
Format
Details and full spec
- Ratio
- 9:16
- Minimum
- 540 x 960
- Safe area
- 120 each side, 240 top, 660 bottom, 180 wide button column
- Video file size limit
- 500 MB
- Video formats
- MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP, AVI
- Image formats
- JPG, PNG
Built and checked by Marián Cabadaj. Last checked October 2026.
What the sizes here come from
TikTok Ads Help, TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads for 9:16 at 540 x 960 or more, 16:9 and 1:1, MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP or AVI, and 500 MB.
TikTok's In-Feed standard safe zone file for the zone: 80 each side, 160 top, 440 bottom and the button column, measured on its 720 x 1280 frame.
TikTok Ads Help, Specifications for Carousel Ads for a still: JPG or PNG, 720 x 1280, 100 KB suggested.
TikTok Ads Help, TopView ad specifications for what the zone holds: buttons, usernames and captions, and a smaller zone with a longer caption.
The examples on this page were made by the same code the tool runs.
The short answer
- The TikTok safe zone is the part of a 9:16 frame that TikTok's own interface leaves clear. On a 1080 x 1920 ad, keep text and logos 120 pixels from each side, 240 from the top and 660 from the bottom, and out of a 180 pixel button column on the right (measured on TikTok's safe zone file).
- That leaves a 840 x 1020 box with one corner cut out, about 38% of the frame. The other 62% can sit under the tabs, the buttons or the caption.
- TikTok takes 9:16 at 540 x 960 or more, as MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP or AVI, up to 500 MB (TikTok Ads Help). A longer caption makes the safe zone smaller.
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Add as preferred sourceFree TikTok safe zone template
A TikTok safe zone template is a transparent 1080 x 1920 PNG you lay over your ad in Canva, CapCut, Premiere or Figma. Ours is drawn from the same numbers as the checker above: the pink bands are what TikTok covers, the dashed line is what stays clear, and the tabs, buttons and caption are named where they sit.
Put it on the top layer of a 1080 x 1920 canvas, design under it, and hide it before you export. The same file holds if you searched for a TikTok safe area template.
Five ads with the safe zone drawn
Five ads from the Selzee gallery, run through the checker and saved with Download with safe zone. The pink is what TikTok covers. None of the five keeps every word out of it.
TikTok safe zone dimensions and ad specs
What the checker grades against. A row with no qualifier is TikTok's own figure.
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Export at | 1080 x 1920 (common export, not published) |
| Ratio | 9:16 |
| Minimum | 540 x 960 |
| Safe area | 120 each side, 240 top, 660 bottom, 180 wide button column (measured on TikTok's file, at 1080 x 1920) |
| Video file size limit | 500 MB |
| Video formats | MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP, AVI |
| Image formats | JPG, PNG |
| Horizontal video | 16:9, 960 x 540 or more (plays smaller than the screen) |
| Square video | 1:1, 640 x 640 or more (plays smaller than the screen) |
| Carousel image | 720 x 1280 vertical, 100 KB or less suggested |
| Safe area, TikTok's file | 80 each side, 160 top, 440 bottom (on 720 x 1280) |
Sources: TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads for the sizes, types, the size limit and the safe zone file, and Specifications for Carousel Ads for a still. 1080 x 1920 is not a TikTok figure. Instagram's own shapes are in the Instagram size checker. Verified 2026-10-13.
TikTok publishes two safe zone files
TikTok publishes two safe zone files for in-feed ads, and they draw different zones. The current standard file, dated April 2025 and linked on TikTok's in-feed ad specifications, marks 80 pixels on each side, 160 across the top and 440 across the bottom of a 720 x 1280 frame, plus a 120 pixel button column on the right.
The older file with an anchor, from 2021 and still on the same page, is a phone mock-up on a 540 x 960 frame: 126 at the top, 60 at each side, 120 on the right, and 406 to 507 at the bottom for one to four lines of caption. That bottom is 42% to 53% of the frame, against 34% in the standard file.
Both are TikTok's. TikTok tells advertisers who add an anchor, the product link above the caption, to use the anchor file. The checker draws the standard file; if your ad carries an anchor or a four line caption, keep your words higher still. TikTok's TopView page says why: "the longer the caption, the smaller the safe zone will be."
Four real ads, four results
Measured on 13 October 2026, at the size the Selzee gallery serves each file.
Quinn Marketing, 603 x 1080
Plays at 99% of the screen, a sliver off 9:16. The opening line is clear; the offer box sits under the caption and the ad button.
MBoo, 603 x 1080
Plays at 99% of the screen. The MBOO wordmark sits in the caption band, and the end of the headline runs into the button column.
