Set the map extent

The map extent is defined by a series of bounding coordinates that delineate the area of the map or scene with which you want to work.

When working in a map view or scene view, on the Map tab, in the Navigate group, click Full Extent to pan and zoom the map or scene to the current map extent. This extent is used when the map or scene is placed into a layout.

By default, this extent is the spatial extent covered by all features in all layers in the map or scene. This is a dynamic extent. It updates accordingly when data is added or removed from the map or scene.

The coordinates of the selected extent are shown. You can refine them further by adjusting their values. To apply common extents to multiple maps, you can copy all four coordinate values at once and paste them into another map's extent coordinates.

If you are working in a map frame in a layout, you can change the extent of the map by activating the map frame or adjusting the location settings in the map frame's display options. For more information, see Map frame constraints.

Set a dynamic full map extent

To set a full map extent to dynamically use the extent of all the data in all the layers, follow these steps:

1. In a map or scene view, right-click the name of the map or scene in the Contents pane and click Properties to open the Map Properties dialog box.
2. On the Extent tab, click Use extent of data in all layers.
3. Click Apply to save the settings, or click OK to apply the changes and close the Map Properties dialog box.

Set a static custom extent

Alternatively, you can set a custom map extent. You can type extent coordinates manually, or you can borrow extent values from any of the following sources to set the extent coordinates:

• The current visible extent
• The extent of the data in all layers
• The extent of all features in a layer
• The extent of all visible features in a layer
• The extent of all selected features in a layer

Caution:

If the map uses an unknown coordinate system, spatial extents and distances are reported in unknown units, identified by unk after each value.

Custom map extents are static. They are not updated if data is added to or removed from the map or scene.

To set the map to a custom extent based on specific coordinate values or a subset of features, follow these steps:

1. In a map or scene view, right-click the name of the map or scene in the Contents pane and click Properties to open the Map Properties dialog box.
2. On the Extent tab, click Use a custom extent.
3. Choose an option from the Get extent from menu to generate extent coordinates.

   If you chose to get the extent from a layer in the map, you can hover over the layer name and use the extent of all features, of selected features, or of features currently in view.

4. Optionally, refine the extent coordinate values and set the display units.
5. Click Apply to save the settings, or click OK to apply the changes and close the Map Properties dialog box.