The Living Atlas "Terrain - Hillshade" layer no longer displays after 3.6 update

[TrentonWalker]

Hi everyone,

Prior to the most recent ArcGIS Pro update, I used the "Terrain - Hillshade" layer from the Esri Living Atlas on a daily basis. It's a fantastic resource that prevents me from having to manually load hundreds and hundreds of individual lidar tiles, and I've come to include it in nearly every map and project I make.

But after the most recent update, I haven't been able to get it to display at all. I've removed it and re-added it to my maps several times, I've checked that it's not affected by a limited display scale range, I've checked everything I know to check, and I still can't get it to work. I didn't change any settings on my end, so I'm forced to conclude that it's due to the 3.6 update. 

If anyone has any suggestions on what to do to get it to display again, I'd love to hear it. This is a huge blow to my workflow efficiency, so I'm really hoping somebody has dealt with this before.

(Pre-)Edit: I've just realized that I can't get the "USGS Historical Topographic Maps" layer from the Living Atlas to display, either, and it's something I use several times per week. Some Living Atlas layers are still working (such as the "USA NAIP Imagery: Natural Color" layer), so it's not an issue across the board with the Living Atlas. Any assistance is welcome.

[RichardDaniels]

One key change with ArcGIS Pro 3.4 and higher is the requirement to use DirectX 12 vs. 11, might check if your machine is supporting that. Some users may experience color rendering or display issues when using DirectX 12, prompting a switch to DirectX 11 or OpenGL for troubleshooting.

[JamesCarroll7]

OP, I tried loading those layers you mentioned from Living Atlas into GIS (I recently updated to version 3.6 also) and they displayed correctly, so this might not be an issue across the board with version 3.6. Worth checking what Richard suggested above. 

[RichardDaniels]

Second issue to beware of, if you have a DELL computer, they released several DirectX12 driver updates for their graphics cards. Run Dell Command Update Center to check for driver updates. We have several machines that had graphics display issues that were resolved once the November 14, 2025 graphic driver updates were installed.

[TrentonWalker]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for both of your suggestions. I checked my Dell Command Update center, and it's fully updated (and showed the November 14, 2025 update in its history). I found out I was running on DirectX 11 and switched to 12, but it didn't make a difference. 

The few other GIS people in my office don't seem to have a problem getting those layers to display, so it's clearly something on my end, even though we all have identical settings... I'll keep searching and troubleshooting. Thanks again.

[HylonPlumb]

Hello,

Just chiming in, I'm at 3.6 and revisited some maps with 'Terrain - Hillshade' from Living Atlas and the imagery is not appearing. Also 'Terrain - Elevation Tinted Hillshade' from "LA" is also not working. I tried removing and adding and adjusting the properties of the Hillshade through Image Service Layer eg. Symbology, Stretch Type, Alpha. I also checked the layer in another project, tried reverting to DirectX 12 --> 11, same issue.

MS Windows 11Business v 10.0.26200

Dell XPS 15 9520

OS updated

All drivers and firmware updated and patched, including nvidia studio driver v581.57

Thanks,

Hylon

[RichardDaniels]

This is starting to sound like a bug... I believe ESRI was replacing Atlas layers with vector tiles vs. image tiles, I wonder if there is a new version of the Hillshade layer that we should be using.  

This old thread mentioned that the ArcGIS Pro projection being used impacted hillshade display quality (The Living Atlas "Terrain: Hillshade" layer has su... - Esri Community). May be worth trying to reset the Maps display projection. Try addingthe hillshade to a new/empty web map, and see if the resolution seems fine.

[TrentonWalker]

Hey Richard, that old post is actually one of mine, too (I'm a big fan of the Terrain - Hillshade layer... what can I say?). It turned out that for that specific problem, there were background updates happening to either the Living Atlas in general or the Terrain - Hillshade layer specifically, and once those updates were completed the issue resolved itself.

I was hoping that maybe this was a similar situation, but, unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be. I'm still combing through all of my possible options to see if there's a setting that's changed on my end, but no luck so far.

[RichardDaniels]

Is the Living atlas layer ‘Terrain - Hillshade ‘ identified below the one you are talking about? Works fine in ArcGIS Pro 3.4 SP 5 😉[cid:image001.png@01DC65EA.40B727D0]

[TrentonWalker]

Hey HylonPlumb, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems, too, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. I've checked every possible setting, changed between DirectX 12, DirectX 11, and OpenGL, and cleared as many caches as I could find as many times as possible... and still no luck.

Other people in my office (with the same sorts of restrictions on how their computers can talk to other servers through our firewalls and other IT software, for example) have no problem getting the Terrain - Hillshade layer to display, so I'm beginning to think something in the user settings (like in those hidden User > AppData > Local > ... folders) is corrupted, but that's beyond my ability to diagnose, unfortunately.

If you do find a way to get it to display again, please let me know. And I'll be sure to do the same, too.