Take a map offline

In ArcGIS Pro, maps that include web feature layers or web tile layers can be taken offline to continue work without a network connection. This capability allows you to edit an offline copy of a web feature layer and sync your edits to the web feature layer in the portal when a network connection is available. Offline web tile layers are not editable but provide spatial context for your feature layers.

You can take a map offline for purposes such as query or analysis, but the most common reason is to edit data while in a disconnected environment. Web layers can be taken offline if they are configured in the following ways:

• Feature layers support synchronization. For editing workflows, they must also be configured for editing.
• Tile layers support exporting tiles.
• Vector tile layers support exporting tiles.
• Map image layers and imagery layers have a cache and support exporting tiles from the cache.

Learn about offline configuration requirements and how to set them

Taking a map offline does not take all the map contents offline—only the web layers that are configured for offline use. Map layers that reference data on network drives or in databases accessible only through the internal network are unavailable when you disconnect from the network. Layers that reference local data sources remain available.

The spatial extent of the data for the layers that you take offline corresponds to the visible map extent when you download the map.

The web feature layers that you take offline are downloaded to a new mobile geodatabase. You can edit offline features with the same editing tools and workflows you use online. You can edit simple features and attributes and undo and redo editing operations. You can also edit feature relationships and file attachments.

When an internet connection is available, you can synchronize your offline data with the web feature layer in the portal. Syncing writes your edits to the web feature layer in the portal and updates your offline data with changes made to the web feature layer by other editors. You can repeat the sync operation as often as necessary if you have occasional internet access and need to continue editing the data offline.

When your work is complete, you can remove the offline data from your project. The Remove operation changes the data source for all offline web layers back to their original online services. It also deletes the mobile geodatabase (or geodatabases) containing the offline feature data.

Take feature layers offline

When you download the map, web feature layers for which synchronization is enabled are taken offline.

To take feature layers offline, complete the following steps:

1. On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Offline group, click Download Map .
2. Optionally, check the Include basemap & tile layers check box.

   

   Taking basemap and tile layers offline is discussed in the next section, as is the maximum scale setting.

3. Click Download.

   A progress bar appears while data for the web feature layers is taken offline. When the process is complete, a mobile geodatabase containing the offline data appears in the project's home folder. (If multiple web feature layers are taken offline, there are multiple geodatabases.) The geodatabase is added to the project. The data sources for feature layers in the map are updated to reference feature classes in the mobile geodatabase.

4. Save the project.

Note:

At ArcGIS Pro 3.4, utility networks can be taken offline for tracing operations and network diagram creation. Field data types such as 64-bit object ID and big integer are supported if the network is associated with a utility network version 7 dataset. As mentioned below, these field data types are not otherwise supported in offline maps.

Some layers in the web feature layer that are associated with advanced capabilities, such as trace network layers, cannot be taken offline. In addition, layers that contain any of the following field data types are not supported in offline maps: 64-bit object ID, big integer, date only, time only, and timestamp offset. Only layers containing simple features, annotations, and dimensions that are associated with advanced layer types can be taken offline.

If the map contains a layer with the data types listed above, all other layers in the map that are from the same web feature layer will not be taken offline. To take these other, supported layers offline, remove the layer that contains the unsupported data types from the map.

Any web feature layer that cannot be taken offline will not work in the offline map when you're not connected to the network.

Take tile layers offline

Each tile layer has a maximum number of tiles that can be taken offline. If the map covers a large area, the maximum tile limit will be reached at a given scale. The tiles that are downloaded will be suitable up to that scale and, when you zoom in further, more detail will not be available.

If you zoom in so the map covers a smaller area, you can take more tiles offline before reaching the maximum tile limit, and you will have more detailed reference data to use when you are offline.

At a given map scale, tile layers and vector tile layers can take a different number of tiles offline. The downloaded tile packages and vector tile packages will provide different levels of detail as you work with the offline map.

