Where should captions be placed on Instagram Reels?
Place captions between 50% and 60% from the top of the frame. Avoid the bottom 22% (Reels UI) and the top 14% (close button and AR badge).
Detail
Instagram Reels has the densest bottom UI of any short-form platform — username, caption text, music chip, and the right-rail action stack together cover roughly the bottom 22% of the frame. Captions placed in that band are guaranteed to be partly hidden. The safest placement is centered horizontally, with the caption baseline between 50% and 60% from the top of the frame. That keeps captions clear of the top close button (top 14%) and well above the action rail. SoCaptions previews the Reels UI overlay so you can verify placement before exporting the MP4.
56–72px on a 1080×1920 canvas — about 6–8% of frame width. Use heavier fonts at the smaller end of the range and thinner fonts at the larger end.
A heavy sans-serif. Inter Black, Montserrat Black, and Anton are reliable defaults. Avoid thin fonts — they break apart on compressed video.