Change symbolized field without resetting all symbology

[CRose]

I would like to be able to change the Field being used in my Unique Values symbology, without ArcPro re-setting all of the symbols. 

I actually have two fields with identical data values, and want to switch from one to the other for my symbology. For instance, if I had accidentally misspelled my field name as "MapUnti" when I really wanted "MapUnit"--- then I created a new field with the proper name, and copied all of the values. My layer symbology is set up for only one possible value in that field, not all of them. 

I would like to be able to:

1. change the Field 1 dropdown 

2. ArcPro tries to apply the same symbol to the new field, and if it find a matching value, it keeps my symbol settings. 

Instead of doing this, when I change the "Field 1" dropdown on the Symbology panel, ArcPro re-writes the entire list of symbols, adding all possible values, with new colors. 

I have to save all the symbols to a style file or write the RGB down, because that's the only way I can get back to my original color. I have to remove all the other values in the list to get back to my one-value-only symbol setting. 

I have also tried using the Match Layer Symbology to a Style tool, which does accomplish changing the field, but it expands the list to all symbols for all values in the field, instead of the single one I had configured. 

Also, my Project Styles take a long time to load in Gallery, but there is no indication that the program is still working on loading those. 

Anyone know of any work-arounds ? Or a setting for "apply symbology to the new field if possible"

[clt_cabq]

I think the way you want to approach this is to copy/duplicate your layer - name it slightly differently if you need to just to keep track of them, then click over to the 'feature layer' menu in your ribbon, and click on the import symbology button (see the 1st screen shot below). This will bring up the dialogue in the 2nd screen shot where you specify the layer you are symbolizing (red mark), the one you are pulling symbols from (green marks) and the respective fields you are working with in each. That should apply the symbols from the first to the second based on the updated field values. 

[SteveCole · Accepted solution]

How about making a copy of the layer in your map and then opening the symbology dialog for one of the two layers. In the upper right corner, click on the 3 hamburger lines and select Import Symbology option. As long as the attribute fields are of the same type (text->text, number->number, etc), then all you should need to do is specify the attribute fields and click run.

In our organization, one of our data layers recently had an attribute field re-named so fixing a broken data link wouldn't honor the original symbology. By using the import symbology trick, I'm able to restore the layer in older projects.

[clt_cabq]

hah, you know, I never knew you could bring that up from the symbology dialogue, sheesh. neat trick, thanks for pointing it out.

[CRose]

I think this is an okay work-around... the general workflow is: Create a duplicate of the layer, redirect one source, then apply symbology from layer to transfer the symbology settings. 

[HanZheng]

I haven't tested it with symbology setup involving multiple fields or Arcade expression, but if there is only one field  (Field 1) involved in your symbology and you want switch it to another single field, you can

1) make a copy of the layer with the right symbology as symbology template and

2) import symbology to my working layer from Symbology template using Apply Symbology from Layer.

In Apply Symbology From Layer, you can choose a different field as a target field. If new field and old field has the same data type, this should works.

In this way, you can avoid getting your symbology reset because your are not resetting anything. Please note that if your data is numerical and data in your new field has a wider range, you might want to decide whether you'd like to maintain ranges or update range. I personally prefer choosing maintain ranges and manually fix range in histogram view to make sure your symbology definition covers everything. I strike previous sentences because I realized you mentioned that you symbolized using unique value (symbolized by category) and the data in two fields are identical. Those notes only apply for layer symbolized by quantities with different data between two fields.