topic Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap? in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyMcGregor_BMcD — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:34:28 GMT

We are finding that ArcPro is - across the board - way slower than ArcMap. Easily 10 times slower on average, and many continue to use ArcMap for this reason, despite its pending deprecation. Calculations, selections, symbology changes, rudimentary geoprocessing, and even selecting records all come with lags that slow down the entire workflow substantially.

I see this icon multiple times a day, often for dozens of seconds, or into minutes, even for simple tasks:

Is this a general fact of ArcPro, or does this indicate a need to makes changes to our infrastructure?

Is it a reasonable expectation that ArcPro is - on average - comparable to ArcMap in general speed?

I realize this is kind of wide open. Not expecting anyone to fix this. Just trying to get a feel for what our expectations should be and how to respond to this situation.

Thank you,

Randy McGregor

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

George_Thompson — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:41:29 GMT

Have you run this tool to see what it says?: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/get-started/pro-performance-tool-overview.htm

This helps set some sort of baseline understanding.

What are the specs of the machine that you are running Pro on? (This should be reported in the tool above).

I can say that Pro does require more resources (CPU / RAM / GPU) than ArcMap ever did.........

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyMcGregor_BMcD — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:11:13 GMT

Thank you. We'll give that a try. As for the general question - Is getting ArcPro to be as fast as ArcMap a reasonable goal, or does ArcPro's increased functionality come at an unavoidable cost in terms of time-required per function?

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

DanPatterson — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:21:04 GMT

More "stuff" to manage, it has always been slower since its inception, IMHO,

But

Troubleshooting Performance Issues in ArcGIS Pro

is a good read,

my big conclusion was work with local data on a gaming machine and never work with more than 2 maps, and if you need layouts, 1 is more than enough, if more is needed, split things up into separate projects

Of course that won't work for most

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

AlfredBaldenweck — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

This might be related.

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/reduce-the-amount-of-license-checking-in-order-to/idc-p/1589845

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyMcGregor_BMcD — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:32:56 GMT

Thanks but locally stored data is not practical for us. We need to collaborate.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyKreuziger1 — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:51:42 GMT

Yes, checking the license manager, renaming feature classes, needing to launch Pro just to do data management compared to just launching ArcCatalog. I could go on and on but nothing is going to come of this. 😞

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyMcGregor_BMcD — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 17:01:22 GMT

Renaming maps takes SEVERAL MINUTES. Again, I hope it's not the new normal. Just trying to get a sense of the reality here.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

AlfredBaldenweck — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 17:04:56 GMT

Yeah, renaming things really shouldn't take as long as it does.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyMcGregor_BMcD — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 17:29:04 GMT

Added 4 fields. The fields existed already (my mistake), but the time it took to finish this task is off the charts. Over four minutes. Locally stored data. 1600 records.

This one's interesting. It says 1.46 seconds to complete, but I wasn't given control back for about 2 minutes. The blue wheel just spun and spun after it provided the message saying the procedure took 1.46 seconds.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

ThomasHoman — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

I don't believe we will ever see the performance of ArcMap in Pro. Devs are looking to add functionality anywhere they can but it appears little resource are being applied to core optimization. Just look at a core function such as creating a new fgdb. Map had the function built into the core while it feels, to me, that Pro as become largely a modular python slinger.

However there are odd exceptions if I may keep with the create a fgdb workflow. If one goes through the catalog and right clicks to create a new fgdb it takes a long time. Alternatively if you right click on a layer in the ToC and select Data->Export->New->File Geodatabase and select the same folder the creation is many orders faster. Go figure.

As others have said, keep all drivers up to date and minimize the size of your project. Performance will be much batter with 1 map and 1 layout in the project ala ArcMap. If feels to me that Pro seems 'snoopy' - I have a project that has 20+ maps in it and opening it means time to go get coffee while every possible thing is validated.

Tom

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

AlfredBaldenweck — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 20:37:58 GMT

Part of Pro's issue (and idk if it was a problem in ArcMap as well) is that, in addition to the CONSTANT license checks, it can't leave things alone.

For example, if it has a broken link, it will check to see if it is still broken on. every. action. you. do. I cannot for the life of me figure out why it can't check once upon opening and then just ignore that broken link afterwards.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

Luke_Pinner — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 21:35:39 GMT

I've always felt Pro was much faster than ArcMap. I used to dread opening ArcMap, every UI interaction was so slow it was almost unusable. Yes Pro can be slow with data on network drives or over VPN when working remote, but ArcMap was worse for me even working locally.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

SteveCole — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 22:07:36 GMT

I tend to feel it most when editing because the contextual ribbon UI has to keep changing when you alternate between adding a feature & then modifying it. So many pregnant pauses..

