topic Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer? in ArcGIS Online Questions

Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

mingster — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 20:45:07 GMT

Is it possible to update the coordinate system of a hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Pro without overwriting it? I published a hosted feature layer (DWMS4Outfall) and it looks like I forgot to set the projected coordinate system to NAD 1983 StatePlane California VI FIPS 0406 Feet. Other layers I published show both PCS and GCS under Spatial Reference (e.g., RWStation). If I need to republish/overwrite, how can it be done without losing the attachments?

Thanks for the help.

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

KhaledHassen — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 15:33:14 GMT

You cannot directly change the coordinate system in online feature service once published.

As you indicated, one way to achieve this is to export the data in online to filegdb (with attachments), then open this data in ArcMap or Pro, change the coordinate system and then overwrite the data in online. This should work.

Thanks

Khaled Hassen

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

JoshWhite — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 14:48:49 GMT

I just did the same thing mentioned here. We really need the ability to set the coordinate system in AGOL. I come from an SDE environment where I didn't have to worry about it. I noticed the issue when my square footage didn't make sense. I realize it was being reported in square meters instead since it was Web Mercator. I didn't get too far so I can probably just start over.

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

KhaledHassen — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 15:03:13 GMT

Not really understand the issue. We do support publishing data into any coordinate systems.

However once the data is published, you can change the coordinate system since this would requires reprojecting the existing data. Also area and length reported in the layer query is based on the data spatial reference. BTW, these are not geodetic. You can use returnGeodetics in the query API to get more accurate measurements.

Thanks

Khaled

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

JoshWhite — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 15:15:38 GMT

I created the hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Online. It automatically went with Web Mercator. I don't remember seeing an option to choose a different projection/coordinate system. I should have noticed this sooner but like I said I'm used to SDE and feature datasets that all of the same coordinate system so i didn't have to check. It seems in order to create something in a different system would require the feature class to be created in Pro or ArcMap and loaded into ArcGIS Online. Not a huge deal, just a learning experience.

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

KhaledHassen — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 15:23:42 GMT

Yes you need to publish SD file to bypass the default SR which is web Mercator if you are using Pro or even arcgis.com UX.

The UX does not expose the targetSR param we support at publishing.

So you can use the portal Publish API directly without the UX and you should be able to override the default behavior and specify any target spatial reference as a publishing param.

Publishing param in portal can contain:

{

"name" : "<yourname>",

"targetSR" : { "wkid" : <>"}

}

You can check how the UX is publishing from arcgis.com UX (fiddler, etc.). It does call the portal publishing from your data source.

Thanks

Khaled

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

BrandonGuo — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 01:49:52 GMT

Can you give more details about how to convert through ArcGIS Pro? I am using the project tool to reproject the table from one coordinate system to another. However, after the convert linked relationship table and contingent values setup all disappeared for the new table.

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

BrittanyBurson — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 22:44:50 GMT

Hi @KhaledHassen I tried this and changed the coordinate system on the layer, right click >> Share and Overwrite, but the cs did not update. The steps only worked for me once I changed the coordinate system of the map as well, so it seems like no matter what the layer is in, it will publish based on the map. Just an FYI for anyone else reading this (my layer is in Portal 10.8.1)

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

bsanders69 — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:23:09 GMT

I had a similar experience but with a solution that I was applying to ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9.1. Solution is Lead Service Line Inventory (only version 1.0 is available for 10.9.1). During the installation of the solution, it asks for a Coordinate System and I gave it ours (wkid 2881...State Plane HARN Florida East US Feet). It ignored that coordinate system and left it in Illinois State Plane (Naperville).

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

SierraNevada — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 23:07:45 GMT

Did you ever find a fix for this? I had a similar thing happen with the LSL solution. Previous versions of the LSL Solutions used to default to WGS 1984 WKID 102100. Now you have to select your coordinate system (in AGOL, this seems like an overkill to take the default setting away and make you search for it manually, since all other hosted layers work in Web Mercator by default). It failed to produce 102100 through the search and just gave me "WGS 1984". Once I had deployed all the solutions and looked at the layer in Pro I was able to see that it selected WGS 1984 WKID 4326 which causes significant distortion to the map. The only "Solution" I have found is to delete and redeploy but I am still unable to find the WGS 1984 102100 coordinate system when I try to do that. Yes, you can re-project by setting the coordinate system in your map, in Pro, but not all users will be accessing the Services layer through Pro. I just wish the search feature at the beginning of the deployment worked.

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

wtfineberg — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 16:29:14 GMT

@SierraNevada, I cannot speak to the LSL Solution specifically, but I was able to modify the Spatial Reference (SR) of an AGOL hosted feature layer (HFL) following the guidance from @BrittanyBurson. Setting the SR on the map itself is what seems to impact the SR used by the HFL. This does seem to affect the service as a whole, even for end users that do not use Pro. Although what you may be experiencing might be related to re-projection on-the-fly within web maps, which I believe is standard behavior for AGOL web maps?

Here are the steps I followed to overwrite the SR of a HFL without publishing a new item:

Add new Map to an ArcGIS Pro Project, re-name it according to the HFL. Remove the default basemaps.
Open the properties of this new map.
1. Enable "Allow assignment of unique numeric IDs..." in General.
2. Set the desired SR in the Coordinate Systems section.
Add the desired data to this map, already projected to my desired SR, which is the same as what I just set this map to use.
In the properties of the added dataset(s), set the desired Layer ID to match the existing HFL structure.
In the Share tab, click the dropdown under Web Layer, then select Overwrite Web Layer. Select my desired Web Layer to overwrite.
Compare and Analyze, then Publish once everything looks good. Once complete, navigate to the REST page from the AGOL Item Overview page and confirm the SR was modified.

Re: Update coordinate system of hosted feature layer?

KttGIS — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 04:09:02 GMT

Hello! Does this still work? I tried the steps: duplicated the layer by saving a local file, reprojected to the desired coordinates, and overwrote the existing web layer, but when I checked the layer after it was published, the coordinates did not change.