If you’re missing the trusty sign of dislikes to measure how good a given YouTube video is, you’ll be happy to know you can get the dislike button back on YouTube very easily. Here’s how you get YouTube dislikes back.
YouTube’s controversial decision to remove the number of dislikes from being visible on each video has left users in the dark about how well a video has been received.
Ever since YouTube moved away from the star rating system on videos to the ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ options, the latter has been used as a tool to convey general disapproval of a video’s content.
However, while you can still dislike videos, the total number of dislikes a video has is no longer visible.
YouTube says it wanted to reduce “dislike attacking behavior” – where viewers would pile on the dislike button to drive the number up.
However, users have argued that without the dislike count, it’s hard to know if a video is reliable, especially for content like guides and news.
“We want to create an inclusive and respectful environment where creators have the opportunity to succeed and feel safe to express themselves,” YouTube explained. But, while dislike counts will remain private for most users, you can actually get them back on your personal browser.
How to see YouTube dislike count
The first step is to use Google Chrome. Google’s browser will allow you to install various plug-ins from the Chrome Web Store.
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Almost as soon as the dislike count was removed, a plug-in was released called ‘Return YouTube Dislike’. This plug-in essentially returns the full YouTube dislike functionality as it was before.
- Install Google Chrome
- Visit the Chrome Web Store
- Install ‘Return YouTube Dislike‘
- Refresh YouTube
You will see the plug-in appear in your plug-in list in the top right of Chrome, where it can be removed at any time if you like.
Although this plugin will sometimes go out of order, the developers are good at getting it back up and running again.
It’s important to note, however, that this dislike counter is not totally accurate for videos posted after December 13, 2021. For new videos, the plugin uses “a combination of archived like and dislike data, as well as the likes and dislikes made by extension users to show the most accurate ratings.”
This means that the more users that use this extension, the more accurate dislike counts will be on newer videos. Currently, there are over 3 million users of this extension.
There is a chance that YouTube/Google will remove this plug-in in the future, as it goes against their plans for the change, but for now, it’s fully functional and will bring back one of the platform’s best metrics.
