Apply a style

Note:

Some workflows may require specific privileges. For more information about user types, roles, and privileges, see the Accounts topic.

You can use the ArcGIS for Microsoft 365 style tools to customize the appearance of your maps. See Style map layers to learn about different methods for styling data and see Symbol types to learn about smart mapping and default applied styles.

To apply or change the default style applied to the layer, also known as smart mapping, do the following:

1. In the Layers pane, click the Symbology tab .
2. From the Active layer drop-down menu, choose the layer to modify.

   The default style currently applied to the layer is shown in the Symbol types section.

3. Click Add field to select a data attribute from the active layer.

   Adding attributes places additional details from your data on the map. The type of data you add, such as numeric or categorical, and its category, such as Size or Color, determines the symbology options available and the default style applied. See the Symbol types topic for more information.

   Two drop-down menus appear below the Active layer field.

   1. Select a data attribute from the drop-down menu on the left.
   2. Select whether to represent the attribute on the map as Size or Color from the drop-down menu on the right.

   Tip:

   While you can represent both categorical and numeric attributes using Color on the map, only numeric attributes can be represented on the map by Size.

4. Optionally, click Add field again to select another data attribute from the active layer, repeating the previous step.

   As you add attributes, the default symbol type (smart mapping style) applied to the active layer automatically updates.

5. Optionally, select a different style from the Symbol type drop-down menu.

   For help choosing a style, see the Symbol types topic.

   Note:

   Only those options that logically apply to the active layer and the selected data attributes will appear in the Symbol type drop-down menu. For example, if your layer only contains geographic point coordinates, only Location or Heat map styles are listed. However, if you have added categorical or numeric data attributes, you will see additional options, such as Types and size or Color.

6. Click the Style options tab to customize the appearance of the applied style.