YouTube appears to be testing hiding the dislike button in the three-dots menu

YouTube appears to be testing a change that would tuck the dislike button out of the main video view, according to The Verge. Screenshots shared online show the button, which normally sits next to the like button beneath a video, appearing inside the three-dots submenu for some viewers — and missing from the visible player controls entirely for at least one other.

The Verge's coverage follows an initial report from 9to5Google. At least two people on X posted screenshots of the relocated control, and a Reddit user shared an image in which the dislike button was absent altogether. There is no indication yet of how many accounts are included in the apparent experiment, and Google did not immediately reply when The Verge requested comment.

Added taps, fewer downvotes

The practical effect of the redesign would be friction. Downvoting a video today takes a single tap; under the layout shown in the screenshots, viewers would first have to open the three-dots menu. As The Verge points out, that extra step would likely mean fewer people bother to register a dislike at all. Whether reducing usage is the explicit goal of the test is something YouTube has not commented on, and nothing in the reported screenshots suggests the like button is moving as well.

A continuing retreat from downvotes

If the test ships, it would extend a years-long pattern rather than break new ground. In 2021, YouTube stopped displaying public dislike counts on videos, saying at the time that the change was meant to "protect creators from harassment"; creators can still see the numbers on their own uploads. Earlier this year the platform went further on Shorts, dropping the dislike button there altogether and directing viewers to the feedback and reporting options available through the three-dots menu. Relocating the button on full-length videos into that same menu would bring the approach to the core viewing experience.

Why it matters

The dislike button is one of the most familiar feedback controls on the web, and even with the counts hidden it has let viewers register a quick negative reaction — both a personal gesture and, in aggregate, a crowd-sourced check on content quality. Burying it in a submenu would not delete the feature, but it would change behaviour at scale simply by making the action less convenient, a tactic familiar from interface redesigns across the industry.

The trade-offs cut both ways. Creators could benefit if a less prominent downvote path discourages pile-ons and coordinated negativity, which was YouTube's stated rationale for hiding counts in 2021. Viewers, meanwhile, would lose a frictionless way to flag videos they consider misleading or low quality, with the remaining signals scattered behind extra menus.

For now, the change appears to affect only a small number of documented accounts, and limited experiments often never reach the wider user base. But the direction is consistent: over roughly five years YouTube has moved from hiding dislike counts, to removing the button on Shorts, to apparently testing its demotion on ordinary videos. Even if this particular trial fades quietly, it signals where the platform's thinking on public negative feedback is heading.