Skip to main content

Use bookmarks

A bookmark is a navigation shortcut to a position or perspective within a map to return to later or share with others. Bookmarks can be used to create keyframes in an animation or store and use time-enabled layer properties, such as catalog dataset layers.

To access bookmarks and their settings, on the Home tab, in the Navigate group, click Bookmarks . You can create bookmarks or import existing bookmarks from a file (.bkmx). Bookmarks are listed with a thumbnail image, name, and optional description. Click a bookmark in the drop-down gallery to navigate to it.

Use the Bookmarks drop-down menu to do the following:

Action

Description

Set the gallery filter

Choose the target map if you have multiple maps with different bookmarks. The default is set to All.

Update Bookmark Update Bookmark and Remove Bookmark Remove Bookmark

Right-click a bookmark to update or delete it.

New Bookmark New Bookmark

Open the Create Bookmark dialog box to capture the current extent as a new bookmark from the active map or scene. Enabled time or range properties for layers are also stored.

Manage Bookmarks Manage Bookmarks

Open the Bookmarks pane, where you can work with and organize bookmarks .

Export Bookmarks Export Bookmarks

Open the Export dialog box to save bookmarks from the current map or scene to a bookmark file (.bkmx).

Import Bookmarks Import Bookmarks

Open the Import dialog box to browse to and add bookmarks to the current map or scene from a bookmark file (.bkmx).

Ignore Time

On the Bookmark Options menu, check the Ignore Time check box to navigate to the camera perspective only for the bookmark without changing the time slider.

Show Descriptions

On the Bookmark Options menu, check the Show Descriptions check box to display the bookmark description, if one is provided, when viewing the bookmarks in the bookmark drop-down list.

Display Bookmark Label

On the Bookmark Options menu, check the Display Bookmark Label check box to display the bookmark name in the view when zooming to it. The name displays temporarily in the lower center of the view.
Note:

Bookmarks are referenced and organized by the map in which they were created in the current project. Options such as updating bookmarks apply to bookmarks in the active view only. If an option is unavailable, ensure that you are in the correct active map.

Navigate with bookmarks

Navigate to a bookmark in one of the following ways:

  • Click a bookmark in the Bookmarks quick-access gallery on the Home tab.

  • In the Bookmarks pane, hover over the bookmark and click Zoom To to center and zoom in on the exact bookmark location. Or click Pan To to center the view on the bookmark location without changing the scale.

If you want to navigate multiple views simultaneously using bookmarks, ensure that the views are linked, because bookmarks update the active map only.

To adjust the speed at which the navigation updates the view, set the Transition time setting to instant or a slower, gradual transition. Open the Settings dialog box from the Project tab and click the Navigation tab. Move the slider to adjust the transition time. The higher the value in seconds, the longer it takes to get to the bookmark.

You can still navigate with bookmarks even when map scale properties limit the display to certain scales.

Note:

If you're switching between 2D and 3D maps, the extent may differ from the original view in which the bookmark was captured. For instance, bookmarks created in a 3D map but viewed in a 2D map have a map extent derived from the original scene. If the bookmark was created in a 2D map but viewed in a 3D map, the scene view displays perpendicularly.

Create a bookmark

To create a bookmark, complete the following steps:

  1. In the active map, navigate to the location or perspective you want to bookmark.

  2. On the Home tab, in the Navigate group, click Bookmarks and click New Bookmark .

    If the Bookmarks pane is open, you can click New Bookmark from there. Click Manage Bookmarks to open the pane.

  3. On the Create Bookmark dialog box, type a name for the bookmark and, optionally, type a description. Click OK.

Bookmark descriptions

You can provide descriptive text to bookmarks to detail how and why the bookmarks were created. The description can include bold, italic, and underline formatting and hyperlinks up to a maximum of 500 characters. Check Show Descriptions if you want descriptions to appear when you view the bookmarks gallery.

Update a bookmark

To update the extent, perspective, or other properties of a bookmark, do the following:

  1. Navigate to the bookmark in the map.

  2. Use the Explore tool to refine the extent or viewpoint of the bookmark.

  3. Optionally, adjust the time slider to update the time value you want to capture.

  4. Right-click the bookmark from the Bookmarks drop-down menu or hover over a bookmark in the Bookmarks pane, and click the Update button .

    The extent, time (if applicable), and thumbnail of the bookmark are updated.

Import bookmarks from a file

Import bookmark files into the active map by doing the following:

  1. On the Home tab, in the Navigate group, click the Bookmarks drop-down menu and click Import Bookmarks .

    Optionally, if the Bookmarks pane is open, click the Menu button to import bookmarks. Or to input bookmarks into an existing map, right-click the map name and click Import Bookmarks .