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RTPL_AU — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 01:08:28 GMT

Hi @RandyMcGregor_BMcD - have a look if this is a component of your issues:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/reduce-the-amount-of-license-checking-in-order-to/idi-p/1555296

Some things you mention do not sound normal.

Otherwise, in general - Yes. Pro is much worse than ArcMap in many cases.

<Friday rant>
Over the last decade (!!!!!! yes, it is 10 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR) many things have improved but there are still some components that are just badly designed.

Some of the screen drawing effects (fading things in & out) slow stuff down, regardless of the data involved, but some processes require more clicks than before, or clicks at opposite ends of the screen.

Something that bugs me endlessly is how laggy the Contents Pane is - I find that I have to repeat clicks, or cancel and click again because it constantly lags behind my mouse so the first click is applied to the wrong layer.
This is worse in Pro than anything else I use. Solid Edge comes close but still order of magnitude better. QGIS and ArcMap does not have this at all.
We're not even getting into the dynamic ribbon mess - If only we can get a legacy mode (ArcMap mode) to just pin the toolbars we use often - not a custom one, just the same a fixed location that does not go away every time you click to another layout object and back. There are workarounds but they are fiddly.

I'm not too affected by data stuff at the processing side but housekeeping tasks such as renaming a FC, unhiding a field, etc is just not done well.

One of the best for last - the attribute table view is something someone should be let go over, and told to get a job not involving computers 🤣:clown_face:
It is a constant re-draw, re-order, re-something, laggy mess all the time. Try copy/pasting a few field entries quickly. It will miss at least 30% when I try to work quickly. ArcMap never had that problem for me.
For me, ArcMap reacts better to user input on a 8yr old PC compared to a very serious current top of line workstation with Pro. I should've called my computer Chuck Norris....

At least the AGOL integration is good. If you disregard that many options YOU USE EVERY TIME are hidden behind one or two clicks.

My Pro experience can be summerised as "there is always something". Something that lags, breaks, doesn't save, behaves unexpectedly, creates lines in an urgent PDF, etc.

Being insane is doing the same thing over & over and expecting the outcome to be different. With Pro, doing the same thing many times WILL see at least 1 or 2 instances of it just picking a random way to waste your time. At least I will never go insane while using it so here's to lifetime memberships.......

Overall though, when you look at the cost of a license and the included cloud, web, & mobile inclusions it is still a very affordable offering. You can do a lot, and the value you should add to a project makes the license cost trivial.
There is no real competitor to the stack though - which I feel they need urgently to force both them, and the competitor, to pay more attention to their user base and efficiency.

When Esri staff say you need a decent PC to run Pro (not getting into data processing, just give a good UI experience) , I read it as recommending a PC that uses more power than should be necessary to complete a simple task. At the same time I see Esri personalities presenting at environmental events about how we can better map impact/change/benefit/resources/whatever using Esri products.......

Support the Idea to offer a Pro Low Power Mode.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyMcGregor_BMcD — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 13:22:44 GMT

This resonated. Two things to add:

The batch functionality is extremely disappointing. You can only pick one component to 'batch.' In ArcMap, you could batch the entire process.

Highlighting columns is important to me, and not being able to right click and highlight a column has been another enormous disappointment. Going into the 'fields' pane to do this simple task is cumbersome.

Some of the more extreme lagging appears to be architecture-related, though.

Thanks for your input.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

AlfredBaldenweck — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 17:15:46 GMT

See this Idea for batch processing, if you haven't voted on it already: ArcGIS Pro: Add Multi - field Batch Geoprocessing ... - Esri Community

For the highlighting, I see you've already upvoted this one, but it might be helpful for other people in this thread to see as well: Field Highlight using basic colors - Esri Community This one may also be interesting to you Add Highlight option to "Alter Field (Data Managem... - Esri Community

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

WDFWAdministrator — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 17:55:41 GMT

For those going to the UC, stop by the Pro island and let your voices be heard. Rather than adding new functionality ESRI should look into these performance issues. Also, UC attendees will be given a pre-conference survey to fill out. One year I received a call from our ESRI account manage to ask me about comments I made about metadata issues. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from them and a follow up after the UC.

Re: Is ArcPro just generally slower than ArcMap?

RandyKreuziger1 — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:56:22 GMT

Also, canceling esri geoprocessing tasks rarely ever works. Mostly the task just sits there never finishes so the user has to kill Pro from task manager or Pro crashes.