Activate subscription

Activating your subscription is the first step to setting up your ArcGIS Online organization. When you request a subscription to ArcGIS Online, you receive an email with an activation link from Esri Customer Service. The subscription must be activated by the person who will administer the organization.

1. Open the activation email from Esri Customer Service and click the activation link.
2. If you have an existing public account, click Convert your public account to an organization subscription. Otherwise, click Create a new ArcGIS organization.

   Note:

   When you convert your public account to an organization subscription, the public account becomes an organizational account and all your content moves to the organization.

   Converting a public account to an organizational subscription is only supported if you use the United States regional data hosting location for your organizational subscription.

3. Provide a name for your organization.

   The organization name appears on the home and organization pages, in the gallery title, and in any correspondence with members of your organization. You can change the organization name later if needed.

4. Provide a short name—for example, an acronym or abbreviation—for your organization.

   Note:

   The short name uniquely defines the URL to your organization; therefore, it is recommended that you carefully consider the name you want to use. There are also important considerations for changing the short name if required.

   The short name can contain up to 16 characters, including the following:

   • Letters (a–z)—Use Latin characters that don't have diacritical marks such as an umlaut.
   • Numbers (0–9)
   • Hyphens (-)

     Note:

     Hyphens cannot be used at the beginning or end of the short name URL.

5. Choose the region for your organization.

   The region determines your organization's basemap and extent defaults. You can change the region for the organization at any time.

   Tip:

   You can also specify your organization's basemaps and map extent through the organization's map settings.

6. For Esri User Experience Improvement Program, turn on the Send anonymous usage data toggle button to allow ArcGIS Online to collect usage information from members of your organization to improve the user experience.

   ArcGIS Online works continuously to improve its products, and one of the best ways to determine what needs improvement is through customer feedback. The Esri User Experience Improvement program (EUEI) allows your organization to contribute to the design and development of ArcGIS Online. The program collects information about the usage of ArcGIS Online, including hardware and browser characteristics, without interrupting work. The program is optional and anonymous; none of the information collected is used to identify or contact members of your organization.

7. If you are converting your public account to an organization subscription, click Finish setup. Otherwise, click Next and continue to the next step.
8. Provide your account details as follows:
   1. Type your first name, last name, and email address. Retype your email address to confirm.
   2. Review the Esri master agreement and privacy policy. Check the boxes to accept and agree and click Next.
9. Provide your login details as follows:
   1. Type a username.

      An ArcGIS username must contain 6 to 128 alphanumeric characters. You can also use the following special characters: . (dot), _ (underscore), and @ (at sign). Other special characters, nonalphanumeric characters, and spaces are not allowed. Your username cannot be the same as your password.

      Note:

      The following characters are not allowed at the beginning or end of your username: . (dot), _(underscore), - (hyphen), and @ (at sign).

   2. Provide a password that contains at least eight characters and at least one letter and one number.

      Your password is case sensitive and cannot be the same as your username.

      Note:

      Weak passwords won't be accepted. A password is considered weak if it's a commonly used password such as password1 or includes repetitive or sequential characters—for example, aaaabbbb or 1234abcd.

   3. Retype your password to confirm.
   4. Select a security question and type an answer.

      This information is used to verify your identity if you forget your password.

   5. Click Finish setup.

      Your profile page appears. You can click View my settings to update your account settings or return to it later.

You are now ready to configure the organization website and invite or add members. For more information to help you get started, see Get started with administration.