Share items

When adding maps, layers, and other items to ArcGIS Online, you have the option of leaving them unshared or, depending on your sharing privileges and the security settings of your organization, sharing items with groups, your organization, or everyone. You can also share an item with a combination of your organization, groups, and everyone. If you choose not to share the item, only you (and organization members with privileges to view content owned by other members) can access the item until you share it. Until they are shared, your maps, apps, and other items are not available to others—for example, they do not appear in search results and aren't part of any group.

If you make an item public (that is, share it with everyone), it is accessible by everyone, including anonymous users, even if your organization does not allow anonymous access to its website. Access to items shared only with a private group requires that you have shared the item with that group and that group members are signed in. This is enforced anytime the item is accessed.

Esri secures all access to your information. User identity is established through a sign-in process that always takes place over HTTPS. Subsequent access to information requires authentication tokens acquired at sign in and takes place over HTTPS.

You have several options for sharing your items, depending on your sharing privileges:

• Your organization—Sharing with your organization means only members of your organization can access your item.
• Groups to which you belong—If you are a member of a group, you can share your item with that group. Sharing with specific groups restricts access to a smaller, more focused set of people. Members of the group can be from the same organization or different organizations.
• Everyone (public)—Sharing with everyone makes your item public; anyone who has access to ArcGIS Online, including anonymous users, can find and use your item, and group owners can include it in their group content. If the item is a feature layer, anyone can export data from the layer when they access it from clients other than ArcGIS Online.
• Collaborations—If your organization has set up a collaboration with another organization, you can use groups to share your items. Members who are part of the collaboration groups are able to access the content.
• Your organization and a group—Share items with your organization and a group if you want only members of your organization to have access to it, but you also want to highlight the content for a specific group.
• Everyone and a group—If you want to share thematic content with a subset of users or organize your content into a collection of items, but you also want everyone to have access to your item, you can share an item with a group and with everyone. This is especially appropriate for focused group work in which all members benefit from seeing a list of specific content they can use for collaboration and exchange.

For more information on sharing items and recommendations for setting usable sharing properties, see Best practices for sharing.

Share items with your organization

Share an item with your organization if you want all members of your organization to have access to it, but you do not want anyone outside your organization (who has access to the organization site) to have access to the item.

1. Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to share content with your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Content.
3. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share and click Share.
4. In the Share window, select Organization and click Save.

Share items with a group

If you have the appropriate privileges, you can keep your item semiprivate by sharing it only with a group or groups to which you belong. When you share an item with a group, you allow other members of the group to access the item. You can share your items with groups you own or manage, as well as with groups to which you belong that allow member contributions. Group owners and managers can also share with their groups any items that were shared with the organization or the public.

For some groups, other members of the group can also update the items you share. When you share an item with a shared update group, you remain the owner of the item. Other group members can update the item, including changing the item details or updating the content. Allowing other members of a group to update your shared item is useful in many scenarios. For instance, this capability allows a team of shift workers to share responsibility for updating a critical web map—adding or removing layers, changing symbols, updating the map's description, and so on.

Tip:

A common sharing scenario is allowing a team of editors to edit a publicly visible hosted feature layer without enabling editing on the layer for everyone. Because ArcGIS Online supports feature layer views, the recommended way to manage hosted feature layer permissions in scenarios such as this is to create a feature layer view from the hosted feature layer. In this way, you can share a read-only view with everyone, and share the editable hosted feature layer with a group of editors.

1. Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to share content with your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Content.
3. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.

   Note:

   You cannot share Indoors Spaces feature layers with groups that allow external users or groups used in collaborations.

4. In the Share window, click Edit group sharing.
5. In the Group sharing window, select the groups you want to share with, and click OK.

   To find the groups you want, you can search for them by name or use filters to refine the list of groups. For example, choose a Special Groups filter to narrow the list to shared update groups; administrative groups; open data groups; or groups configured to showcase the organization's featured content through the gallery page, home page, and basemap gallery.

   Tip:

   You can also share content with a group you own or manage from the Groups page. Click Groups at the top of the site and search for the group by name or use the filters to refine the list. When you find the group, click the group name and click Add items to group on the group page. Find and select the items you want to share with the group, and click Add items. Use the search, filters, and sort options to find items. This group sharing option is available to group owners and group managers only.

6. In the Share window, click Save.

   Tip:

   To undo the sharing of the items with all selected groups, click Revert in the Set group sharing section and click Save.

Share items with everyone

Sharing an item with everyone makes it public. This means anyone, including anonymous users to ArcGIS Online, can access and see your item. Items shared with the organization or the public can also be added to any group by that group's owner or manager. To link or embed your map in a website, be sure it's shared with everyone.

Note:

If the hosted feature layer or hosted feature layer view is editable, you must enable Public Data Collection on the layer before you can share it with everyone.

