When adding maps, layers, and other items to ArcGIS Online, you have the option of leaving them unshared or sharing them with groups, your organization, or everyone. You can also share items with a combination of your organization, groups, and everyone. If you choose not to share an item, only you (and organization members with privileges to view content owned by other members) have access to the item until you share it—for example, unshared items do not appear in search results and aren't a part of any groups.
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 the following options for sharing your items:
- 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 users. 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 can find and use your item. To allow anonymous users to access your item through your organization's website, your organization must be configured to allow anonymous access or you can share your item using the public URL.
- Collaborations—If your organization has set up a collaboration with another organization, including ArcGIS Enterprise organizations, you can use collaboration groups to share your item and access additional capabilities not supported through group sharing. Members who are part of the collaboration groups can access the content.
- Your organization and a group—Share an item with your organization and a group if you want all members of your organization to have access to it, but you also want to highlight the item for a specific group of members in your organization or another organization.
- 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 about 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 to have access to the item.
To share items with your organization, complete the following steps:
- Verify that you are signed in to your organization.
You must sign in as one of the following:
- The item owner, and your account must be a member of a role with the general privilege to share content with the organization.
- An organization administrator (either a member of the default administrator role or a custom role assigned the administrative privilege to share member content with the organization).
- At the top of the site, click Content.
- On the My content tab, check the check box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.
- In the Share window, select Organization, and click Save.
Share items with a group
You can make your item available to a limited number of organization members by sharing it with one or more groups. When you share your item with a group, you allow other members of the group to access your 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. You can also share items you do not own as long as the content owner has made them available to the public or your organization.
For some groups, members of the group can 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.
To share an item you own with a group, complete the following steps:
- Verify that you are signed in to your organization.
Your account must be a member of a role with the general privilege to share content with groups.
- At the top of the site, click Content.
- On the My content tab, check the check 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.
- In the Share window, click Edit group sharing.
- In the Group sharing window, select the groups you want to share with, and click Apply.
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 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.
- 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, meaning anyone can see and use your item. Anyone can share your public item by posting it on a social networking site, sending an email with a link, or embedding it in a website or blog. Group owners and managers can add items shared with the public to groups they own or manage. If your public item is a feature layer, anyone can export data from the layer when they access it.
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 the following with the public even if you have privileges to share data publicly:
To allow anonymous users to access your public item through your organization’s website, your organization must be configured to allow anonymous access. Alternatively, you can share your item for viewing using the public URL (https://www.arcgis.com) instead of your organization's URL (for example, https://yourorg.maps.arcgis.com). Anonymous users are individuals who do not have an ArcGIS account or are not signed in. Short URLs are generated from the public URL.
Note:
Public web maps and apps can be accessed through the organization's website, 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.
To link or embed your map, scene, app, or group in a website, consider making your item or group available to everyone to reach the widest audience.
To share items with everyone, complete the following steps:
- Verify that you are signed in to your organization.
You must sign in as one of the following:
- The item owner, and your account must be a member of a role with the general privilege to share content with the public.
- An organization administrator (either a member of the default administrator role or a custom role assigned the administrative privilege to share member content with the public).
- At the top of the site, click Content.
- On the My content tab, check the check box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.
- 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 by inviting them to a group you belong to, manage, or own and then sharing items to the group. Each member of the other organization or organizations must have a profile that can be viewed by everyone.
If you don't mind making your content accessible to everyone, you can also share content with other organizations by making your items and any related resources public.
Tip:
Another way to share content with members of a different organization is by setting up a partnered or distributed collaboration.
To share your content with members of another organization, complete the following steps:
- Verify that you are signed in to your organization.
Your account must be a member of a role with the general privilege to share content with groups.
- Browse to a group you belong to or create a group that will include members of the other organization with which you want to share content.
If you want members of the other organization to be able to contribute content, choose the option to allow all members to contribute content when creating the group.
- 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. For example, if you have an organizational account, you can only invite those with organizational 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 it or accept it. Members who accept the invitation are automatically added to your group.
- 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, the gallery app group must have Everyone selected for the Who can view this group setting, and all the items in the app must be public items.
Share items with your organization or everyone, and a group
Share an item with your organization and a group if you want all members of your organization to have access to it, and you also want to highlight the item for a specific group of members in your organization or another organization. For example, a risk management analyst for an insurance company may need to share certain items with all members of their organization. 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 a link to an item page
You can access items, search results, and groups directly by a URL. This means you can link to an item page, a map, a scene, a search result, or a group by copying and pasting the URL that appears in the address bar of your web browser, generating a short URL, or creating a custom link.
To generate a short URL to link to an item page, complete the following steps:
- From the Content page, click the name of the item you want to link to.
The item page opens.
- On the Overview tab, expand the Details section, and click Short URL
under Share with others.A short URL for the page is generated.
- Click Copy next to the short URL to copy it.
Alternatively, you can copy the URL that appears in the web browser address bar.
Note:
When linking to publicly shared items, it is best practice to use the public URL to ensure that those outside your organization can view your items. Short URLs are generated from the public URL.
- Paste the URL into an email, text message, blog, website, or social media post.
For those recipients with whom the item has been shared, clicking the URL opens the item page for the item. If the item has not been shared with a recipient, the recipient will not have access to the item.
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. Any items you 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.
Note:
ArcGIS Marketplace will be retired in the first quarter of 2027. The ArcGIS Marketplace website was shut down in March 2026. See the ArcGIS Marketplace Retirement Esri Technical Support article for details.
To create ArcGIS 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 page to list the item on ArcGIS Marketplace.