  2. In the Import window, browse to and select the bookmark file to import.

  3. Click OK.

Export bookmarks for the active map

To create a bookmark file that contains all bookmarks for a single map, do the following:

  1. On the Home tab, in the Navigate group, click the Bookmarks drop-down menu and click Export Bookmarks .

    Optionally, if the Bookmarks pane is open, click the Menu button to export all bookmarks or right-click a bookmark in the list and choose Select All. Or to export all bookmarks for an entire map, right-click the map name and click Export Bookmarks .

    Note:

    Bookmarks can also be exported selectively. Press Ctrl while clicking to select bookmarks individually (nonconsecutively), or press Shift while clicking to select multiple consecutive bookmarks.

    Bookmarks can only be exported for a single map. Selecting more than one bookmark across multiple maps is not supported.

  2. In the Export window, browse to the location where you want to save the bookmark file and provide a name.

  3. Click OK.

Bookmarks pane

Bookmarks can identify the map where they were created. The Bookmarks pane lists the bookmarks by map for the current project with the active map's bookmarks on top. Any bookmark in your current project can be managed using the Bookmarks pane. Hover over a bookmark to give focus to it and access management buttons for the state of your bookmark, such as navigation, update, and removal. Right-click the containing map or scene name to manage all of the associated bookmarks at one time.

For the active map, in the Navigate group, click Bookmarks and click Manage Bookmarks to open the Bookmarks pane. The following actions are available in the Bookmarks pane:

Action Description
Create a bookmark Navigate to the desired location and scale, and click the New Bookmark button . You are prompted to provide a name and an optional description, which can be edited later.
Delete a bookmark To permanently remove a bookmark from the project, hover over the bookmark and click Remove . To remove a selected subset, press the Delete key.
Edit a bookmark description Expand the bookmark so the description is visible. Click the Edit Description button and update the information.
Rename a bookmark Click a bookmark to select it. Click again to edit the name. To commit the change, either click outside of the text area or press Enter to save the update.
Reorganize bookmarks Click and drag bookmarks to rearrange them in the associated map or scene groupings in the pane. You can also drag bookmarks in or out of a bookmark folder if it exists.
Update an existing bookmark Navigate to the bookmark in the map and use the Explore tool to refine the extent or viewpoint of the bookmark. Click the Update button . The extent, time (if applicable), and thumbnail of the bookmark are updated.
Pan to a bookmark To center the view on the exact bookmark location but remain at the current map scale, use the Pan To button .
Zoom to a bookmark To center and zoom in on the exact bookmark location, use the Zoom To button .
Remove time To remove the time span captured with the bookmark, right-click the bookmark and click Remove Time .
Export Click the menu button and click Export to export all bookmarks for the active map. Right-click a bookmark to export only the current bookmark or selected subset.
Select all Right-click a bookmark and click Select All to select all bookmarks in a single map. Selecting more than one bookmark across different maps is not supported.
Clear selected Right-click a selected bookmark and click Clear Selection to clear the current selection.
Organize using bookmark folders Right-click a bookmark or selected set of bookmarks and click Create Bookmark Folder , which places the selected bookmarks in the folder. Only one level of a folder structure is supported.
Zoom to a subcomponent of a bookmark Right-click a selected bookmark, click Zoom To, and open the drop-down menu for zoom options. You can zoom to individual subcomponents of a bookmark without disabling the other components. For example, zoom to only the camera perspective, only the time position, or only the range value.

Gallery and Outline modes

The Bookmarks pane has two display modes for viewing bookmarks: Gallery and Outline. Gallery mode includes thumbnail preview images, while Outline mode is a list view without the images. Use the Menu button in the upper right corner of the pane to switch between modes.

Create bookmark folders

The bookmarks pane lists bookmarks based on the map in which they are created. Within each map's list of bookmarks, you can create bookmark folders as an additional level of organization.

To use a bookmark's context menu to add a folder, complete the following steps:

  1. Select one or more bookmarks.

  2. Right-click a selected bookmark.

  3. Choose Create Bookmark Folder .

    The selected bookmarks will move into the new folder.

Folder names will be numbered sequentially as you continue to add more folders to each map's list of bookmarks, for example, Folder 1, Folder 2, and so on. You can move a folder by dragging it to the preferred location in the bookmark list, as well as drag bookmarks in or out of an existing folder. You cannot add multiple levels of folders in a folder.

With a bookmark folder, you can do the following using its context menu:

  • Rename a folder.

  • Export the bookmarks in the folder to a bookmark file (.bkmx).

  • Remove the folder, which also removes the bookmarks contained in the folder.

  • Sort the bookmarks in the folder in ascending or descending order.