When a large number of tiles are taken offline, the tile packages and vector tile packages that are created are larger, and it takes longer to download the package. A 1 GB tile package can take 30 minutes to download with a good network connection.

To take tile layers offline, complete the following steps:

1. On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Offline group, click Download Map .
2. Check the Include basemap & tile layers check box to take these layers offline.

   This option is available only if a basemap or tile layer in the map can be taken offline.

3. Click the Max scale for vector tile layers drop-down list and choose the largest scale at which you want to download vector tile layers.
4. Click the Max scale for tile layers drop-down list and choose the largest scale at which you want to download tile layers and imagery layers.
5. Optionally, zoom in or out on the map to change the scale at which tiles can be taken offline, and choose a different scale at which to download tiles.
6. Click Download.

   A progress bar appears while data and tiles are taken offline. Tile layers and imagery layers are downloaded to a tile package. A .tpkx file is created if this format is supported by the service; otherwise, a .tpk file is created. Vector tile layers are downloaded to a vector tile package (.vtpk).

   When the process is complete, packages containing the offline tiles appear in the project's home folder. Layers in the map referencing the tile layers that were taken offline are turned off. New layers referencing the offline tile packages and vector tile packages are added to the map.

7. Save the project.

Download offline map areas prepared ahead of time

The owner of a web map can define a map area ahead of time for offline use. This can be done through the web map's item page using the Manage Offline Areas button on the Settings tab. This can also be automated using ArcGIS API for Python. The map areas will be packaged with the web map and be available for download. These offline maps are well-suited for mobile workers and scale well to large workforces.

Learn more about creating and managing offline map areas prepared ahead of time

To take map areas prepared ahead of time offline, complete the following steps:

1. In the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab.

   Alternatively, with a catalog view active, click Portal in the Contents pane.

2. Browse to or search for a web map or web scene in My Content or another portal collection.
3. Right-click the web map and click View Offline Map Areas.
4. In the Offline Map Areas window, select the desired map area.
5. Click Download and open.

   

   A progress bar appears while data for the web feature layers is taken offline. When the process is complete, a mobile geodatabase containing the offline data appears in the project's home folder. (If multiple web feature layers are taken offline, there are multiple geodatabases.) The geodatabase is added to the project and a new map is opened with feature layers that reference feature classes in the mobile geodatabase.

6. Save the project.

Note:

• Annotations and dimensions cannot be added to web maps and used with offline map areas prepared ahead of time.
• At ArcGIS Pro 3.4, the web map's offline options for setting the offline basemap are ignored. In ArcGIS Pro, the basemap will be defined based on the web map. The web map's offline options associated with utility network capabilities are acknowledged.
• Attribute rules and contingent values present in the web map layers will be taken offline with map areas prepared ahead of time.

Learn more about optimizing data delivery

True curves with offline map areas prepared ahead of time

Offline map areas prepared ahead of time do not currently support updating true curves. When curve features are taken offline, the offline curves will be densified. These features can still be edited, but behavior during sync will vary depending on the web feature layer feature access properties.

The following feature access properties control curve editing behavior for updates:

• Allow geometry updates
• Allow update of true curves
• Only allow true curve updates by true curve clients

These properties only apply to updating existing features. Creating new features and deleting existing features, including curves, are not affected by these settings.

The Only allow true curve updates by true curve clients feature access property is enabled by default on the web feature layer. It helps protect true curve data from being replaced by a densified geometry. If Allow update of true curves and Only allow true curve updates by true curve clients are enabled, geometry or attribute updates to curve features taken offline from a map area prepared ahead of time will not synchronize with the web feature layer.

The Allow update of true curves feature access property allows any editor to update curve features geometry. If Allow update of true curves is enabled and Only allow true curve updates by true curve clients is disabled, geometry or attribute updates to curve features taken offline from a map area prepared ahead of time will synchronize with the web feature layer. This may result in the curve geometry on the server being replaced by the densified geometry that was taken offline.

