Work with duplicate labels

When using the Standard Label Engine to label line and polygon layers, you can choose one of the following options for handling duplicate labels:

Note:

There are no duplicate label options when labeling point features.

• Remove all duplicates—This is the default when labeling line features. When two or more contiguous line features have the same label text string, only one label is placed. When labeling polygon features, only one label is placed; the features do not need to be contiguous. This prevents displaying potentially many of the same labels on a map.
• One label per feature—A label is placed for every feature. Duplicate labels are not removed. If you have a multipart feature, this option places one label for the entire multipart polygon.
• One label per part—This is the default when labeling polygon features. A label is placed for each part of a multipart feature. Duplicates are not removed.

Note:

If you enable the Maplex Label Engine, different options are available for working with duplicate labels.

Learn more about labeling with the Maplex Label Engine

1. Ensure that the Standard Label Engine is enabled.
2. Ensure that List By Labeling is the active method of displaying the Contents pane. Click the List By Labeling tab .
3. Choose a label class in the Contents pane and click the Labeling tab.
4. On the Labeling tab, in the Label Placement group, click Label Placement Properties .
5. In the Labeling pane, click Position and click the Position tab .
6. Choose a duplicate label option: Remove all duplicates, One label per feature, or One label per part.

   Depending on the map scale, labels may not appear as you expect, because overlapping labels are not allowed by default. To override this setting, use the Place overlapping labels option.