You cannot share dynamic imagery layers or Indoors Spaces feature layers with the public. Even if you have privileges to share data publicly, the option to share these layers with Everyone (public) is not available.

1. At the top of the site, click Content.
2. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.
3. In the Share window, select Everyone (public) and click Save.

Share items with another organization

You can share content with members of a different organization if you and the other members have the correct sharing privileges. If each member of the other organization with which you are sharing content has a profile that can be viewed by everyone and you have privileges to share outside the organization, you can invite these members to a group to which you belong (or own) and share items to the group.

Tip:

Another way to share content with members of a different organization is by setting up a partnered collaboration. Partnered collaborations allow you to add members of the organizations you are partnered with to your groups to share content.

If you don't mind making your content accessible to everyone, you can also share content with another organization by making your items and any related resources public.

To share your content with members of another organization, do the following:

1. Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to create groups and to share content with groups and with those outside the organization.
2. Create a group that will include members of the other organization with which you want to share content.

   To share gallery apps with the other organization, set the sharing status to Public. If you want members of the other organization to be able to contribute content, choose the option to allow all members to contribute content.

3. Invite members of the other organization to the group.

   Note:

   Only those members who have the same type of account that you have can be invited to the group. If you have an organizational account, you can only invite those with organizational accounts to join your group. If you have a public account, you can only invite those with public accounts to join your group.

   Tip:

   When you search for users to invite to the group, only those who have set their profiles to be visible to the public will be found. However, you can still invite users who haven't set their profiles to be public if you enter their exact username.

   The members you invite to the group receive a message in their Notifications pop-up at the top of the site. They can view the invitation and either reject or accept it. Members who accept the invitation are automatically added to your group.

4. Share items with the group you created.

   Members who accepted the invitation to join your group can access the shared items.

   Note:

   If you are sharing gallery apps with another organization, all the items in the group and the app must be public items.

Share items with your organization or everyone, and a group

Share your items with your organization and a group if you want only members of your organization to have access to it, but you also want to highlight the content for a specific group. For example, a risk management analyst for an insurance company may need to share certain items with all members of their organization but cannot allow nonmembers to have access to them. The analyst may also want to share the items with a group composed of the other risk management analysts to make the items easier to find.

If you want to share thematic content with a subset of users or organize your content into a collection of items, but you also want everyone to have access to your item, you can share your item with a group and with everyone. For example, a fire agency that produces burn maps may want the public to find and view the maps but also want members in the fire agency group to use the maps as templates for creating their own local versions.

Share public items

You can share public items you own as well as public items owned by others.

Share public items you don't own

You can share public items you've discovered on the website even if the item doesn't belong to you. For example, you can share a public map by posting it on a social networking site, sending an email with a link, or embedding it in a website or blog. If you own a group, you can share basemaps, apps, and other items that have been shared with the public or the organization with your group.

Share public items when anonymous access is disabled

If your organization has disabled anonymous access, only organization members can access the organization's website. However, you can still share the organization's public items for viewing by sharing the item through the public URL (https://www.arcgis.com), instead of your organization's URL (for example, https://yourorg.maps.arcgis.com). Here are some of the ways you can share public items through the public URL:

• Copy the short URL of a public map through the Map Viewer Classic Share pop-up and paste the URL in an email, instant message, and so on.
• Create a public web app that references a public map.

  Note:

  Public web apps can be accessed through the organization's URL, but the organization's customized resources—basemap gallery, geocoding services, print services, and so on—are not available by default when anonymous access is disabled. In some cases, you can make these resources available to anonymous users by configuring them at the web app level; for example, you can configure the locators enabled for search.

• Copy the code to embed a public map or public group and paste it into a web page.
• Share public maps and apps through a public group, copy the URL in the Share pop-up, and paste the URL in an email, instant message, and so on.
• Create a public gallery app from a public group.

Note:

Users outside of the organization can use these URLs to view the public item, but they cannot use the item. For example, they can view a web map accessed through the URL, but they won't be able to analyze the layers in the map or add the web map to an app.

Share using a public account

If you have a public account, you can add items to ArcGIS Online, create public groups, and share your items with everyone and with the public groups to which you belong. An item you want to share to a group must also be shared with everyone (public).

You can also access any item shared with everyone (public) and join public groups owned by other public accounts.

You cannot create or join private groups, cannot join groups owned by an organization, and cannot invite organizational accounts to join your groups.

Create an ArcGIS Marketplace listing

You can create an ArcGIS Marketplace listing of your private items—such as apps, widgets, and data items— to make them available to others for purchase or trial download.

To create Marketplace listings, your organization must be configured to allow it, and you must be a member of a role with ArcGIS Marketplace subscription privileges.

If your organization, privileges, and item type allow it, use the setting on the Settings tab of the item’s details page to list the item on ArcGIS Marketplace.