YouTube moves dislike button behind three-dot menu only on creators' own videos

YouTube clarifies the dislike button is not going anywhere

Earlier this week, The Verge reported that YouTube appeared to be experimenting with demoting the dislike button, after at least two people on X posted screenshots showing the thumbs-down control tucked into a video's three-dot overflow menu. The sightings fueled speculation that the platform was about to make disliking a video harder for everyone.

That is not what is happening. In a statement to The Verge, YouTube spokesperson Kimberly Taylor said the company is "not testing hiding the dislike button on YouTube for users."

What is actually changing

The screenshots reflect a redesign aimed at creators rather than viewers. YouTube is introducing a new interface for creators' own uploaded videos: when a creator looks at a video they posted, the dislike button now sits behind the three-dot menu instead of in the main row of controls. Taylor says the update will roll out to creators "in the coming weeks."

Dislike data is not going away, either. As before, creators can find their full dislike counts in YouTube Studio alongside their other analytics. The change is about tidying up the creator-side view of a video page, not restricting how audiences react to content.

For regular viewers watching other people's videos, nothing changes: the dislike button stays exactly where it has been.

A long-running retreat from public dislikes

The confusion was understandable given YouTube's history with the feature. In 2021, the platform stopped showing public dislike counts on videos as a way to prevent harassment. Then, earlier this year, it removed the dislike button from Shorts altogether, according to The Verge.

Each of those moves reduced how visible negative feedback is on the platform. So when screenshots surfaced showing the button pushed into a submenu, many assumed yet another rollback was underway — and YouTube had to step in with a correction.

Why it matters

The episode shows how easily a design tweak can be misread when it leaks through screenshots instead of an official announcement. A change intended for one group — creators viewing their own uploads — briefly looked like a platform-wide policy shift.

It also underlines how sensitive dislike mechanics remain, more than four years after the counts went private. The button is one of the few signals viewers have to register disapproval at scale, and any change to its placement is watched closely by users and creators alike. For creators, the practical takeaway is straightforward: expect the three-dot version on your own videos in the coming weeks, and keep checking Studio for the full picture of how your content is being received.