Share maps (Map Viewer)

You can share maps you create in Map Viewer with your organization, specific groups, or the public.

Share a map from Map Viewer, as described below, or share the map from its item page.

Manage sharing in Map Viewer

While you're creating or editing a map that you own, you can also share it, provided that you have privileges to share content. Organization administrators can also share a web map while the map is open in Map Viewer.

To manage sharing while you have the map open, complete the following steps:

1. With the map open in Map Viewer, click Share map on the Contents (dark) toolbar, and click Manage sharing.
2. Choose a sharing level for the map.
3. Optionally, click Edit group sharing to share the map with one or more groups, and click Apply.
4. Click Save.

If there are layers in the map that are not shared with the correct audience, the Review sharing dialog box appears with messages for each layer indicating its accessibility status. Click the messages to view a more detailed message and details for each layer.

If you are the layer owner or an organization administrator, you can click Update sharing to synchronize the layer's sharing configuration with the map. Alternatively, you can click View full details to open a layer's item page and update its sharing level in the Share section of the Overview tab. If you cannot update the sharing configuration for a layer, take note of the layer owner—which is displayed below the item summary—and contact the owner to ask if they can alter the sharing level for the layer.

Share a link to a map

In Map Viewer, you can share a link to a map at its current extent.

To share a link to a map, complete the following steps:

1. With the map open in Map Viewer, click Share map on the Contents (dark) toolbar, and click Copy link to map.

   A short URL for the map at its current extent is generated and copied to the clipboard.

2. Paste the URL into an email, text message, blog, website, or social media post.

For those recipients with whom the map has been shared, clicking the URL opens the map in Map Viewer. If the map has not been shared with a recipient, the recipient will not have access to the map.

Create a custom link to a map

In Map Viewer, you can create a link to a map and configure how it will appear when opened using the link.

To create a custom link to a map, complete the following steps:

1. With the map open in Map Viewer, click Share map on the Contents (dark) toolbar, and click Create custom link.
2. Do any of the following to change how the map will display when opened using the link:
   • Define the map extent that will be included.

     Tip:

     Use keyboard shortcuts to help you set the extent of the map. Press Shift and drag a box on the map to draw a preview area. Press Esc to reset the preview area. To view the full list of keyboard shortcuts in Map Viewer, press Alt+? on Microsoft Windows or Option+? on Mac.

   • Under Mode, choose Light or Dark.
   • Under Map elements, check the check box next to any of the map elements to include them in the shared map.
   • Under Available actions, turn on the Open in Map Viewer toggle button to have the map open in Map Viewer when using the link.
   • Under Map view, turn on the Preserve map scale toggle button to have the map open at the saved scale, preserving the relative size of features across devices.

     Note:

     If the Preserve map scale toggle button is turned off, the scale will vary to show features in the preview's extent.

   • Check the check box next to Shorten URL to shorten the URL that will be copied.

   Note:

   If there are layers in the map that are not public, viewers will need to sign in with appropriate credentials to see the map and its contents. Click Update permissions to change the map sharing settings or follow the steps in the Manage sharing in Map Viewer workflow above.

3. Click Copy Link.

   A URL for the map is generated and copied to the clipboard.

4. Paste the URL into an email, text message, blog, website, or social media post.

For those recipients with whom the map has been shared, clicking the URL opens the map with the customized configuration.

Considerations for sharing maps

Keep the following in mind when you share maps:

• The layers in the map must also be shared. For example, if you share the map with your organization, but the map contains layers that are only shared with specific groups, members outside those groups will not have access to the layers when they open the map, and the map will appear empty.

  The sharing status of the layers in the map is displayed in the Share section of the Overview tab on the map's item page.

• For a map to be accessible to the public (and if your organization allows sharing outside the organization), you must share it with everyone. Ensure that the layers in the map are also shared with everyone.
• If your organization does not allow anonymous access, share the public URL to the map (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=<map_id>) rather than the URL that includes your organization name (https://<organization_name>/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=<map_id>.
• You can create an app with a map from the My content tab of the content page or from Map Viewer using the Create app button .
• To share a map publicly that contains subscriber content or premium content, you can create a map-based app and configure it to allow access to the content through your organizational subscription. (Your subscription will incur any credit costs.)