idea Table of Contents/TOC Formatting in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Highlight group of layers

lorenzovassalli — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:39:34 GMT

I would love to be able to highlight group of layers in the TOC in bold characters or in colors to distinguish layers from group in complex projects. At present this is not possible and I think ESRI should allows users to make this.

Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

JohnJanzen — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 19:31:01 GMT

Allow the user to format the items in the TOC to make it easier to find layers in large projects. If layer and group names could be given unique colors and fonts/sizes, locating the specific layer would be much easier instead of scanning the entire TOC until the right layer is found. An example would be needing to toggle on/off a specific layer in a utility editing project but with dozens and perhaps hundreds of layers, it would be easier to find the few specific layers you want by finding them by color or font. Grouping isn't always enough. Another example is when CAD layers are symbolized by Layer or RefNam. There can be dozens and dozens of items in the TOC to sift through. The ability to flag items by color-coding them would be helpful in returning to that specific feature.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

PatriciaSchmidt — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 19:10:47 GMT

And/Or allow layers to be listed alphabetically, as they were in ArcGIS Desktop

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

KoryKramer — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 23:28:29 GMT

I think that was with production mapping in ArcMap. Coming in ArcGIS Pro 2.7 (later this year/early 2021) there will be this ability:

So that, along with the already available Filter and Search in the Contents pane should help managing map contents with a large number of layers.

Hope this helps!

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

PatriciaSchmidt — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 15:10:54 GMT

I use it all the time in regular old ArcMap. Main TOC is List by drawing order, but 'List by Visibility' and List by Selection' are ordered alphabetically by Layer Name as in this screenshot. This addition to ArcGIS Pro will save time for sure.

Thanks - Patti

Color-Code Layer list in Table of Contects

SDague_FSMAR — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 21:19:42 GMT

It would be nice to have the ability to color code layers within your table of contents of an ArcGIS Pro map by the type of layer. Web layers could be one color, feature classes would be another color, etc. This would help when the alias or name for the layer has been adjusted to a generic name and the map includes numerous different data sources.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

leahmaps — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:00:15 GMT

I ABSOLUTELY second this. Here are two ways I think this could be done

Allowing Bold tags/color for the (group) layer of text. For example, if I want to easily see my base data group, I can have the option to make the text bold.

Second, add tags similar to what you might see in Microsoft Planner (labels, see this page >). In settings, there could be a way to name your tags that have an associated color.

For example:

This could also allow you to filter your contents/table of contents/TOC by tag.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

APBlough — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 16:42:03 GMT

14 years later and we still don't have this wildly simple customization option. There are so many utilitarian uses for this ability.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

ChelseaRozek — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 21:12:47 GMT

It would be awesome if we could color code and do bold or italics on layer names in the TOC. Like how you can color layers in Photoshop to organize your layers.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

MarkLimbruner — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:43:51 GMT

TOC Font, Color and Indent options in PRO need a massive upgrade its way too hard to see groups vs their sub-layers. Can someone from ESRI give us some customization!

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

JDawwg — Tue, 14 May 2024 10:45:24 GMT

Second this - I have a large project with many layers. Making the root group names pop more with some colour and bold type would save me so much time. Particularly frustrating when I lose where I am in a teams call.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

wayfaringrob — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 16:07:19 GMT

Seconding the general idea of more functionality and flexibility for the TOC. I like the idea of the Photoshop layers panel - layers panels in Adobe products are top notch, extremely functional, responsive, and intuitive. It makes ArcGIS look like Windows 98 in terms of innovation and usability.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

jcokin1 — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:36:34 GMT

Also second the general idea of more functionality and flexibility for the TOC.

I especially like the idea of the color coded items / tags in the TOC. For all of us that have complex TOCs with numerous layers. 👍

Nice base graphic by @leahmaps 👇 to help get the point across.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

paulbehnke — Thu, 01 May 2025 10:59:26 GMT

I, too, often have many layers in my map. Even though I can group many of these layers, it can still get a little tricky being able to quickly find your target group/layer. Allowing for the use of tags (like <BOL>) in the TOC, which are incorporated elsewhere in the application, would be <BOL>EXTREMELY</BOL> helpful!!

ebregant — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 15:15:48 GMT

It would be visually appealing to have layer group names be a bold text in the table of contents. Sometimes you get lost when you have a bunch of groups all expanded.

Re: Table of Contents

JohnGuilfoyle — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:27:01 GMT

Great Idea!
Bold and Colors.
My workaround in ArcMap was to create exaggeratedly long folder names to
see them at a glance. This worked well in ArcMap, but in ArcGIS Pro, the
window to select layers displays the Group Name with the Sublayers and it
becomes difficult to see the full names if you've added to many leading or
trailing characters.

Routes 2025_______________________ or _______________________ Routes 2025

Labeled Layers TOGGLE = = = = = = = =

SDE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SDE

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

John_Guilfoyle — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 19:10:50 GMT

At first, I thought this was a great idea... Then I found a problem.

Every day that I work on maps with hundreds of layers, I am repeatedly reminded that this does not already exist. One has to wonder how often those who design the software use it on complex projects.

I organize groups that have visually distinctive names so they stand out from the rest of the black-on-white text list, which uses only one font style.

Labeled Layers TOGGLE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
2025 Routes > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

Or, wouldn't this be nice:

Route Boundary
2025 Routes
Labeled Layers
SDE
Errors and Corrections
~~2025 Layers~~

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

BeckyMackel2 — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 21:57:24 GMT

I would really appreciate the ability to have my Feature Class a larger or even bolder font than the symbology 'rule' being used. The screen clip below may help illustrate this issue - but imagine this with perhaps 10 total FC's 😜 .

Thank you for your consideration.

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

MarieDucharmeFEC — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 19:26:16 GMT

Please please please consider implementing some of the suggestions!

Re: Table of Contents/TOC Formatting

gallatingis — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:42:24 GMT

Agreed, this is long overdue. More options for formatting the TOC please!