XY data from excel sheet to shapefile

Question

Hello,

I'm pretty new to ArcGIS and I'm trying to project an excel sheet with XY data as a shapefile. I have tried saving the excel sheet as a text file then in ArcGIS>add data> XY Data, then export the data as a shapefile. The points plot, but they plot very far off the intended mark (a basic state map). I've changed the coordinate system, I've added the XY data different ways and nothing is working. I'm totally stuck. If anyone has any ideas, I'd greatly appreciate it!

-Kelly

MelitaKennedy · Answer

What Dan says. We need to see some sample coordinates and where the data should be (city, county, etc.). If there's a privacy concern you could email it to me directly (mkennedy at esri dot com) and I'll delete it when finished, or try obfuscating the coordinates.

Melita

DanPatterson_Retired · Answer

got a couple of sample coordinates to expedite a solution?

KellyLutsch · Answer

My coordinates are in decimal degrees. When I go through the Add Data>XY data process, I set the Longitude as X and the Latitude as Y. Sill, my points are plotted incorrectly. I've tried saving the excel sheet as a .txt and an excel sheet. Neither have plotted correctly.