SuperSummary, 603 x 1080
Plays at 99% of the screen. The headline and the ticks start in the left margin, and the last line of the list is in the caption band.
A 4:5 feed ad, 870 x 1080
Plays at 70% of the screen, with space above and below. The headline runs into the left margin, and the comment under it sits in the caption band.
How to check a TikTok ad
-
Drop the ad in
An image or a video, or paste a screenshot. The browser reads it, so nothing leaves your device.
-
Read the zone on your frame
The tabs, the buttons and the caption are shaded on your own ad, with a dashed line round what stays clear.
-
Download it
Save the frame with the zone drawn, to send to whoever edits the ad. An image can also be cropped or fitted to 1080 x 1920, with the zone over it as you move it, and saved as a JPG or PNG.
Why check the safe zone before you launch
TikTok draws its interface over every ad, and the parts it covers are the parts a design reaches for first.
About 62% of the frame is not yours
The sides, the top, the bottom and the button column add up to 62% of a 1080 x 1920 frame.
The bottom is where the offer usually goes
The last 660 pixels belong to the username, the caption, the music line and the ad button.
A design file shows a clean frame
Without a template on top, nothing in the file marks the zone, so a covered line looks fine until the ad is live.
How to build an ad that survives the safe zone
-
Build on a 1080 x 1920 canvas
It fills the screen. Any other shape plays smaller, with space round it.
-
Keep the hook out of the top 240 pixels
That is where the Following and For You tabs sit.
-
Keep the offer above y 1260
Below it are the username, the caption and the ad button.
-
Leave the button column empty
From y 840 to 1260, the right 300 pixels are the profile, like, comment and share buttons.
-
Write a short caption
Every extra line of caption pushes the safe zone up.
Who this checker is for
Brands running TikTok ads
An offer under the ad button is money spent on a line nobody reads.
Editors handing a cut to a client
A frame with the zone drawn settles the question before the review call.
Teams reusing Meta creative
A 4:5 or square ad plays smaller on TikTok, and the checker shows how much.
What the checker tells you
Every check returns the same four things, so the answer has the same shape whichever file you drop in.
The verdict
Kept as is, plays with bars, too small, too large or the wrong file type, for this exact file.
The safe zone
Drawn on your own frame: the tabs, the buttons, the caption and the side margins, named where they sit.
The download
Your frame with the zone drawn, as a PNG. For an image, also the ad itself at 1080 x 1920, cropped where you drag it or fitted whole, as a JPG or PNG.
The spec
Every TikTok size, type and limit the verdict used, one click under the result, with its source.
TikTok safe zone: FAQ
What is the TikTok safe zone?
What are the TikTok safe zone dimensions?
Is there a free TikTok safe zone template?
What size should a TikTok ad be?
Why is the text on my TikTok ad covered?
Does a longer caption change the TikTok safe zone?
Is the TikTok safe zone the same for Instagram Reels and Stories?
Watch: safe zones for vertical video
How we checked these figures
Last checked: 13 October 2026. The sizes, file types and the 500 MB limit come from TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads, and the still's file types from Specifications for Carousel Ads, both read on TikTok Ads Help that day. TikTok prints no safe zone figure in words, so we downloaded its In-Feed standard file and read the edges off the picture, pixel by pixel.
We then ran the checker on the five gallery ads on this page and on two test clips, a 1080 x 1920 MP4 and a 1920 x 1080 MP4, on 13 October 2026.
- The zone: 80 each side, 160 top, 440 bottom and a 120 pixel column from y 560, read off TikTok's 720 x 1280 file and scaled by 1.5.
- The shape: 9:16 fills the screen, 16:9 and 1:1 play smaller.
- The floor: 540 x 960 for a vertical video.
- The file: MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP or AVI up to 500 MB for a video, JPG or PNG for a still.
- The template: drawn by code from the same numbers, and tested against them.
Keep exploring
See the 9:16 crop and the safe zones the profile row and reply box cover, drawn on your own story. Nothing is uploaded.
Drop one image in and see what Instagram does to it in every format, with the crop drawn on your photo, then download the fixed file. Nothing is uploaded.
Every surface in one table, each figure dated against the platform own page, with a checker per surface.
TikTok's own rule is a hook in the first 3 seconds. Ten practices for DTC teams: hook order, parallel angle tests, rotation cadence, and the kill verdict.
The safe zone is the easy part
Knowing where the words go takes one template. Having words worth putting there every week is the hard part. Turn your comments, reviews and results into ads in your brand. Free to start, no credit card.
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