idea Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

DarrylAlbert — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 16:08:37 GMT

I think it would be great if the performance of ArcGIS Desktop 10.x could be matched, at even 50%. Much of the great ideas and efficiency concepts built into the new software are zeroed out by basic performance problems. For example, it just took 2 minutes to cut a 5 acre polygon in half. The spinning blue wheel is our best friend here in our company. It gives us lots of time during the day to refill coffee, go for a walk, etc.

All sarcasm aside, it's a major problem. We have teams of IT staff testing and monitoring users and traffic to troubleshoot these issues for dozens, if not hundreds, of users across our company. It appears we do not have enough degrees and people available to get ArcGIS Pro to work satisfactorily. It shouldn't be this difficult and it didn't use to be.

Software licensing costs with ESRI continue to skyrocket while software performance tanks.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

JakeSkinner — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 13:52:34 GMT

Hi @DarrylAlbert,

Are you experiencing most performance issues editing? If so, what type of geodatabase are you editing (i.e. SQL Server Enterprise Geodatabse, File Geodatabase)?

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

StevenFama — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 14:08:16 GMT

You are correct. ArcGIS Pro is so slow. In ArcMap I could Geocode my city in under 1 minute, now it takes almost 4 minutes. Rebuilding of a Locator in ArcMap 15 seconds, now 2 minutes. Starting up, loading a project I could cook a 4 course meal.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

DarrylAlbert — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:03:02 GMT

@JakeSkinner it was a file geodatabase in the same file folder. The issue isn't necessarily about geoprocessing, editing functionality, or data connections, it much broader. This involves all of the seemingly unnecessary delays for simple things like clicking a button. What button you may ask, I couldn't say because it could be any button at any time under any condition.

I miss the days of just being able to work. I don't want to troubleshoot anything, we have spent countless hours at our companying trying to figure it all out, to no avail. My post is just an idea like all the others.

Thanks!

Darryl

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

MichaelVolz — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:21:56 GMT

Is your file gdb on a local drive or network drive?

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

AlexZhuk — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 21:25:00 GMT

Hi @DarrylAlbert,

I, too, recently experienced a great slowness on my Pro 3.x projects. I complained everywhere I could. It turned out I had a lot of Windows/network/hardware issues. When they all got resolved, my Pro returned to a good solid performance.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

RTPL_AU — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 03:08:33 GMT

ArcGIS Pro performance issues need to be cut into distinct areas and addressed appropriately. I don't think diving into the data details is of much use these days as that is a per user problem that is usually quite easy to solve. My opinion of issues with Pro is that they are much more complex, the application itself is too fragile at the moment, and almost anything seems to break the install, the config profile, the cache, the user profile, etc - if you go by the advice handed out.

**Application and UI - all the stuff that are sub-par before you even touch data. Lag and being unresponsive to mouse clicks, bad UI design that require you to move your mouse from pillar to post across the screen all the time, and the dynamic ribbon layout that never seem to be where you want it to be and never show the tool you want because you dared click on something else to check a value in another window/pane. All the stuff, like timezone info, that you have to click through every single time you publish a layer because your data/jobs are such that scripting it would take as much time as opening and checking each layer before it goes out.
The multiple clicks & scrolls required every single time you want to add a FGDB and make it default (single click opo in ArcMap).

**Network and architecture - People are still using 1GBE links to corporate data stores built for Word & PowerPoint. Bring in complex ID management, weird hardware SOE, etc. and Pro is an unpleasant experience. Solving the problem is usually not in the scope of the user it affects. Guides that explain system architecture no longer exist (wiki . gis . com system Design Principles as example).
A lot of it I don't think is Esri's problem to fix but 100% Esri's info to make available to guide performance expectations.

**Data and project complexity - Large datasets, large rasters, complex geometry, complex coordsys chains, etc. are all solveable problems. In many cases, for me, Pro is much better than ArcMap in some cases with many large datasets open.
I can open a statewide property property dataset and run symbology, def queries, and so much more without any issues but heaven forbid I want to edit a 50 feature dataset's data in the attribute table. Moving fields around is an exercise in patience (a nothing burger in ArcMap to do the same thing on a vastly lower spec machine). The UI lag and non-performance affects me a lot because I do lots of small jobs with large variability in data, location, etc so I click a lot of things a lot of times - I can't just load a big dataset, click a button and sit back for 30 min.

**Windows and platform - which is best for Pro 3.6.0: .Net 8.19 or 8.22? Which Nvidia driver should you use? The latest one? Are you sure? Which AMD AGESA is best for a 7960X this week? Which performance profile should you enable on an MSI board for your 285K?

