YouTube Tests Moving Dislike Button Into Three-Dot Menu

YouTube appears to be testing a change that would move the dislike button off the main video player and into a three-dot submenu, according to The Verge, which cited reporting from 9to5Google.

Where has the dislike button moved?

At least two users on X have posted screenshots showing the dislike button relocated from its usual spot next to the like button into a secondary menu, The Verge reported. A Reddit user separately posted an image showing the dislike button missing entirely from their interface. The outlet noted that on its own account, the dislike button still sits next to the like button beneath a video, suggesting the change is not yet universal.

Why would a submenu placement matter?

Tucking the dislike button into a submenu adds a step for viewers who want to use it, a design choice that typically reduces how often a feature gets clicked. The Verge wrote that moving it "would make it considerably more of an effort to access, meaning that fewer people would likely use it." Google did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment on the scope or intent of the test.

Has YouTube altered the dislike button before?

This would not be the platform's first adjustment to the feature. In 2021, YouTube hid public dislike counts on videos, a move the company said was meant to "protect creators from harassment," while still letting creators see their own dislike tallies on the back end. Earlier this year, YouTube removed the dislike button from Shorts altogether, directing users instead toward options in the three-dots menu — the same menu now reportedly housing the dislike button in this new test.

What's confirmed so far

• 2021: YouTube hides public dislike counts, visible only to creators.
• 2026 (earlier this year): Dislike button removed from YouTube Shorts; three-dots menu offered as the alternative.
• 2026 (current test): At least two X users and one Reddit user report the dislike button moved into, or missing from, the main video submenu.
• Unconfirmed: Scope of the rollout and whether Google intends a permanent change.

What is still unknown?

The Verge's reporting makes clear the test's reach is uncertain. It is not known whether this is a small-scale experiment limited to a subset of accounts, a staged rollout ahead of a wider release, or a test that could be scrapped. Google's silence on the record leaves open whether the company is reacting to creator feedback, engagement data, or something else.

What to watch

• Whether Google confirms or denies the test publicly.
• Whether more users report the submenu placement in the coming weeks.
• Whether YouTube applies the same change to Shorts-style engagement elsewhere, following its earlier move on Shorts.
• Whether creators comment on how the change affects feedback signals they rely on.

For now, the dislike button's fate rests on a handful of screenshots and an unanswered request for comment — the kind of quiet interface test that often precedes, or gets quietly dropped before, a formal announcement.