What does "Unable to create new element" really mean?

[RichardLawrence1]

I am working in a project with 3 maps and a large, detailed layout. When attempting to populate a new Layout with a map frame, I get the message: Unable to create element. Has anyone run into this? Can I not have two layouts in the same project? Would love to hear from you.

[TomBole]

Richard, 

You can have multiple layouts in a project.

Sounds like you just have an invalid layout. We have seen this in rare instances. To work around this you should delete the invalid layout from the project. You can do this by right-clicking the bad layout in the Catalog pane to open the context menu and then selecting Delete. Once the bad layout has been removed you can try adding a new layout.

Hope this helps, 

Tom

[RichardLawrence1]

That worked fine. Thank you!

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[ColeRussell1]

This did not work for me. Deleting the "bad" layout from catalog and inserting a new layout still results in "unable to create element" when trying to add a frame from a global scene to the new layout. closed project and opened a new one and rebooted machine, still unable to create element. Is this an issue with 2.3.3?

[TomBole]

Cole, 

Sorry to hear that you are still experiencing issues with authoring a layout.  Are you having problems with just a global scene, or is the problem applicable to any element (2D map frame, text, graphics, etc...) that can be inserted onto a layout?

I'm unaware of a scenario in which the inability to insert an element into layout continues after deleting the invalid layout. Can you contact Esri Support? They are better equipped to handle troubleshooting steps and gather bug data. They can be contacted at https://support.esri.com/en/contact-tech-support.

Thanks, 

Tom

[ColeRussell1]

The problem is only with inserting map frames (from global/local scenes and 2D maps). I upgraded to 2.3.3 yesterday and haven't experienced this issue ever before. I'll contact support. Thanks for the quick reply!

[DominiCunningham]

I also had this issue today and found a work around just now. For me, the new layout didn't show a title on the tab for the new layout. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it or not, but I renamed the problem layout from the Catalog pane and then saved the project with the problem layout. I then saved and closed ArcPro. I re-opened the project and when I added a new map frame and like magic it worked.

Before this solution I had tried 1. deleting the problem layout and just inserting it again and got the same error; 2. deleting the problem layout and restarting arc pro and got the same error after inserting a new layout; and 3. re-starting my system, starting arcpro, inserting a new layout and got the same error after inserting a new layout.

To see if the issue was permanently fixed in that project I tried adding another layout. This time the layout tab was appropriately labeled, and a map frame loaded just fine. However, on a whim, I restarted arcpro and added another layer and the layout tab was once again not labeled and did not want to load the map frame. My conclusion, if you add a new layout and the tab is blank try the above work around; if it is appropriately labeled with "LayoutX" you can probably proceed as usual.

[JenDunster]

Thanks so much - nothing else worked for me!

[Jeremy1812]

I renamed the Layout tab, saved it and then closed Pro. when i reopened the file i was able to add my North Arrow without getting the "Unable to Create" Error

[OscarSepulveda_III]

This problem still persists.  Any updates on how to fix this issue?  Tried Domini Cunningham‌ solution and it didnt work. #arcgispro 2.3 bugs