Reverse the direction of a polyline

When you create or edit a polyline feature, you can right click and use Reverse Direction Reverse Direction to flip the from-to direction of the line. This reverses the order of the vertices but preserves their location.

To learn how to make similar edits using a geoprocessing tool, see Flip Line.

Reverse the direction of a finished feature

To reverse the direction of a finished polyline feature, click Vertices Edit Vertices and select the feature. Right-click a segment, and click Reverse Direction Reverse Direction on the context menu.

  1. On the Edit tab in the Features group, click Modify Modify Features.

    The Modify Features pane appears.

  2. Expand Reshape and click Vertices Edit Vertices.

    The tool opens in the pane.

  3. In the pane, click Active Select Active Select and select a polyline feature.

    The selection appears as a list in the pane, and the vertices toolbar appears at the bottom of the map.

    Vertices toolbar
  4. If you select more than one feature, click an item in the list to flash it in the map, right-click the feature you want to edit, and click Only Select This Unselect on the context menu.
  5. Right-click a segment.

    The context menu appears.

    Context menu
  6. Click Reverse Direction Reverse Direction.

    The from-to order of the vertices reverse direction, and the location of the vertices remains unchanged.

  7. When you finish editing the feature, right-click and click Finish Finish or press the F2 key.

Reverse the direction of a new feature

To reverse the direction of a new polyline feature while using a feature template, click a polyline feature template in the Create Features pane, and create at least two vertices. Right-click a segment and click Reverse Direction Reverse Direction.

  1. On the Edit tab in the Features group, click Create Create Features.

    The Create Features pane appears.

  2. Click a polyline feature template.

    The template displays a tool palette, runs the default construction tool, and the construction toolbar appears at the bottom of the map.

    Construction toolbar
  3. Click the map and create at least two vertices.
  4. Right-click the segment.

    The context menu appears.

    Context menu
  5. Click Reverse Direction Reverse Direction.

    The from-to order of the vertices reverse direction, and the location of the vertices remains unchanged.

  6. To finish the feature, right-click and click Finish Finish or press the F2 key.