idea Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off. in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off.

WilliamGillman — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 17:36:17 GMT

While the automatic datum transformations are generally useful, they can be problematic in certain regions of the world where custom transformations are more accurate than the standard supplied ones.

It would therefore be useful to have the option to turn off automatic datum transformations so you can respond to the datum transformation warning by selecting the correct transformation individually.

Re: Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off. - Status changed to: In Product Plan

EdiePunt — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 18:19:39 GMT

We are adding an option to choose Do not transform from the Transformation path menu. This ensures that no transformation is automatically applied when drawing the data. This choice will be persisted until you choose a different transformation.

Re: Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off. - Status changed to: Implemented

AmeliaBradshaw — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 22:20:46 GMT

This Idea has been implemented in ArcGIS Pro 3.1. Please see the What's New documentation for more new features in Pro 3.1.

The Ideas in ArcGIS Pro 3.1 blog will be wrapped up soon, highlighting all Ideas implemented in this release, including this one. Once complete, I will add the link to this comment.

Re: Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off.

WilliamGillman — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 11:41:42 GMT

Hi - thankyou for adding the "do not transform" into the latest release.

I have however noticed that the software is not choosing this as default, and it continues to select a transformation itself - which is what was causing the issue in the first place.

This is also contrary to what @EdiePunt says above:

"This ensures that no transformation is automatically applied when drawing the data. This choice will be persisted until you choose a different transformation."

Was this intended to be the case?

Is it something that can be rectified on the next release?

Thanks

Will

Re: Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off.

EdiePunt — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 00:50:09 GMT

Hi @WilliamGillman,
Thanks for taking the time to reach out again. I'm sorry for the confusion, as I misspoke somewhat in my earlier reply. I would have been more correct without the word automatically, instead saying This ensures that no transformation is ~~automatically~~ applied when drawing the data.

To expand, the Do not transform option from the transformation path menu specifies that no transformation is applied when drawing the data on a map or a scene, specific to a particular pair of data/map coordinate systems. If you then add data with the same input geographic and/or vertical coordinate system, this new data will also not be transformed to map’s coordinate systems. In this sense, this choice persists until you choose a different transformation.

Unfortunately, this is not a generic option, and it is limited to the specified coordinate system pair. I believe what you are asking for is for a setting where no transformation is applied at all, regardless of the coordinate systems. This is not available in ArcGIS Pro at this time, but I will take it back to the team for discussion.

Re: Make the automatic applying of datum transformations a setting which can be optionally turned off.

aoddo — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:39:42 GMT

@EdiePunt it looks like this idea can no longer receive kudos as it has been marked as implemented, but I would like to share my support for a setting that does not automatically apply a transformation, unless the user specifies one. Perhaps a prompt could pop up asking the user if they would like to apply a transformation, similar to how the process worked in ArcMap.