# How to see dislikes on YouTube: creators, viewers and extensions

Canonical: https://postmesh.app/blog/how-to-see-dislikes-on-youtube

By PostMesh team. Published 2026-10-26; updated 2026-10-31.

Only the channel that owns a video can see its real dislike count: YouTube made dislike counts private on November 10, 2021, and creators find them in YouTube Studio under the video's Analytics, Engagement tab, in the Likes (vs. dislikes) report. Browser extensions that show dislikes to everyone else display estimates, not YouTube's numbers.

The answer depends on whose video it is. If the video is yours, the exact count is a few clicks away in YouTube Studio. If it belongs to someone else, YouTube shows the number to nobody but that channel, and any tool that puts a number under the thumbs-down is working it out from other data. This guide covers both sides, using YouTube's own announcement, its help center and its developer documentation, plus what the best-known dislike extension says about how it works.

## The short answer

Since November 10, 2021, the dislike button on YouTube still works, but the count is private. Creators see their exact dislikes in YouTube Studio. Viewers see the button and nothing else. Since December 13, 2021, YouTube's public API no longer hands the count to other apps either, so a website or extension that shows dislikes on someone else's video can't be reading YouTube's real number. It's an estimate.

**Whose video do you want dislikes for?**
- My own video → YouTube Studio: Content, the video, Analytics, Engagement, then Likes (vs. dislikes)
- All my videos at once → Add the Likes (vs. dislikes) metric to the expanded analytics report
- Someone else's video → Not available from YouTube. Extensions show estimates only.
- I want to tell YouTube I don't like it → Use the thumbs-down, or Not interested to change your recommendations

*Paths from YouTube Help: Understand your YouTube engagement, and Manage your recommendations and search results.*

| Where you look | Who can see it | What the number is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The watch page | Everyone | Likes only. The dislike count is hidden. |
| YouTube Studio, Likes (vs. dislikes) | The channel that owns the video | YouTube's own count. It can drop as invalid ratings are removed. |
| YouTube Data API, dislikeCount | Only requests authorized by the video's owner | YouTube's own count. |
| Dislike viewer extensions | Anyone who installs one | An estimate built from archived data and extension users' votes. |

## Why did YouTube hide dislike counts?

YouTube explained the change in a post on its official blog titled [An update to dislikes on YouTube](https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-to-youtube/), published by the YouTube Team on November 10, 2021. The headline put it plainly: the count would become private across YouTube, and the button would stay. The rollout started gradually that day.

### Dislike attacks and smaller channels

The main reason YouTube gave was what it called dislike attacks: people working together to push up the dislike count on a creator's videos. YouTube said smaller creators, and people just starting out, had told it they were being unfairly targeted this way. It framed the change as part of a wider effort to keep interactions between viewers and creators respectful, alongside earlier changes such as an update to its harassment policy.

### The experiment that came first

Earlier in 2021, YouTube tested new designs for the like and dislike buttons. In that test, viewers could still see and press the dislike button, but the count was hidden. YouTube said that with no visible number, viewers were less likely to target the button to drive the count up, and its data showed a drop in dislike-attacking behavior. It also said the experiment confirmed that these attacks happen at a higher rate on smaller channels.

### What YouTube said stays the same

- The dislike button remains. Viewers can still press it.
- A dislike still tunes the viewer's own recommendations.
- A dislike still sends private feedback to the creator.
- Creators can find their exact dislike counts in YouTube Studio, next to their other metrics.

YouTube also acknowledged the downside. Some viewers had used the public count to decide whether a video was worth watching, and the post said it knew not everyone would agree with the decision. It described the change as one of several steps to protect creators from harassment.

### The API change a month later

The blog post didn't mention apps, but YouTube's developer documentation did. The [YouTube Data API revision history](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/revision_history) has an entry dated November 18, 2021 announcing that the dislikeCount property would become private on December 13, 2021. After that date, the count is included in an API response only when the request is authorized by the video's owner. The same entry said developers who don't display dislike counts publicly could apply to an allow list, and that the method apps use to submit a like or dislike for a user was not affected. A follow-up entry dated December 15, 2021 confirmed the property was now private.

