Legend is replicating layers

[ChristineParkerILSR]

I'm using ArcGIS Pro 3.3.0 (updated) on Windows 11. I'm working on some layouts and thought I was going crazy, but for some reason the legend is adding random copies of layers displayed in the map frame. These extra copies don't exist in the map...so it feels like a bug. I've already tried deleting the legend and creating a new one and it's happening again. I've restarted computer/Arc. I have layer visibility turned off in the legend settings. Some of the layers can be toggled off, but some I have to right-click > remove, and then several items will disappear from the legend. 

I've included screenshots of the legend panel, the map frame panel, and what the legend looks like. This is driving me nuts and I feel like this started after the recent update...

[PaulBartschi]

Hi Tom, do you have any information on BUG-000167906 you could provide? My staff is seeing this same behavior. Here's an explanation of the issue we are seeing: "I can retest this and give you a more detailed answer in a bit, but the TL:DR is It's some odd behavior ( lol) that occurs when you have multiple maps and layouts in the same Pro project. If you copy and paste data from one map to another, the data shows up in duplicate in the legend items and you cannot uncheck or remove it from the legend items. E.g. Project has Map A + Layout A and Map B + Layout B. Map A has a Cities feature class that is symbolized the way i want it. I copy Cities to Map B. When I look at the Layout view, the Legend items now have Cities twice, and the second one cannot be unchecked or moved up/down the legend."

[TomBole]

Hi @PaulBartschi 

A fix for BUG-000167906 A legend item element gets duplicated when copying a layer from a map frame on one layout to another map frame on another layout is available with the 3.3.2 patch for ArcGIS Pro and future releases.

ArcGIS Pro 3.3 patch 2 (3.3.2) is now available for users to download from My Esri.

Unfortunately, we could not address a separate legend item issue, BUG-000170439 Unassigned layers are unexpectedly appearing in the legend of a duplicated layout when reopening an ArcGIS Pro project file (.aprx), in time for the 3.3.2 patch. We have fixed this issue in version 3.4.

There are several key differences between BUG-000170439 and BUG-000167906.

• BUG-000170439 was reproduced in Pro versions before 3.3, while BUG-000167906 was introduced at 3.3.
• In BUG-000170439 legend items are removed from the legend before being copied or duplicated
• In BUG-000170439 the issue is only seen after resaving and reopening the project and is seen with the second layout not the original layout as seen with 000167906

Though I’m currently not aware of any other issues concerning unexpected legend items that does not mean there are no outstanding issues. If you are still experiencing issues with unexpected legend items, please let us know. Commenting on the Community site is always helpful. Even more helpful is contacting esri support (https://support.esri.com/en/contact-tech-support). Getting steps, and data if needed, to reproduce an issue is vital in understanding the issue, fixing the issue, verifying the fix, and incorporating the scenario into out testing and certification framework.

Thanks,

Tom

[AnneRuthstrom]

Just upgraded to 3.4 after it was suddenly doing this with a polygon layer in 3.2.  No change after upgrade, same issue, same problem.  Major issue with it is that I cannot move legend items to different levels because of this, so I can't have my polygon layers listed above another polygon layer for list consistency.  Very frustrating!

[TomBole]

All, 

First, thanks for the feedback. 

I understand and appreciate everyone's frustration with this issue. Obviously something was missed in testing and certifying the software release. 

Currently we do not know what was missed. That this problem is intermittent makes it even more challenging. That is why it is important to gather as much information as possible. It increases our odds of reproducing the bug. We can't really fix a bug until we can reproduce it and then validate the fix. Otherwise, we are just guessing at the solution.

I'll alert the others on the Layout Team of this issue. Hopefully we can track this down and fix it.

Again, thanks to all for your help!

Tom

[TomBole]

Thanks!

[HollyTorpey_LSA]

FYI, I had this happen to me today in a layout after exporting it as a layout file. I had not yet exported it as a .pdf.

[jaredpberger]

I'm having the same issue that other users have described here. I'm using ArcGIS Pro 3.3.0 on Windows 10. I am working with locally stored shapefiles. I set up my layout the way I want, then export. The exported .jpeg looks correct. When I return to the layout in ArcGIS Pro, many of the layers have been duplicated within the legend. If I try to uncheck these layers in the contents panel, the checkbox will not uncheck.

I see this issue has been under discussion for several years, but I saw that it is usually occurring with hosted or online layers. Is it a known issue with local shapefiles as well? Thanks,

[FourCornersMapping]

Same issue here. A duplicate layer was added to the legend (after I made some edits to the layer) but there is only one of that layer in the map. See the parking layers below, the top "Parking Garage" and "Parking Lot" are the original layers, and the duplicate layers are at bottom, which also show the heading.

 

When I attempt to toggle off the duplicate layer in the legend, it stays checked in the legend items and also remains in the legend, but the original layer is turned off and removed from the legend.

Removing the duplicate legend item also removes the original item. 

The only solution I've found is to remove the item from the legend and drag it back into it from the TOC.

[Eugene_Adkins]

My intention isn’t for this comment to sound as snarky as it may, but stuff like this is why Pro updates (and the dependent functionality with server and services and field types, etc.) are so frustrating. Big fancy things are going to be talked about at the User Conference. The reliable functionality of necessary things to a map like a legend … not so much.

[HollyTorpey_LSA]

Not that it's a real solution, but unchecking "New layer" and "Layer visibility" in the "Synchronize with map" section of the layout options seems to prevent the behavior.