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Basemaps & external sources

Switch the background map, add your own basemaps, and browse public web layers and ArcGIS Online.

The background of your map, and the catalogue of public web layers you can drop on top, both live a click away.

The Basemap tab

The Basemap tab lists the built-in basemaps grouped by style — pick one to switch the background. You can also add your own:

  • Add basemap from URL… — give it a Name, choose a Type, paste the URL, optionally set a Category and upload a thumbnail.
  • Saved custom basemaps appear as cards you can select, edit or remove.

Custom basemap types

  • XYZ Tiles — a raster tile template with {z}/{x}/{y} placeholders (e.g. https://tile.example.com/{z}/{x}/{y}.png). This covers most tile servers, including Esri, Google and USGS map services.
  • Hybrid (imagery + labels) — two tile templates: an imagery layer with a transparent labels overlay drawn on top. Your data layers sit between them, so labels and roads stay readable above your features.
  • Quadkey (Bing-style) — for servers that address tiles by quadkey instead of x/y. Use {q} (or {quadkey}) for the quadkey and {s} for a 0–3 subdomain, e.g. https://ecn.t{s}.tiles.virtualearth.net/tiles/a{q}.jpeg?g=1 for Bing aerial.
  • Style JSON — a MapLibre / Mapbox style JSON URL.

Categories

Give a basemap a Category to group it in the picker (blank falls under My basemaps). Type a new name or pick an existing one from the suggestions. Categories are just labels — they roam with your account and don’t affect how a basemap renders.

Custom basemaps save to your browser and, when you’re signed in, sync across your devices. If a shared map is published on one of your custom basemaps, that basemap travels with the share so the read-only viewer renders it correctly.

You can also promote a raster/tiled layer to the background with Add as basemap from its layer menu.

External sources

The External sources browser (in the Add layer dialog) has three tabs.

Curated public web sources — satellite, topographic, street, reference and marine — from providers like Esri, OpenStreetMap, USGS, NASA GIBS, OpenRailwayMap and OpenSeaMap. Search them, Add one to the map, or bookmark it with Save to My sources. Raster tiles are read live each time the map draws — nothing is copied or stored.

My sources

Your own saved tiles, imagery and services, available in any map. Add a source with a Name, Type (XYZ / WMS / GeoJSON / PMTiles / ArcGIS Feature Layer), URL, Category, optional overlay flag, description, attribution and thumbnail.

ArcGIS Online

Search public ArcGIS Online layers and the Living Atlas. Imagery and tiled maps are read live; feature layers are copied in as an editable snapshot (open a service to pick which sub-layer). Sign in to include your private and licensed content, switch scope (my content / my items / everyone), and filter by type, Authoritative, In view and more.

Offline packs

Where offered, the Offline packs panel lists downloadable tile packages for working without a connection. Each shows its region and layer count; Download to install (with progress), then Open it, or Remove to free space.

Next steps