- Early 2021: YouTube tests hiding the dislike count while keeping the button
- November 10, 2021: Public dislike counts become private; rollout starts
- November 18, 2021: API change announced for dislikeCount
- December 13, 2021: dislikeCount returned only to the video's owner
- December 15, 2021: API revision history confirms the field is private

*Sources: YouTube Official Blog (November 10, 2021) and the YouTube Data API revision history.*

## How do I see dislikes on my own YouTube videos?

Dislikes live in a report called Likes (vs. dislikes). YouTube's help page [Understand your YouTube engagement](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9313698) says it summarizes how many viewers liked and disliked your videos. The page gives these steps for a computer.

1. **Open YouTube Studio**: Go to studio.youtube.com and sign in with the account that manages the channel.
2. **Select Content**: It's in the left menu and lists every video on the channel.
3. **Choose the video**: Pick the video whose dislikes you want to check.
4. **Select Analytics**: This opens the analytics for that one video.
5. **Select Engagement**: It's in the top menu. The Likes (vs. dislikes) report is on this tab.

YouTube Studio: Content › Choose a video › Analytics › Engagement › Likes (vs. dislikes)

*From YouTube Help: Understand your YouTube engagement (computer).*

### Seeing dislikes across your whole channel

Checking videos one at a time gets slow on a large channel. The same help page says you can add the Likes (vs. dislikes) metric to the expanded analytics report at the channel level. That puts the metric in a table next to your other videos, so you can sort by it and spot the ones that landed worse than usual. Some reports in YouTube Analytics ask you to turn on Advanced Mode first; YouTube's page on [audience retention](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9314415) notes you might need it to reach certain data.

### On a phone

YouTube's engagement help page gives its steps for a computer and doesn't describe where the report sits in the YouTube Studio app. If you can't find it on your phone, open studio.youtube.com on a computer, where the path above is documented.

### Through the YouTube Analytics API

If you pull channel data into a spreadsheet or dashboard, the [YouTube Analytics API](https://developers.google.com/youtube/analytics/metrics) has a dislikes metric, which it defines as the number of times users gave a video a negative rating. It sits next to likes, comments, shares and subscribers gained, so a channel's reporting tool can track all of them together. On the Data API side, the revision history says the dislikeCount field is still returned when the request is authorized by the video's owner, so your own videos keep their count there.

## Why does my dislike count change or look wrong?

Creators sometimes notice the number moving in ways that don't match what they expect. YouTube's engagement help page lists three reasons.

### Invalid ratings are removed

Some likes and dislikes are marked invalid and removed from time to time, so counts can go down after the fact. This ties into YouTube's [fake engagement policy](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3399767), which bans artificially increasing views, likes, comments or other metrics, whether through automated systems or by showing videos to people who didn't choose to watch them.

### More ratings than views

In rare cases a video can show more likes or dislikes than views. YouTube says this happens because the metrics go through different verification systems, so one can be counted before another catches up. It usually evens out once each system finishes its checks.

### Studio and the watch page disagree

YouTube says like and dislike counts in Studio can differ from what the watch page shows, and lists this as a known issue it's working on. Until it's fixed, the help page recommends trusting the counts on the watch page. For dislikes there's no public watch-page number to compare with, so the Studio report is the figure you have.

> Analytics data isn't instant. YouTube's audience retention help page says that report typically takes one to two days to process, so a video uploaded this morning won't have its full picture yet. Give a new video a couple of days before reading too much into any engagement metric.

## Can I see dislikes on someone else's video?

Not the real number. YouTube's announcement says the count is private, and since December 13, 2021 the API returns it only to requests authorized by the video's owner. There's no setting, account type or YouTube page that shows the dislike count of a video you don't own. If a creator wants to share theirs, they can screenshot their own Studio report, but YouTube doesn't publish it for them.

