ArcGIS Pro error message when adding shapefiles from Windows File Explorer

[Katie_Clark]

Hello,

I've noticed something curious in ArcGIS Pro (regardless of the version) and wanted to see if I could get some clarification on why this is happening. 

Whenever I drag all highlighted elements of a shapefile (cpg, dbf, idx, prj, shp, shx) from Windows File Explorer into ArcGIS Pro, I get the following error message:

When I check the notifications pane, it has several warnings mentioning an "unsupported data type". However, the shapefile does indeed pull into the map just fine and there are no further issues. Also, if I add the shapefile through catalog and right click > "Add to Current Map", it pulls into the map without an error message.

Any idea why this might be happening? As I said, it's not really an issue...but I'm so curious what's causing it!

[DanPatterson · Accepted solution]

did you try dragging just the *,shp? the other bits would not be recognized as appropriate data by Pro

[Katie_Clark]

Oh wow, that was easy. Yup, no errors with only dragging in the .shp file. Thank you!

For some reason I thought you had to drag in all related files....oh well! Thanks for clearing up that question!