Cannot select or edit elements in Layout view

[TimothyFratta]

Hi,

I am running ArcGIS Pro 3.2.2 on PC.

I am new to ArcGIS and am dealing with a problem with Layout view.

I cannot select any elements (North Arrow, Scale, Text boxes, etc.) by clicking on them. I can only highlight them using the content pane (and thank you Richard for pointing out the lock/unlock feature), but even then I am restricted in my actions.

For example, I wanted to select a portion of text in a box to give it specific font attributes, but it has become impossible because I can't select anything inside the box using the pointer. 

What is going on? I was able to do everything when I first created the layout, but some setting must have been triggered and I'm stuck.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Tim

[Robert_LeClair]

Hi Tim!  Sorry to hear that you're not able to select elements in your Layout View.  There are a couple ways to select elements, such as the north arrow, scale bar and dynamic text, - On the Layout core tab, in the Elements group, there is a Select tool. You can use this Select tool to select layout elements.  Another way is in the Contents Pane on the left side of the app, you'll see map elements there too.  Click on one of them and you'll be able to move it to another position on the layout or right-click and access it's properties.  You can learn more here.

[TimothyFratta]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the quick reply. In fact, I have been trying to use the Select tool for days now, but it simply DOES NOT WORK anymore. When I use the Select by Rectangle and select a large area, NONE of the elements I fully include in the selected area end up being selected. It's just mind boggling, and I cannot understand why this isn't working.

I have attached a screen capture to illustrate.

Tim

[Robert_LeClair]

Interesting...so when I see strange behavior like this, I always recommend a soft reset of ArcGIS Pro.  You can see how to do this in the steps listed here.  Once the reset is complete does the strange behavior persist?

[TimothyFratta]

Hi Robert,

Alas, no success: I followed the soft reset instructions (including the Registry edit), turned off the PC and relaunched ArcGIS, no change :-(.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

Tim

[Robert_LeClair]

Hi Tim - well darn.  I was hoping that would resolve the issue.  Next up - what are your Selection options from the Project->Options tab->Application-> Selection tab?  My are below:

[TimothyFratta · Accepted solution]

Hi Robert,

The only difference I see is the remove from the current selection. Would that be the reason???

Tim

[TimothyFratta]

Bingo! That's it :-)))))

[GerryGabrisch]

This worked for me but it should be stated that the selection tool in the layout does not give you the same options for changing the selection options like in a map view.  To solve this one must go back into back into the map frame and change the selection type there.  Poor UX!

[GISAdminSHN]

I HATE having to activate the frame to make feature selections in a layout! I am sure there is a good reason and it's probably near impossible to avoid, but it still triggers me every time! 😄 Interestingly, if you open the attribute table of a layer, you get the whole UI back like you are working in a map, without "activating" the frame. Makes a ton of sense! 😜