Trying to get started

[CharlesEiseman]

I'm still struggling to do basic things with ArcGIS Pro after being forced to abandon ArcMap a few months ago. I've just successfully opened one of my old MXD files in ArcGIS Pro, and I want to edit some of the shapefiles, but the file opened as a layout instead of as a map. How can I create a map that is identical with this layout?

I considered starting from scratch with a blank map, but the first shapefile I tried adding to it showed up in Togo instead of Massachusetts, and I can't figure out how to fix that. So that's my second question. I added the same shapefile to the existing layout and it projected correctly. This shapefile doesn't seem to have a specified coordinate system, so I'm not sure how that works. 

[DanPatterson]

must reads to avoid common pitfalls

For ArcMap users migrating to ArcGIS Pro—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

particularly

Migrate existing work—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

I am assuming you haven't read the help topics

[CharlesEiseman · Accepted solution]

Okay, this is extremely basic, but the answer I was looking for is that I needed to open the Catalog view, and under Project, select Maps, and then select "Layers"; that is the editable map view I was looking for.

As for my second question, I still have no idea, but I solved that particular problem by finding a newer version of the same shapefile that projects correctly.