**The creator**
- Exact count in YouTube Studio
- Per video and channel-wide
- Also through the API for their own videos

**A viewer**
- Sees the button, not the count
- Can dislike long-form videos and live streams
- Can undo a dislike any time

**A dislike extension**
- Shows a number to its users
- Built from archived data and extension votes
- An estimate, not YouTube's count

*Based on YouTube's November 2021 announcement, YouTube Help and the Return YouTube Dislike FAQ.*

This is worth remembering whenever a number appears next to a thumbs-down on someone else's video, whether in a browser extension, a screenshot on social media or a website that claims to show dislike counts. None of them has access to YouTube's private count for that video, so the figure is at best an informed guess.

> Some sites show a dislike figure for older videos that came from YouTube's API before December 13, 2021. That was a real count at the time it was saved, but it's a snapshot. It doesn't include any rating added or removed since, so for a video that kept getting views it can be years out of date.

## How can I tell if a video is worth watching without dislikes?

Most people who look for dislike counts aren't curious about the number itself. They want to know whether a tutorial works, whether a review is honest, or whether a video is clickbait before spending ten minutes on it. YouTube's announcement acknowledged that some viewers used the count this way. Without it, a few other checks do the same job, and most of them tell you more than a ratio did.

### Read the comments first

Comments are public and specific. On a how-to video, look for replies saying the steps worked or failed, and on which version of the software or device. On a product review, look for owners who agree or disagree with particular points. A dislike count could only tell you that some people were unhappy; comments tell you why, and whether their reason applies to you.

### Look at the like count in context

Only the dislike count went private, so the like count still shows on the watch page. On its own it doesn't give you a ratio, but compared with the view count and with the same channel's other videos it shows whether this one landed better or worse than usual for that audience.

### Check the channel's other videos

A channel with a long run of videos on the same topic, and comments that keep coming back to thank it, is a better bet than a channel with one viral upload. Open the channel page and scan a few recent videos before trusting the one you found through search.

### Skip ahead and judge for yourself

Read the description, jump to the part you need and watch a minute of it. If the video doesn't match its title, choose Not interested, which helps YouTube show you fewer like it, and move on. That feedback shapes your own recommendations, which is the part of the old dislike system YouTube kept for viewers.

## How do YouTube dislike viewer extensions work?

The best-known one is Return YouTube Dislike, an open-source browser extension. Its [GitHub page](https://github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike) says it's available for Chrome and Firefox and as a userscript for other browsers, and is released under the GPLv3 license. It isn't made by YouTube. Here is how its own pages describe what it does.

### Where the numbers come from

The project's [FAQ](https://www.returnyoutubedislike.com/faq) says its data is a mix of archived counts from before YouTube's dislike API shut down and extrapolated behavior from extension users. When you watch a video, the extension sends the video's ID to the project's own server, gets back a dislike figure and ratio, and shows them on the page. If you like or dislike the video while it's installed, your vote is recorded and used in that extrapolation. The GitHub page describes the same approach as a combination of scraped dislike stats and estimates extrapolated from extension user data.

### Why the estimate can be far from the real count

Two limits follow directly from that method. First, the votes it sees come only from people who installed the extension, and they aren't a random sample of everyone who watched a video. Second, the archived counts stop at the API change in December 2021, so for any video uploaded since then, there's no official starting figure at all. The extension has to scale up from its own users' votes. The more popular a video is with extension users, the more votes there are to work from; a small video may have very few.

There's a third gap too. YouTube removes ratings it marks invalid, and an outside tool can't see which ones those are. Over time, the extension's figure and the creator's Studio count can drift apart, and nobody outside the channel can say by how much.

