Save a web map

With ArcGIS Pro, you can save updates to web maps in a portal. ArcGIS Pro provides advanced authoring capabilities for symbolizing and visualizing geospatial data you can use to modify existing web maps. Saving a web map preserves the web map item ID.

You can save web maps in both ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise portals. The following conditions must be met when saving a web map:

• Your active map must be linked to a web map. When you add a web map to a project, it is converted to an ArcGIS Pro map and linked to your web map. For more information, see Add a web map or web scene from a portal.
• Your active portal must be the portal where the web map resides.
• You must be the owner of the web map item, an administrator, or a member of the shared update group to which the web map is shared.
• You must be signed in to an account that is part of an ArcGIS organization with the privilege to create content. Additional privileges are needed if data layers are to be published as web layers.

Saving a web map in ArcGIS Pro updates the linked web map but does not update existing web layers, table items, or feature collections in your portal. For example, saving a map containing changes to a layer's symbology stores those changes in the web map only. The appearance or properties of the web layer in other web maps are not affected because the changes are only applied to the updated web map. Web layer items in your portal remain unchanged even if they are removed from your map in ArcGIS Pro. If you add data layers to your map, saving your map publishes the new layers to your portal and adds them to the web map.

Save your web map

Before saving a web map, there are certain considerations you should be aware of. The following workflow explains how to save updates to your web map in a portal:

1. Add a web map to your project.
2. Add data layers or make changes to the symbology, pop-ups, or labels of existing web layers in your map.
3. On the ribbon, on the Share tab, in the Manage group, click Save Web Map .

   Note:

   The Save Web Map button is unavailable if the active map is not linked to a web map.

   If ArcGIS Pro was not the application used to last modify the web map, the Save web map dialog box appears.
   • Click Save web map to update the existing web map.
   • Click Share as new web map to open the Share As Web Map pane instead. You can share a new web map to examine the features that may be altered or lost before committing the save to the original web map. See Share a web map for more information.

   The Save Web Map pane appears.

The Archive the last updated web map option creates a copy of the previous version of the web map. The copied web map is created as an item with its own ID in your portal. This setting is enabled by default.

The default archive web map name is <web map>_<timestamp>. If you are the owner of the original web map, the archived item is stored in the same folder as the web map. Otherwise, it is stored in your root folder.

Note:

The Archive the last updated web map option is not available for ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8 and earlier.

4. Optionally, edit the Summary and Tags fields.
5. If your map contains data layers that will be published, optionally choose their configuration for your web map.

   See Share a web map using a selected configuration for a list of available configurations.

6. The Use symbol types compatible with all clients option is checked by default. Optionally, uncheck the check box to preserve 2D point marker symbols as ArcGIS Pro symbols, also known as Esri Cartographic Information Model (CIM) symbols. Choose this option if your web map will be used in newer client applications that support rendering CIM symbols, such as ArcGIS API for JavaScript 4.x. CIM symbols appear downgraded in older clients.

   When the box is checked, ArcGIS Pro symbols are converted to web symbols that can be rendered by all applications, including older clients.

   Note:

   This option does not appear when sharing to ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8 or earlier. For these portal versions, ArcGIS Pro symbols are automatically converted to web symbols.

7. Optionally, under Share with, change the settings:
   • Everyone—This option makes your content public. Anyone can access and see it.
   • My Organization—If you are signed in with an organizational account, you see this option. This option allows your content to be shared with all authenticated users in the organization.
   • Groups—You can share your content with groups to which you belong and their members.

   Leave all options unchecked to set the sharing level to the owner of the item.

8. Optionally, click the Configuration tab at the top of the pane to see the web layers that will be created when you save the map or to change their properties.

   See Configure a web map for more information.

9. Under Finish Saving, click Analyze to check for problems.

   Errors and warnings are listed on the Messages tab. Right-click a message to open its help topic or take corrective action in the software. You must resolve errors before you can save the web map. Resolving warnings is recommended but not required.

   Learn more about analyzing GIS resources

10. After you have resolved errors, and optionally resolved warnings, click Save to update the web map in your portal.

    If the sharing settings have changed, the Update Sharing dialog box may appear where you can ensure that the layers are visible to your intended viewers.

    1. In the Update Sharing dialog box, click Update to adjust the layer sharing settings to make the layers visible in the web map.

       A message appears if one or more editable web feature layers cannot be shared with everyone. You must approve public data collection from the layer's item page on the portal. For more information, see Allow editing on public layers.

11. Once the save operation has successfully updated the existing web map, click the Manage web map link at the bottom of the pane to manage the web map in your portal.

    If the web map is composed of new web layers cached automatically on the server, the layers may not be viewable while cache generation is in progress. Click Jobs to view the cache status in the Job Status pane.

Considerations when saving web maps

Saving web maps in ArcGIS Pro can improve your map management workflows. However, be aware that limitations exist due to differences in support for certain web map properties across applications. If you make changes to the web map using another application and open it in ArcGIS Pro, some properties may appear altered while others may be removed entirely. Any properties that were removed when the web map was converted to an ArcGIS Pro map will be lost if the web map is saved.

Limitations

Listed below are some known limitations to consider before saving a web map with ArcGIS Pro.

• Presentations are not supported in ArcGIS Pro maps. Slides in a web map are removed when the web map is opened in ArcGIS Pro.
• Pop-ups on web tile layers or cached map image layers that are configured to use attribute data from a feature layer will be lost when the web map is opened in ArcGIS Pro. See Configure pop-ups for more information.
• Some settings such as Find Locations and other application settings on the item page of your web map are not preserved after saving a web map. See Set map options for apps for more information.
• WMS service layers that support multiple styles do not preserve nondefault styles applied in ArcGIS Pro. The web map will only render the default style of the WMS service layer. See Change the style of a WMS service sublayer for more information.
• You may notice that layers with styles authored in other applications such as Map Viewer appear differently when the web map is opened in ArcGIS Pro. These differences are present if identical symbology properties in ArcGIS Pro do not exist for styles authored in other applications. Examples of this include heat map symbology, dictionary symbology, predominant category, age (color), and age (size). These properties will be altered when the web map is saved. In cases where there is no equivalent render in ArcGIS Pro, such as in configuring clustering, the style or property will be lost.

Best practices

Listed below are some best practices to consider before saving a web map with ArcGIS Pro.

• When you open a web map in ArcGIS Pro, carefully examine it for discrepancies, paying attention to pop-ups, labels, and other properties you may have authored in another application.
• If there are multiple users in your ArcGIS organization who can make updates to the web map, check if the web map has been modified since you opened it in ArcGIS Pro to avoid overwriting changes other users may have made. To work with the latest version of a web map, you can refresh the map in your project. See Update a map or scene for more information.
• Share your updated map as a new web map first to inspect it for potential discrepancies. You can save your web map when you are confident in your decision to update the original web map.