YouTube Appears to Be Testing a Hidden Dislike Button

YouTube appears to be testing hiding the dislike button on regular videos, according to 9to5Google and user screenshots. The Verge reported the test on October 21, 2026. The 9to5Google account posted on X on October 20 that YouTube was starting to hide the button on normal videos, crediting a tip from user @nexusben.

The observable evidence is limited to user-shared images. At least two users on X posted screenshots showing the dislike button placed in the three-dots submenu, the overflow menu that opens from the icon in the top right. A Reddit user posted an image showing the button absent from their interface. It is unclear how widely the test might be rolled out, and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dislike control has a long and contested history on the platform. In 2021, YouTube hid the public dislike count on videos to protect creators from harassment, while creators retained the ability to see the counts. Within weeks of that change, 9to5Google reported that dislike counts were being unofficially restored through a browser extension. The count was hidden from public view, but the underlying signal was never removed from the system.

The current test follows a sequence of smaller changes on YouTube Shorts, the vertical short-video feed. 9to5Google reported on December 19, 2025 that YouTube was testing a new location and new phrasing for the Shorts dislike button, moving it for some users into the overflow menu. Earlier in 2026, YouTube removed the dislike button from Shorts entirely and suggested that users rely on options in the three-dots menu instead. A separate 9to5Google Shorts guide, which carries no date, reports a test in which a heart replaces the like button and the dislike option disappears for some users. Because that guide is undated, it ranks below the dated reporting and should be read as background rather than as a current finding.

In my reading, the pattern across these tests is a steady relocation of the dislike control rather than a single decision. Each step moves the control further from the default view, from a visible button to an overflow menu and then to removal from one surface. Whether the regular watch page follows the Shorts path is the open question, and the reports so far do not settle it.

In my view, the more useful question for product and trust-and-safety teams is what the dislike signal is for once it is no longer displayed. Think of it as a thermometer whose reading is hidden on the wall but still logged in the back office. Creators can still see counts, and viewers who want a negative signal can still reach the control through a menu in the tested interface. Engineers who build recommendation, feedback, or sentiment systems on engagement data should watch whether the test changes how that signal is collected or weighted, a point the current reporting does not address.

In my view, a wider rollout would mean a smaller visible surface for disapproval on videos, with the control still reachable one menu deeper. For creators, it would change the public feedback they receive on uploads while leaving the private count they already see in place. The test is at an early and uneven stage, and the next confirmation is likely to come from Google or from further user evidence rather than from the screenshots alone.