### Updates are slow

The FAQ says counts are cached and not refreshed often: anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the video's popularity. It also says a recently uploaded video can show DISLIKES DISABLED by mistake, because of how the extension detects whether a creator has turned ratings off, and that this usually clears within a few hours. A creator-sharing option, where channels could submit their real counts, is listed in the FAQ as coming soon.

> Treat any number from a dislike extension as a rough signal about how its users reacted, not as the video's dislike count. This guide doesn't recommend installing one; if you do, read what it asks for first, as covered in the next section.

## Are dislike extensions safe to install?

Any extension that changes how YouTube looks needs permission to read and change the pages you visit. Google's Chrome Web Store help page on [installing and managing extensions](https://support.google.com/chrome_webstore/answer/2664769) says some extensions ask for permissions or data when you add them, and you approve that request by selecting Add extension. Its main advice is to approve only extensions you trust.

The same page explains a few controls that help. You can limit where an extension runs, for example to specific sites only, rather than every site you visit. With Chrome's Enhanced protection turned on, Chrome warns you before installing an extension that isn't trusted by Enhanced Safe Browsing. And you can remove an extension at any time by right-clicking its icon next to the address bar and choosing Remove from Chrome.

Return YouTube Dislike's FAQ says it collects only what it needs to work, such as your IP address and the ID of the video you're watching, and that this data won't be sold to third parties. Whether that's acceptable is your call; the point is to know what a tool collects before you add it.

**Before adding any YouTube extension**
- [ ] Install it only from your browser's official extension store
- [ ] Read the permissions it asks for before selecting Add extension
- [ ] Limit its site access to youtube.com if the browser allows it
- [ ] Read its privacy statement: what it collects and who sees it
- [ ] Remember its numbers are estimates, not YouTube's counts
- [ ] Remove it when you stop using it

*Based on Chrome Web Store Help: Install and manage extensions.*

## What does disliking a video actually do?

With no public count, the thumbs-down has two jobs, according to YouTube's announcement: it tunes what YouTube recommends to you, and it gives the creator private feedback in their Likes (vs. dislikes) report. YouTube's page on [how recommendations work](https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/recommendations/) lists likes, dislikes, subscriptions, viewing behavior and feedback such as satisfaction surveys among the inputs its system uses. It doesn't say how much weight any one of them carries.

### How to dislike or undo a dislike

YouTube's help page on [liking or disliking a video](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6083270) says the thumbs-down sits under the video player and is for long-form videos and live streams, on a computer and in the Android and iPhone apps. Select it again to remove your dislike. For Shorts, the help page describes a heart icon for liking and doesn't describe a dislike option, so the steps here are for regular videos.

### Dislike, Not interested and Report are different tools

A dislike isn't the strongest signal you can send. YouTube's page on [managing your recommendations](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6342839) describes separate controls for when you want to see less of something, and the like or dislike page says to use Report, not the thumbs-down, for content that breaks the rules.

| Tool | Where it is | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dislike | Thumbs-down under the player | Tunes your recommendations and sends the creator private feedback |
| Not interested | More (three dots) next to a video | Tells YouTube you don't want videos like it; you can add a reason under Tell us why |
| Don't recommend channel | More next to a video, Short or post on Home or Watch Next | Stops that channel from being recommended to you |
| Report | The video's report option | Flags content you think breaks YouTube's rules for review |

After choosing Not interested on a video, YouTube's page says you can select Tell us why and pick either I've already watched the video or I don't like the video. If you change your mind later, the same page says you can delete that feedback at myactivity.google.com, under Other Google activity, then YouTube 'Not interested' feedback.

YouTube: More next to a video › Not interested › Tell us why › I don't like the video

*From YouTube Help: Manage your recommendations and search results.*

## Can creators see who disliked their video?

YouTube's documentation describes counts, not names. The engagement help page says the Likes (vs. dislikes) report summarizes how many viewers liked and disliked a video, and the Analytics API defines its dislikes metric as a number of negative ratings. Neither describes a list of the accounts behind them. Viewers' liked videos go into a private Liked videos playlist that only they see, which the like or dislike help page says can display up to 5,000 videos.