If Allow update of true curves and Only allow true curve updates by true curve clients are disabled, geometry or attribute updates to curve features taken offline from a map area prepared ahead of time will not synchronize with the web feature layer.

The Allow geometry updates feature access property allows editors to update feature geometries. This is enabled by default. If Allow geometry updates is disabled, only attribute updates will synchronize with the web feature layer. This applies to both curve and noncurve features.

Sync your edits

Edits you make to offline features can be uploaded to the web feature layer when a network connection is available. Edits to offline tile layers cannot be synced.

To sync your edits, complete the following steps:

1. Connect your machine to the network.
2. Save any edits you made to the offline data.
3. On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Offline group, click Sync .

   A progress bar appears while the offline data and the web feature layer are synced. When the process is complete, the web feature layer is updated with your edits. The offline data in the mobile geodatabase is also updated with edits made by others to the web feature layer if those edits are within the extent of the downloaded map.

   Tip:

   After syncing, you may need to click Refresh in the status bar at the bottom of the map to see updates.

Note:

In ArcGIS Pro 3.4 and later versions, when working with offline map areas prepared ahead of time, the offline options set on the web map associated with feature and attachment sync are acknowledged.

Learn more about optimizing data delivery

Packaged updates with offline map areas

When working with offline map areas prepared ahead of time, each map area can be configured to control when or how server updates are packaged and made available.

By default, map areas are set so that, after downloading, feature service sync is used to keep the downloaded data up to date. Under this mode, as you sync your edits, you will receive the most up-to-date feature data available.

Map areas can also be optimized for read-only access to use packaged updates. When the Enable packaged updates optimization is enabled, the map area stored on the server is periodically updated. Changes made to the data are also extracted and stored with the map area item. Clients such as ArcGIS Pro can download changes periodically and apply them to get the offline data up to date. Since the data and changes to the data are already packaged on the server, this approach is highly scalable for large deployments.

For more information, see Optimize how updates are delivered

Note:

• Map areas using packaged updates do not support editing. Editing will be disabled and edit templates will not be present.
• When syncing with packaged updates, the system may require a download of a new package. If the download size is larger than 100 MB, a prompt will ask whether you want to continue.

Remove your local copy of the data

When you no longer need to work offline, you can upload your feature edits and remove the local mobile geodatabase. The tile packages and vector tile packages that were downloaded remain available in the project's home folder so they can be used again.

To remove your local copy of the data, complete the following steps:

1. Connect your machine to the network.
2. Save any edits you made to the offline data.
3. On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Offline group, click Sync .
4. In the Offline group, click Remove .

   The mobile geodatabase containing the offline data is removed from the project and deleted from the project's home folder. The data sources of the map layers are updated to reference the web feature layers. When the process is complete, the map display updates to show the current data for the web feature layers. You may need to refresh the map.

Note:

With offline map areas prepared ahead of time, Remove will automatically sync changes and then delete the map and the associated map area data from the project.

Repair a project with offline data

If you did not save the project after taking a map offline, or if a map with offline layers is accidentally deleted, you can repair the project.

To repair a project with offline data, complete the following steps:

1. Create a map.
2. In the Catalog pane, browse to the project's home folder or to the download location specified in the share and download options.
3. Right-click the vector tile packages containing the offline tiles and click Add To Current Map .
4. Right-click the tile packages containing the offline tiles and click Add To Current Map .
5. Right-click the geodatabase containing the offline data and click Add To Project .
6. Browse to the database.
7. Drag the feature classes and feature datasets to the new map.
8. Save the project.

Replica activity log

When a replica creation or synchronization process is performed in ArcGIS Pro, detailed information about the process is recorded in the ArcGIS Pro replica activity log. You can use this information to troubleshoot errors or replica creation and synchronization performance.

For more information, see Work with replica logs.