Export Shapefile from ExB pop-up window without an AGOL account

[berniejconnors]

I was excited to see Shapefile exports added to ArcGIS Experience Builder in the June 2025 AGOL update.  Our users need a widely supported format for exporting a few features to be used in CAD or other software. However, after a quick test in the GeoNB Map Viewer (https://lnkd.in/eNam9NC) I was quickly disappointed.

The user must have an AGOL account to export a Shapefile. We share most of our map viewers with the Public. We cannot expect members of the Public to have an AGOL account just to receive a tiny Shapefile.  Users can still download a CSV, JSON, or GeoJSON directly to their computer.  However, exporting to Shapefile, FGDB, or KML requires an AGOL account.  I cannot imagine a scenario where this makes sense.

My Idea:
By default, all exports can be directly downloaded to the user's computer.  But also add a check box "Export to AGOL".  If the user selects "Export to AGOL" then the AGOL login would be triggered and they can choose the AGOL folder for the exported data.

Doesn't that make more sense?  Arbitrarily restricting the export of certain file formats to AGOL is non-sensical.

[JunshanLiu]

Currently, exporting a shapefile from the selected records needs to create an item, that is why we need to log in.

[berniejconnors]

@JunshanLiu why is creating an item required?  The feature identified in the pop-up window is coming from a service (map service, feature service, etc).  My web browser has access to the feature. Why can't the geometry and attributes be extracted and packaged in my browser and made available for download to my computer?  It does not make sense that some formats can be downloaded and other formats must be items in AGOL.

Thanks,

Bernie.

[JudithWammack]

@berniejconnorsThank you for sharing this information! I completely agree—our county map is public, and most of our end users don’t have AGOL accounts, so it makes perfect sense that the data should be downloadable without needing one. I’ll go ahead and remove this feature from our map for now, until it becomes available for direct download to users’ computers. Thanks again for the helpful heads-up!

[JunshanLiu]

Currently, we don't have a solution to generate the shapefile in the browser yet, that's why we need to use the backend capability. We'll keep researching to check if there are ways to do this in the browser side. Thanks for the feedback!

[Brian_McLeer]

This should be across the board for all export options and all new formats (shapefile, KML, file GDB): 

1. Pop-up
2. Map Layers
3. Table
4. Export
5. Query

[ijr]

Jumping in to support this idea. This functionality should definitely be available!

[ShengdiZhang]

In the latest October 2025 AGOL release, if the data supports create replica, exporting records to a shapefile does not require an account. However, if the data does not support create replica — for example, in the case of a map service — exporting records still requires an account.

[ijr]

👏👏👏 

Whoo hoo! Thank you!

[Brian_McLeer]

Thank you @ShengdiZhang, this is a great addition to the newest release. 

[berniejconnors]

@ShengdiZhang  - Unfortunately, we primarily publish map services so the improvements to Shape File export do not solve our problem. 

Additionally, the process to login to AGOL to create the Shape FIle as an iten in AGOL no longer works.  In Chrome and Edge I get a new browser window for the AGOL login but it is either blank or it turns blank after I enter my AGOL credentials.

It does not matter to me if this gets fixed.  As I said previously in this thread, requiring an AGOL account to export a tiny amount of data is ludicrous.

Bernie.