Comments are the exception, since a comment is public and shows its author. If a creator wants to know why a video landed badly, comments usually say more than the dislike count can, which is part of the next section.

## Do dislikes hurt a YouTube channel?

YouTube hasn't published a direct answer, and claims that a certain dislike ratio triggers a penalty don't come from YouTube. What it has said is narrower. Dislikes are among the signals listed on its recommendations page, and a dislike tunes the recommendations of the person who pressed it. Beyond that, YouTube doesn't say how dislikes affect how widely a video is shown, and this guide won't guess.

What YouTube does act on is fake engagement. Its policy says content that violates the rules is removed and the creator is emailed, that a first offense usually brings a warning, and that three strikes within 90 days can end a channel. Artificial traffic isn't counted toward a video's metrics. If you suspect a pile-on, focus on the parts of your channel you control: your content, your comments and your community.

Dislikes also aren't part of how YouTube pays creators. Earnings depend on monetized views, ad rates and your audience, which the guides on [how much YouTube pays per 1,000 views](/blog/how-much-does-youtube-pay-per-1000-views) and [when YouTube starts paying you](/blog/when-does-youtube-start-paying-you) cover from YouTube's own pages.

## What should I do if a video gets a lot of dislikes?

Because only you see the count, a high one is private feedback, not a public verdict. These steps use reports YouTube documents in Studio.

1. **Compare it with your own videos**: Add Likes (vs. dislikes) to the channel-level expanded report and see whether this video is an outlier against your usual ratio. Comparing against other channels tells you little, since audiences differ.
2. **Check when the dislikes arrived**: A burst over a short window with no matching rise in views can be the kind of pile-on YouTube described. Some may later be removed as invalid.
3. **Open the audience retention report**: In Studio, select Content, then Analytics on the video, then the Overview or Engagement tab. Key moments show where viewers left, which often points at the part that didn't work.
4. **Read the comments**: Dislikes say something missed. Comments often say what: audio, length, a claim people disagree with, or a mismatch with the title.
5. **Check the title and thumbnail against the video**: If they promise something the video doesn't deliver, viewers who clicked for that promise are the ones most likely to dislike it.

The audience retention report has segments too. YouTube's help page says you can compare new and returning viewers, subscribers and non-subscribers, and organic and paid traffic. If subscribers stay and new viewers leave early, the video may be reaching the wrong audience rather than failing outright.

**What does the pattern look like?**
- A sudden burst of dislikes, views flat → Possible pile-on. Watch whether invalid ratings are removed.
- Viewers leave at the same moment → Fix or cut that section in your next video
- New viewers leave early, subscribers stay → Check whether the title and thumbnail match the video
- Dislikes spread evenly, comments negative → Read the comments for the specific complaint

*Uses the Likes (vs. dislikes) and audience retention reports described in YouTube Help.*

If the problem is the packaging, fix it at the source. The [YouTube title checker](/tools/youtube-title-checker) shows how a title fits YouTube's limit, the [thumbnail resizer](/tools/youtube-thumbnail-resizer) exports at YouTube's recommended size, and the [YouTube thumbnail size guide](/blog/youtube-thumbnail-size) covers the dimensions in full. For descriptions, the [description counter](/tools/youtube-description-character-counter) counts in bytes, the unit YouTube uses for its description limit.

## How do I track how viewers react over time?

Dislikes are one signal among several. A steadier way to read your audience is to track the same few numbers for every upload and compare each video with your own recent average.

- Likes (vs. dislikes) from YouTube Studio, per video, compared with your channel's usual split.
- Audience retention, especially the first 30 seconds and any sharp drops.
- Comments and replies, which show what people actually think.
- Engagement rate: interactions divided by views. The [engagement rate calculator](/tools/engagement-rate-calculator) does the math, and the guide to [social media engagement rate](/blog/social-media-engagement-rate) explains the formulas.
- Upload timing. The [best time to post on YouTube](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-youtube) guide covers what published studies say, though your own analytics are a better guide for your channel.

