topic Re: Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay

OverstoryGIS — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:26:08 GMT

For some context, we recently moved to store all our data on a NAS. After having a lot of performance issues, they did some upgrades to improve the connection between the desktop (or hard drive?) and the NAS to help with that. I don't know if what's happening now is related, because it seems like arc is just glitching, but including in case it's helpful. The arc project itself is on the desktop, but the data is on the NAS. *Updated to add that I tested it with everything (project and data) on the desktop and everything on the NAS. Things sped up a tiny bit with both project and data on the NAS, but not by much and it didn't improve this issue.*

Today, anytime I click anything to do with a geodatabase from the catalog pane or within a map's content pane, arcgis pro (3.7.1), everything greys out. I can't save or open a project, all the tools in the ribbon go grey. The map itself loads, I just can't change anything in its contents. It will stay greyed out for several minutes, look like it is okay, and then I'll try to do something in the program again and it will grey once more. I tried restarting the desktop, but that didn't help the problem. Sometimes it will flip back and forth pretty rapidly without me having clicked anything. While it's greyed out, or deciding if it wants to grey out again, I can't do anything in the program.

Here's a screenshot of what I mean:

Any ideas or help for what's going on? Has this happened to others?

Thank you!

Re: Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay

Laura — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:26:02 GMT

Sometimes clearing my ArcPro cache fixes some random problems I have. esri support has recommended this to me in the past as well.

Re: Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay

OverstoryGIS — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:24:58 GMT

thank you! I'm not sure who I've angered, but I did that and now everything is really broken. It's been spinning for several minutes just trying to load the map when that was the one thing it did before 🤣😅

but i do appreciate your effort and taking the time to respond.

Re: Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay

Laura — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:29:09 GMT

oh no!!!@ hmmm have you tried - making a copy of one of the GDBs that is currently on the NAS and put the copy directly on your desktop. then assess the new gdb copy from Pro? does that work? maybe its a connection issue??

Re: Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay

Robert_LeClair — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:56:35 GMT

This “everything greys out” behavior usually means ArcGIS Pro is blocked on a background operation (often Catalog browsing / geodatabase I/O), and network/NAS paths can trigger long waits.

Here are some focused things to try that commonly resolve this when clicking/expanding geodatabases:

1) Make sure you’re using UNC paths (not mapped drives)

If your NAS is mapped (for example Z:\), remove those connections and re-add using the actual UNC path (for example \\NASName\Share\Folder) via Add Folder Connection. Esri has documented problems with mapped paths for geodatabase operations.
Unable to create a file geodatabase using a mapped drive in ArcGIS Pro

2) Avoid connecting to huge folder roots (Catalog browsing/indexing overhead)

If your folder connection points at a very broad location (root of a share, or top-level that contains lots of data), replace it with a connection to a narrower subfolder that only contains the specific project data. Esri notes indexing/search considerations and that network locations behave differently.
Connect to a folder (Indexing considerations)

3) Check for file geodatabase locks / stuck ArcGIS processes

If a .gdb is locked (including by a hidden/hung process), Catalog expansion can stall. While Pro is greyed out, open Task Manager and look for lingering ArcGIS/GP/background processes; end any that are clearly stuck, then retry.
File geodatabases and locking—ArcGIS Pro

4) If it happens even with local data, consider a Pro “soft reset” (last resort)

There’s a known remediation for freezes when working with connections that involves resetting the Pro user profile/registry and confirming Pro is not set to work offline (ARCPROWORKOFFLINE = FALSE).
Problem: ArcGIS Pro freezes when adding a database connection

5) Capture what Pro is hanging on (useful for Support)

Esri describes collecting evidence for “APPLICATION UI IS GREYED OUT” hangs using performance troubleshooting/logging so the specific operation can be identified.
Troubleshooting Performance Issues in ArcGIS Pro

Re: Screen keeps switching between everything greyed out and everything looking okay

OverstoryGIS — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:46:56 GMT

Yes I did test that out after enough flailing, and alas only very minimal improvement. Connection doesn't seem to be the main player here. But thank you!!