X (Twitter) Likes Tab Gone? Why You Can't See Likes Anymore

If the Likes tab has vanished from other people’s profiles, nothing is broken. Since June 12, 2024, likes on X have been private for everyone: the Likes tab only appears on your own profile, nobody else can browse the posts you’ve liked, and you can’t browse theirs. The author of a post can still see who liked it, and the like count on every post stays public.

That change explains most “Twitter likes gone” searches. But a few real problems look similar — your own Likes tab missing posts, the like button not responding, a like count that drops overnight. Below is what’s by design, what’s a glitch, and how to fix the parts you can.

What changed when likes went private

Before June 2024, anyone could tap the Likes tab on a public profile and scroll through everything that account had liked. Hiding your likes was an option for Premium subscribers only. X then made likes private for every account. According to X’s help center, visibility now works like this:

What	Who can see it
The list of posts you’ve liked (your Likes tab)	Only you
Someone else’s liked posts	Nobody but them
Who liked a specific post	The post’s author
The like count on a post	Everyone

So when people say “Twitter likes not showing”, they usually mean one of two things: the Likes tab is gone from someone else’s profile (by design), or the names behind a like count on someone else’s post aren’t visible (also by design). For what this shift means for creators and brands, see our explainer on whether likes matter on X.

Quick checklist

Check	Why it matters
Are you on your own profile?	The Likes tab only shows on your own profile now
Is it your post?	Only the author can see who liked a post
Update the X app	An outdated app can show the old layout or fail to load tabs
Try x.com in a browser	Tells you whether the problem is your device or your account
Is the original post still up?	Deleted posts and suspended accounts drop out of your likes

1. You can’t see someone else’s likes

Why it happens: This is the privacy change, not a bug. Other people’s Likes tabs were removed for everyone, including Premium subscribers, and there’s no setting that brings them back.

Fix it: There isn’t one. If you want to know what someone thinks of a post, their reposts, quotes and replies are still public.

A warning about “Twitter likes viewer” tools: X no longer makes someone’s liked posts available to anyone but that person, so a third-party site can’t legitimately show them. Any tool promising to reveal private likes is at best showing you something else, and at worst after your account. Never give your X password or grant app access to a site that asks for it in exchange for “viewing likes”.

2. Your own Likes tab is missing

Why it happens: Your own Likes tab should still be there. If it isn’t, the usual causes are an outdated app, a layout change the app hasn’t finished loading, or a temporary glitch.

Fix it:

1. Open your own profile (not someone else’s) and swipe across the tabs under your bio.
2. Update the X app from your app store.
3. Force-close and reopen the app.
4. Check your profile on x.com in a browser. If the tab shows there, the problem is the app on that device.

3. Posts are missing from your Likes tab

Why it happens: Your Likes tab can only show posts you’re still able to see. A post can drop out when:

• The author deleted it. Deleted posts disappear everywhere, including your likes.
• The author’s account was suspended or deactivated. Their posts stop showing.
• It’s from a protected account. Protected posts are visible only to approved followers, so if you’re no longer one, they may no longer appear for you.
• The app hasn’t loaded older likes yet. Long lists load in batches as you scroll.

Fix it: Scroll further and give the list time to load, or check on x.com. If a specific post is gone for good, there’s nothing to restore — it’s no longer on X, or no longer visible to you. If you like posts as a way to save them, bookmarks are the better tool for keeping things you want to find again.

4. You can’t see who liked a post

Why it happens: Only the post’s author can see the list of people who liked it. On anyone else’s post, you’ll see the count but not the names.

Fix it: On your own posts, open the post and tap the like count to see who liked it. If the list won’t open or looks short, refresh the post or try the web. On other people’s posts, there’s no way to see the list — that’s the point of the change.

5. The like button isn’t working

Why it happens: When you tap the heart and nothing happens, or the like disappears a moment later, the causes are usually one of these:

• An app or connection glitch. Slow networks and buggy app versions can fail to register a tap.
• A rate limit. X limits how much activity an account can do in a period, and its help center says limits apply across all devices and the API, may be temporarily reduced during heavy usage, and reset after the time period ends. X doesn’t list a fixed daily figure for likes.
• The post is gone. If the post was deleted while you were viewing it, the like won’t stick.
• You can’t interact with that account. If the author has blocked you, you won’t be able to engage with their posts.

Fix it:

1. Switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data, then try again.
2. Force-close and reopen the app, or update it.
3. Try x.com in a browser to see if it’s device-specific.
4. If you’ve been liking a lot of posts quickly, stop for a while. When X applies a limit, it shows an error telling you which one; time-based limits lift on their own.

Our guide to X limits lists the limits X publishes and what happens when you hit one.

6. Your like count went down

Why it happens: Like counts aren’t permanent. X doesn’t publish every rule for how counts are recalculated, but the common, plausible reasons are:

• People unliked the post. Unliking removes one from the count.
• Accounts that liked it are gone. When accounts are deactivated, suspended or removed, their likes may stop counting.
• The display is catching up. Counts can look inconsistent between devices for a short time.

Fix it: Refresh and compare the app with the web. A small drop is normal on almost any post. A sudden large drop is often a sign that some of the engagement came from accounts X later removed.

7. You’re not getting like notifications

Why it happens: Like notifications depend on your notification settings, the filters you’ve turned on, and your device’s system settings. Notifications can also be grouped (“liked by X and others”), so it can look as if some are missing when they’re bundled together.

Fix it:

1. In the X app, open Settings and review your notification preferences and filters.
2. Check your phone’s system settings to make sure X is allowed to send push notifications.
3. Open the Notifications tab directly — grouped likes are often there even when no push arrived.

Can you make your likes public again?

X hasn’t offered an option to show your liked posts to other people since the change. If you want to publicly back a post, repost or quote it instead — both are visible on your profile. Our guide on what a repost on X is explains when each makes sense.

When likes work but there just aren’t many

Sometimes “likes not showing” really means “my posts aren’t getting likes”. Private likes didn’t change how people react to posts; they changed who can see the list. If the count is low, the fix is on the content side: a strong first line, one clear idea per post, native images or video, and replying to people who engage. Our list of tactics on how to get more likes on X goes through them one by one.

Some creators and brands also use a like service — including OnlyTwitter’s likes service — to give an important post visible social proof early on. Be clear about what that is: paid likes raise a public number, but they aren’t an audience and won’t reply, click or buy. X’s platform manipulation policy prohibits artificially inflating engagement, so weigh the risk before using one.

Key takeaways

• Since June 12, 2024, likes on X are private for everyone: the Likes tab only appears on your own profile.
• You can’t see what other people liked, and no “likes viewer” tool can legitimately show it — never hand over your login.
• Authors can see who liked their own posts; like counts stay public on every post.
• Posts drop out of your Likes tab when they’re deleted, the account is suspended, or they’re protected and no longer visible to you.
• A like button that won’t stick usually comes down to an app glitch or a temporary limit — update, switch networks, or wait it out.