**Hardcore Bugs - Check that you have a valid license a 100 times before giving the UI back? Freezing or crashing when you Copy something? Overwriting the whole dataset because SQL queries are ignored? Due to the complexity of all the other points it is really hard to know if you have a valid bug, a bad switch, bad driver, bad Windows update so lodging a case can take hours/days of work. Getting a fix in the current version is not a given so you may have to eat the time required to do a workaround or the time spent reverting to an earlier version of Pro; but then endure another bug that was fixed in the version you just uninstalled.

My view is that until we start splitting these discussions into these core aspects all we will get back are the "reset/reinstall/get better network/check the system requirements/install latest xyz" comments.

Please mention if you have issues with other applications - a good test is to load a dataset in ArcMap (you've kept at least one perpetual license, Right?) or even QGIS.
I thought a tile package was just too large to be fast on my machine; until I saw it fly in QGIS with no lag whatsoever.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

RTPL_AU — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 03:12:20 GMT

@DarrylAlbert
What version are you on? What you are describing is a bit unusual for most Pro versions except 3.2 & 3.3 that suffered from the excessive license checking bug.
I found that in some cases it would repeat the checks so many times that doing simple things while creating a very basic make can take minutes to complete.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

DarrylAlbert — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 20:01:13 GMT

@RTPL_AU currently have 3.5.x and 3.6.0 but the issue persists with all versions. It doesn't matter if I'm working local with data stored on C drive, in a remote server environment with local LAN, or in the office on a local LAN. It's a company wide issue with entire IT teams dedicated to solving the issue with dozens of users that have the same problems.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

RTPL_AU — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:12:34 GMT

@DarrylAlbert I don't envy your IT team.

I find it interesting that you have such bad performance across the board in your environment - I have a variety of computers I use with different versions of Pro. This was done on purpose so that I don't get stuck with a specific incompatibility, broken update of Windows, drivers, Pro, etc. that renders me unproductive. They all behave in different but nuanced ways. There are core issues on all of them but the way they behave at a point in time varies depending on latest non-Pro updates etc.

Starting with 3.5 I noticed a slow down over time (noted by others in here too) - the longer you run an instance the more likely it is to get cranky. I'm restarting instances after roughly 1-2 hours and after any major edit or complex layout.
I may have a few instances open at a time.

Are all your users on similar spec machines? Does anyone (work experience student...) have a slow/hand-me-down machine that seems to perform better than expected?
I'm asking because I am starting to think that Pro handles slower machines better - I've seen videos and demos done on laptops that perform better than a machine costing many times more can manage.
Think playing a 480p YouTube video at 1/2 speed vs a constantly buffering 4k clip at full speed on airport wifi.....

My other issue with Pro is that if it is my network, pc, server, Windows version, me, etc why doesn't LMStudio, Siemens Solid Edge, Fusion 360, Word, Excel, Corel, QGIS, Notepad, etc have at least some of the same issues? Solid Edge is no angel-app by any stretch of the imagination.

I'll be rebuilding a server over Christmas with the aim of having a full SSD array with a different encryption and compression setup as main datastore. 98.35% sure it won't make a difference but hey, it's something to do.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

DarrylAlbert — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 01:53:16 GMT

Thanks for the responses you’ve provided. I’m hoping ESRI is reading this thread because there are too many factors that are influencing software performance. No one has time to deal with this and take note of all the different problems and to try and resolve each and every issue. And then start all over when a new version is released. On top of that, get billable work done in a timely fashion.

The software has been problematic since inception.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

HbAGeoinfo — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 13:59:49 GMT

We are still using Catalog/Arcmap next to Pro and there's always a notable difference in the time it takes to complete a certain task.

Deleting a fc from a gdb for instance usually takes 3 to 4 times as long in Pro. Starting Pro. Just previewing fc's in the catalog view in Pro is so much slower than browsing through them in the original Catalog. For every simple task Pro first has to start a tool which adds to the time it takes

I'm sure if I put some more thought in it I could come up with dozens of examples. It would be great if Pro would solve this in the future but my bleak opinion is that once people only work with Pro we'll forget that it used to work faster and we will all happiliy stare at the blue wheel.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

LindaGreen — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 15:43:13 GMT

I know this is just a drop in the bucket of slowness people are experiencing, and it doesn't holistically address the issues you're having, but the animated effects in Pro seem to be a persistent source of slowness for me (especially with splitting features), and it's possible to turn those off in 3.5.