**A monthly reaction check**
- [ ] Sort videos by Likes (vs. dislikes) in the expanded report
- [ ] Open retention for the three weakest videos
- [ ] Read the top comments on each
- [ ] Note what the best videos have in common
- [ ] Compare titles and thumbnails with what each video delivers
- [ ] Plan the next upload around what worked

*Reports named here are documented in YouTube Help.*

If you upload to several channels or post the same video to other networks, PostMesh can [upload to YouTube](/platform/youtube) on a schedule and shows views, likes and comments for the videos you send from it. Dislikes stay in YouTube Studio, which is the only place YouTube shows them. The guide to [scheduling YouTube videos](/blog/how-to-schedule-youtube-videos) covers YouTube's own scheduler and the alternatives.

A few related questions come up alongside this one. If a video you liked has disappeared, see [how to find deleted YouTube videos](/blog/how-to-find-deleted-youtube-videos). If you've lost access to the channel that holds your Studio data, start with [how to recover a YouTube account](/blog/how-to-recover-a-youtube-account). And if you want to share a moment from a video rather than react to the whole thing, [clipping a YouTube video](/blog/how-to-clip-a-youtube-video) is the way to do it.

## Questions

### Can anyone see YouTube dislikes anymore?

Only the channel that owns the video, in YouTube Studio. Viewers see the button but not the number.

### When did YouTube stop showing dislike counts?

YouTube announced it and began rolling it out on November 10, 2021. The API stopped returning the count to other apps on December 13, 2021.

### Where exactly is the dislike count in YouTube Studio?

Open Content, choose the video, select Analytics, then the Engagement tab. The Likes (vs. dislikes) report is there.

### Are the numbers from Return YouTube Dislike accurate?

They're estimates. The project says it combines archived pre-2021 data with votes from its own users, so it can't match YouTube's private count.

### Is Return YouTube Dislike made by YouTube?

No. It's an independent open-source project, and YouTube doesn't give it access to private dislike counts.

### Can I see which accounts disliked my video?

YouTube's reports and API describe dislike counts only, not the accounts behind them.

### Why did my dislike count drop overnight?

YouTube periodically removes likes and dislikes it marks as invalid, so the Studio figure can go down.

### Does a dislike do anything if nobody sees it?

Yes. It tunes your own recommendations and gives the creator private feedback in their analytics.

### Can I dislike a YouTube Short?

YouTube's help page describes the thumbs-down for long-form videos and live streams, and a heart icon for liking Shorts. It doesn't describe a dislike option for Shorts.

### Should I dislike or report a harmful video?

Report it. A dislike only reaches the creator, while a report asks YouTube to review the video against its rules.

## Sources

- [YouTube Official Blog: An update to dislikes on YouTube (November 10, 2021)](https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-to-youtube/)

- [YouTube Data API: Revision history (November 18 and December 15, 2021 entries)](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/revision_history)

- [YouTube Help: Understand your YouTube engagement](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9313698)

- [YouTube Help: Like or dislike a video](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6083270)

- [YouTube Help: Manage your recommendations and search results](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6342839)

- [YouTube Help: Measure key moments for audience retention](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9314415)

- [YouTube Help: Fake engagement policy](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3399767)

- [How YouTube Works: Recommendations](https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/recommendations/)

- [YouTube Analytics API: Metrics](https://developers.google.com/youtube/analytics/metrics)

- [Chrome Web Store Help: Install and manage extensions](https://support.google.com/chrome_webstore/answer/2664769)

- [Return YouTube Dislike: FAQ](https://www.returnyoutubedislike.com/faq)

- [Return YouTube Dislike on GitHub](https://github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike)