YouTube Shorts Safe Zone Checker
Upload a Short or a frame from it and see where YouTube’s title, channel name, subscribe button and side buttons can cover it. The zones come from Google’s own vertical video overlay. Switch to TikTok or Reels to check the same file there.
| Top | 288 px |
|---|---|
| Bottom | 672 px |
| Left / right | 48 / 192 px |
| Safe area | 840 × 960 (39% of the frame) |
Source: Google Ads Help: vertical video safe-zone overlay (ad guidance, checked November 2026). Real app UI varies by phone, app version and caption length.
Transparent PNG. Put it on the top layer in CapCut, Premiere or Canva and hide it before export.
Mock buttons show roughly where the app draws them. They are illustrative, not measured.
What is the YouTube Shorts safe zone?
Google publishes a 1080 × 1920 safe-zone overlay for vertical YouTube video ads, linked from Google Ads Help, About video ad specs (checked November 2026). Measured from that file, the clear area runs from x 48 to 888 and y 288 to 1248.
In margins, that is 288 px at the top, 672 px at the bottom, 48 px on the left and 192 px on the right, leaving a clear area of 840 × 960 px. The right margin is wide because the like, dislike, comment, share and remix buttons stack up that side. The bottom holds the title, channel name, subscribe button and sound.
Google’s page says overlays and buttons can sit in different places depending on the format and the screen, and the overlay is published for ads. YouTube does not publish separate numbers for regular Shorts. The organic Shorts player has the same kind of interface in about the same places, so the overlay is a good working guide. Leave a little margin around it.
How to check a Short before you post
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Upload the video or a frame
MP4, MOV and WebM play under the overlay in your browser. Pause on frames with text, a face close-up or a product.
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Look for anything in the red
Red is where YouTube can draw its interface. The right side and the bottom third are where Shorts most often hide captions.
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Compare platforms
Posting the same clip to TikTok and Reels? Switch platforms with the buttons. Shorts reserves the widest right margin of the three.
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Download the overlay
Use the transparent 1080 × 1920 PNG as a guide layer in your editor. Place titles and captions inside the dashed box, then hide the layer before export.
Shorts vs TikTok vs Reels safe zones
If one vertical video goes to all three platforms, keep text inside the area that is clear on every one of them.
| Platform | Top | Bottom | Left / right | Clear area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok | 240 px | 660 px | 120 / 120 px, plus a 180 px button column from 840 px down | 840 × 1020 minus the column (38% of the frame) |
| Instagram Reels | 269 px | 672 px | 65 / 65 px | 950 × 979 (45% of the frame) |
| YouTube Shorts | 288 px | 672 px | 48 / 192 px | 840 × 960 (39% of the frame) |
Sources (checked November 2026): TikTok Ads Manager: In-Feed Ads safe-zone file · Meta Ads Guide: Instagram Reels · Google Ads Help: vertical video safe-zone overlay. All on a 1080 × 1920 frame. TikTok’s file is drawn at 720 × 1280 (top 160, bottom 440, sides 80, a 120 px button column 720 px tall) and scaled by 1.5 here. Meta gives percentages: 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% each side. YouTube’s numbers are measured from Google’s 1080 × 1920 overlay image. All three are published for ads; none of the platforms publishes figures for regular posts.
Tips for Shorts that read well on any phone
- Keep text off the right edge. At 192 px, the right margin is almost four times the left. Shift text blocks slightly left of center if they are wide.
- Captions in the middle band. The bottom 672 px is the title and channel area. Burned-in subtitles placed lower than that are hard to read.
- Use the top for your hook. Just below the top 288 px is clear on Shorts and on TikTok. More in our video hooks guide.
- Export 1080 × 1920. See our YouTube Shorts size guide for the full specs, and when to post Shorts.
- Make the cover readable too. The Shorts shelf shows a small vertical cover. A clear face or two big words works better than a sentence.
Turn long videos into captioned Shorts
Short.now finds the best moments in a long video, reframes them to 9:16 and adds captions, ready for Shorts, TikTok and Reels. 3 free videos to start, then 1 a week, no credit card.
Questions
Based on Google’s 1080 × 1920 vertical overlay: keep the top 288 px, bottom 672 px, left 48 px and right 192 px free of text and key visuals. The clear area is 840 × 960 px.
Yes. Press "Download overlay PNG" above for a transparent 1080 × 1920 image with the covered areas in red. Google also publishes its own overlay on its video ad specs page.
Google publishes them for vertical ads. Regular Shorts use a similar interface in the same places, so they work as a guide, but the exact layout changes with the phone and app version.
Above the bottom 672 px and away from the right 192 px. Somewhere in the middle third of the screen is usually the safest.
In Google’s overlay the right margin is 192 px; in TikTok’s file the sides are 120 px plus a 180 px button column lower down. The platforms stack their buttons differently, so the clear areas differ. Switch platforms above to see both.
No. It plays from your device and is never sent to Short.now or anyone else.