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/turn-off-animated-effects-in-arcgis-pro/idc-p/929386

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

AlexMontalvo_IER — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:55:50 GMT

Thank you @DarrylAlbert. The performance in our organization is so poor we are going to start testing QGIS for production work. Simple geoprocess tools take far too long to process. When you add up these performance delays over the course of day and then a week it has a large impact on our ability to deliver projects on time and on budget.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

RTPL_AU — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 22:22:09 GMT

You may say I am frustrated this morning. Pro has just crashed for the third time in less than an hour.

A geology map I made in ArcMap on a much slower computer seems too much for Pro 3.6 to handle on a MUCH FASTER machine.
State geology maps with pre-cooked styles and their legends are never fun to use but Pro makes it a terrible experience.
I know there are many ways to skin the cat and remake symbols and legends to suit the project areas but why should I have to?

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

RTPL_AU — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 23:11:17 GMT

@AlexMontalvo_IER
I use QGIS quite a lot.
For data viewing and import/process of non-Esri formats it's fantastic. The plugin diversity is both a benefit and drawback - plugins can disappear/go unsupported, or get commercialised (good for support, bad for budgets).

The lack of a cost competitive and functional equivalent ArcGIS Online + FieldMaps integration is an issue. Very good options exist but what you save in $ (if at all) is offset in time spent when your state/council/clients all use ArcGIS.

I find it telling that Esri/Pro generated data such as tile packages, map services, etc can be faster in QGIS than Pro - at the same time, from the same source, on the same machine.

Packaging data, styles, and maps/configs in a single geopackage is something Pro really lacks; and the inability of Pro to leverage geopackage capability has to be a conscious decision.

QGIS + PostgreSQL is a great combo. A client uses an Azure PostgreSQL instance to share data with stakeholders and the performance to a local QGIS instance is SO MUCH better than Pro + AGOL (not quite the same thing but equivalent). On the flip-side, cooking your own security and identity management for publicly hosted open source options is not something I want to get into. Yes - there are commercial options but they are often similar or higher cost than AGOL with less functionality. They have bugs too.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

Miralem_Zeljo — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 21:53:00 GMT

Darryl, you are certainly not alone. We have also been unable to share packages for reasons that remain unclear. Although the previous revision allowed us to get it working through a geoprocessing tool, the latest revision has introduced new issues — even when using the current version and the same geoprocessing approach.

I sincerely hope Esri treats this with the seriousness it deserves and strengthens its debugging processes. Early Adopter participation is a step in the right direction, but realistically, most leading software development companies invest heavily in thorough, systematic debugging to prevent situations like this.

@ESRI Quality Control Team

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

Kathleen_Crombez — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 17:32:38 GMT

It is not just the user interface... Our scheduled tasks are being effected also.

Scripts that would completed in a few hours overnight are now taking 3 times longer and are still running at the beginning of the next business day.

The increased licensing costs makes all these issues with the software very hard to swallow. It's almost like ESRI doesn't even care about their user base. They just continue to push out more garbage software with additional buggy features so they can charge more money. Not to mention the inconvenience of having to constantly upgrade every few month to say on the latest version.

It is really sad... ESRI used to be such a reputable company. Leaders in innovation when it comes to GIS. Those days are long gone. Lost to their own greed... prioritizing excessive profits over ethics, customer welfare, and social responsibility.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

DarrylAlbert — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 04:37:25 GMT

Spent two and a half hours tonight doing some basic editing of a feature service. Some water, storm, sanitary. There's some georeferencing of images going on, but basic editing. I've had to close the software numerous times. Georeferenced images just disappear from the map, snapping stops working, saving edits erroring out with a timeout error status code 504, some edits save but some don't (super helpful). I need to start a timer to remind me to check and see if that map opens at some point. These are just SOME examples from just 2.5 hours of using this garbage software. It's over the top, I can hardly take it anymore.

Maybe spend more time developing software and less time developing ways to rip off customers with exorbitant pricing structures. Must be nice having a monopoly on the market. FIX. IT.

Re: Make ArcGIS Pro Performance Just Decent

RTPL_AU — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 02:34:25 GMT

3:25 to copy 9 small feature classes to a fgdb.
10GBE, server with SSD caches, serious computer with lots of grunt.

Good job Esri.

EDIT:
Guess what - it stuffed it up and duplicated three items and skipped another three. I can't make this up.It's not rocket science - right-click on FGDB and select import FC > drag 9 unique layers from map to tool and click run.

Now I have to delete all 9 copies because I cannot trust that the data content is correct/complete.
There is always something!