When exploring a new collection of items, you may not know which item is the best one to use. You can visualize an item's data in the catalog view to help you decide which item to add to a map or analyze with a tool. Use the Geography and Table tabs in the catalog view's details panel.
Preview an item's spatial data
You explore spatial data on the Geography tab in the same way you explore spatial data in a map.
Maps are displayed as authored. If they have a basemap layer, the basemap layer specified by the map appears in the preview. For spatial datasets, however, a basemap is displayed under the data to provide context. The Light Gray Canvas basemap is used by default so the data remains prominent. You can turn off or change the basemap as appropriate.
Maps or layers created in another application are converted to the ArcGIS Pro format before they are displayed.
- Click an item containing spatial data in the catalog view, such as a feature class or a map.
- Show the details panel.
- Click the Geography tab in the catalog view.
The item's spatial data draws on the Geography tab. A Catalog View contextual tab also appears on the ribbon.
- Explore the item's spatial data.
- Position the pointer on the Geography tab and use the mouse buttons and wheel to pan, zoom, tile, and rotate the spatial data as appropriate.
- Under Catalog View, on the Preview tab on the ribbon, in the Navigate group, click Full Extent, Fixed Zoom In, Fixed Zoom Out, Previous Extent, and Next Extent to explore the spatial data.
- You can change the basemap to provide better context for the data. Under Catalog View, on the Preview tab on the ribbon, in the Preview group, click the Basemap drop-down arrow and click the basemap you want to use instead.
Create a thumbnail to help you remember what data the item contains in the future.
Preview an item's tabular data
You explore tabular data on the Table tab in the same way you explore tabular data in a map.
- Click an item containing tabular data in the catalog view, such as a feature class or a text file.
- Show the details panel.
- Click the Table tab in the catalog view.
The item's tabular data appears on the Table tab.
- Explore the item's tabular data.
- Sort records by right-clicking the column headers and clicking Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. Sort records using data in multiple fields by clicking Custom Sort.
- Interactively select records in the table by clicking the row header (the small gray square) in the table immediately adjacent to the record. Press Ctrl while clicking additional records.
- At the bottom of the table, click the
Show selected records button
to view only the selected records, or click
the
Show all records button 
to return to all records.