If you’ve ever gotten a bunch of dislikes on a video and immediately wondered who hit that button you’re not alone. It’s one of those questions almost every creator has googled at some point. So let’s clear it up once and for all.
No, YouTubers cannot see who disliked their videos. YouTube does not reveal individual identities for either likes or dislikes. The platform keeps this information private to protect viewer freedom of expression and honestly, it makes sense. If creators could see exactly who disliked a video, it would open the door to all kinds of harassment and retaliation.
What Happened to the Dislike Count?
Back in November 2021, YouTube made a controversial decision to hide the public dislike count on videos. The number is still there creators can see it in YouTube Studio but viewers no longer see how many dislikes a video has received. YouTube’s stated reason was to protect smaller creators from coordinated dislike attacks, where groups deliberately mass-dislike a creator’s content.
There’s also a browser extension called Return YouTube Dislike that a lot of people use to bring the count back, but it’s worth noting that the numbers it shows are estimates, not real-time data from YouTube.
What CAN You See in YouTube Studio?
Even though you can’t identify individual dislikers, YouTube Studio does give you useful data. You can see the total number of dislikes on any video, the like-to-dislike ratio as a percentage, and the demographic breakdown of who is watching (age, gender, region). This won’t tell you who specifically disliked your video, but it can help you understand if a particular audience segment is not connecting with your content.
To find your dislike data: go to YouTube Studio, click Analytics, tap into Advanced Mode, click “Views by” and select Dislikes under the Interactions tab.
Does a High Dislike Count Hurt Your Channel?
According to research by Mozilla, YouTube dislikes have minimal impact on the algorithm the dislike button only prevented around 12% of unwanted recommendations in their study. So while dislikes aren’t great, they’re not the channel-killer many creators fear. A channel with over 37 million subscribers has held the record for one of the most disliked YouTube Shorts, and those creators are still publishing content that gets hundreds of thousands of views per upload.
The smarter way to look at dislikes is as feedback, not failure. They’re telling you something isn’t landing whether that’s the topic, the title (which may have created the wrong expectation), the tone, or the production style. Treat them as data.
What Can You Do About Dislikes?
Read your comments. People who disliked and cared enough to write why are actually giving you valuable insight. Check your audience retention graph in YouTube Studio if viewers are dropping off early, that’s where the problem is. Compare your best-performing videos to your most disliked ones and look for patterns. And remember: the goal isn’t to eliminate dislikes, it’s to grow a channel that consistently reaches the right people. For that, you need a solid strategy. Our complete guide to YouTube promotion services walks you through exactly how to do that at NexTech Ads.