What Happened to YouTube Dislikes? How to See Dislikes on YouTube

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If you’ve spent time on YouTube in recent years, you’ve probably noticed a shift in how we interact with content. Where there used to be a number representing a YouTube video’s dislike count, there is now a gap. Yes, you can still click the downvote button if you’re unhappy with a piece of content you’ve just watched, but the actual count of dislikes has vanished. 

In the name of “protecting creators”, YouTube decided that removing public dislikes from public view was the right course of action. However, the choice sparked considerable controversy within YouTube communities, with many users receiving the decision poorly. Thankfully, just because YouTube hides the data doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. By taking a few steps, you can restore that dislike number in seconds. 

The Timeline of Its Disappearance 

In 2021, YouTube officially removed the dislike number. While the company did announce that the button itself would remain, the public count would be hidden across the entire platform. In December that year, that change was permanent, and the API was updated to hide those numbers from third parties as well. 

While protecting the people who made YouTube the exciting and established platform it is today is an important notion, it was approached in a way that stirred significant disputes within viewer communities, who were no longer able to gauge video consensus accurately. Users also argued that stripping the tool took away a key vehicle for democratic feedback. 

Creators were generally torn. While some felt protected, others felt that their most helpful content would now be harder for viewers to verify at a glance. Either way, it was one of the most controversial UI changes in the site’s history. 

Why Did YouTube Remove the Count?

The official reason given by YouTube focused on the creator’s well-being. It even cited research showing that “dislike attacks”, where groups of people would target a specific creator to drive up their dislike count, were harming smaller channels. YouTube believed that hiding the count would mean reducing incentive for these coordinated attacks and foster a more positive community. 

However, some unofficial theories unveiled a different narrative. Many pointed out that some of the most disliked videos on the platform were uploaded by large corporations, big-name studios, and even YouTube itself, with the “2018 YouTube Rewind” video being a prime example. Critics believe the change was about protecting advertisers—a large source of the platform’s revenue—from public embarrassment rather than protecting marginalized creator communities. 

Bringing Back the Dislike Count with Return YouTube Dislike (RYD)

As soon as the button vanished, developers scrambled to find a way to return it. If you’re curious about how to see dislikes on YouTube, the most successful and widely used solution is the browser extension Return YouTube Dislikes (RYD). It is an open-source tool and is available in almost every major browser. 

The extension essentially “injects” the dislike count back into the YouTube interface exactly where it used to be. It truly feels seamless, like the feature never left. If you are on a desktop or laptop, installing this is as simple as going to the extension store and clicking “Add to Browser.” Once it’s active, you just refresh your YouTube page, and the numbers reappear. 

How Does it Know the Numbers?

If you’re wondering how the extension can see numbers that YouTube has hidden, the answer is a mix of data science and community power. First, the developers archived as many dislike counts as possible before YouTube shut down the API in late 2021. For older videos, the numbers you see are often the actual, official archived counts from the time. 

For newer videos, the extension uses a method known as “extrapolation”, which involves analyzing the behavior of the millions of people who have the RYD extension installed. If a certain percentage of extension users dislike a video, the software compares that percentage to the public “like” count and the total view count to estimate the total number of dislikes. While this information is not 100% accurate, it is a remarkable estimation. 

Can You See Dislikes on Mobile?

Seeing dislikes on a video on your phone is trickier because you can’t install a standard browser extension in the YouTube app. However, there are a few workarounds.

On Android, browsers like Kiwi Browser let you install Chrome extensions directly, so you can watch YouTube in the browser and see the counts with the RYD extension. On iOS, some users utilize the Safari browser with specific third-party apps to engage with the RYD API. While it is a little more complicated than on a desktop, it is still definitely possible. For most, however, it is likely far more convenient to use a desktop browser.

The Creator’s Perspective

Creators still have full access to their dislike counts. If you upload a video, you can go into your YouTube Studio analytics and see exactly how many people have given you a thumbs down. YouTube’s argument is that it still provides creators with the necessary feedback while shielding them from targeted harassment campaigns.

Why The Dislike Button Was So Important

The dislike count actually served as a crucial safety and quality filter. If a user stumbles upon an interesting video, they can decide in half a second whether to click away. If a video had 5,000 likes and 50,000 dislikes, viewers could instantly infer that the content likely contained misinformation.

Without that crucial count, you are essentially navigating the platform blindly. A viewer might spend 10 minutes watching a tutorial before realizing in the final minute that the advice is actually incorrect or, worse, harmful. While the comments section can help, creators can delete comments. YouTube effectively took away what was once the only truly uncensored metric of public opinion available to users.

Navigating YouTube in 2026

While the removal of YouTube dislikes was a huge blow to how avid users interact with content creators, it’s not the end of the story. By downloading a browser extension like RYD, you can still navigate the site with clarity and confidence. When you take the time to reclaim that key metric, you are also reclaiming a safe, informed and entertaining experience.