How to See Dislikes on YouTube: What Is Still Visible
Published 2026-10-15 · 6 min read · YTDetective
TL;DR
- Viewers cannot see a video's dislike count. YouTube made dislike counts private across the site in November 2021. The dislike button stayed.
- The creator still can. YouTube says creators find their exact dislike counts in YouTube Studio.
- Since December 13, 2021, the YouTube Data API returns the dislike count only when the request is authenticated by the video's owner. Any tool that shows dislikes for someone else's video is estimating them.
- Like counts, view counts and comment counts are still public, and they say more about how a video is received than an estimate does.
If you are looking for the number next to the thumbs-down, it has been gone for years. This guide sets out what YouTube changed, who can still see the real count, and what the numbers you find elsewhere are made of.
Can you still see dislikes on YouTube?
Not as a viewer. On November 10, 2021, YouTube's official blog announced that dislike counts were becoming private across YouTube. The post gives the reason: an experiment had shown that hiding the count reduced dislike attacks, where people work to drive up the number of dislikes on a creator's videos.
The post also says the dislike button is not going away. Viewers can still press it to tune their recommendations and to share feedback with the creator privately. So the vote is still recorded. Only the public count disappeared.
Who can see the dislike count?
| Who | Can they see the exact dislike count? | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The video's creator | Yes | YouTube Studio |
| An app the creator has signed into | Yes | Data API, request authenticated by the video owner |
| Any other viewer | No | The watch page shows only the like count |
| Any other app or website | No | The API leaves the field out |
Who can see a video's dislike count (YouTube Official Blog, YouTube Data API documentation)
The developer side is precise. Google's documentation for the Data API's videos resource says the dislikeCount property was made private as of December 13, 2021, and that it is included in a response only if the request was authenticated by the video owner. Our Metadata Viewer reads public data without signing in as the owner, so it shows likes, views and comments and has no dislike figure to show.
How do creators see their dislikes?
YouTube's post says creators can find their exact dislike counts in YouTube Studio, so sign in to Studio with the account that owns the channel. The post does not say where in Studio the figure sits. If you manage a channel through an app that you have authorized, that app can also read the count through the API, because the request is made on the owner's behalf.
What do dislike extensions show?
Browser extensions that put a number back next to the thumbs-down cannot get the real count from YouTube for other people's videos, for the reason above. Their figures have to come from somewhere else, such as votes from their own users or counts saved before December 2021, and then scaled up. That is our reading of how such a number can be built, given what the API allows. Treat it as an estimate from a sample of viewers who installed the extension, not as YouTube's count.
What can you use instead?
The public numbers that remain still tell you a lot:
- Likes per 100 views. A video with 2 likes per 100 views and one with 6 are being received very differently. Compare videos of a similar age and topic.
- Comments, read rather than counted. A comment section shows what viewers objected to, which a dislike number never did.
- Views against the channel's usual level. A video far below the channel's median is being passed over, whatever the reason.
Our Video Comparison puts two videos' public counts side by side, and our guide on comparing two videos covers how to read them fairly. Some creators hide the like count too, so a missing like figure is not zero.
Confidence note
The change, its date and reason, the button staying and the creator's access in Studio come from YouTube's official blog post of November 10, 2021. The API behavior comes from Google's Data API documentation, both read on October 15, 2026. How dislike extensions build their figures is our inference from what the API allows; we did not test any extension.
FAQ
Can you see dislikes on YouTube in 2026?
Not as a viewer. YouTube made dislike counts private in November 2021. Creators can still see the exact count for their own videos in YouTube Studio.
Why did YouTube remove the dislike count?
YouTube's official blog says an experiment showed that hiding the count reduced dislike attacks, where people try to drive up the dislikes on a creator's videos.
Does the dislike button still do anything?
Yes. YouTube says viewers can still dislike a video to tune their recommendations and share feedback privately with the creator.
Can I see dislikes on the YouTube mobile app?
No. The count is private on every surface. A creator can check their own counts in YouTube Studio.
Are dislike extensions accurate?
They are estimates. Since December 13, 2021, the Data API gives the dislike count only to the video's owner, so an extension cannot read the real figure for someone else's video.
Can creators see who disliked their video?
YouTube's post describes creators seeing their exact dislike counts in Studio. It does not say creators can see which viewers disliked a video.
Related reading
Sources
- YouTube Official Blog: An update to dislikes on YouTube
- Google for Developers: YouTube Data API: Videos