Why does ArcGIS Pro have to be so slow???

[ericmeyers1]

Why is ArcGIS Pro so slow? To select assets, field calculate, display layers, change symbology... the easiest of tasks that are commonly utilized within ArcMap are a drag on the software.

When will ArcGIS Pro become faster than ArcMap? That will be the day it could replace it as the goto product for GIS professionals.

[JoabelBarbieri]

Agreed. This is actually the reason I haven't adopted ArcGIS PRO yet. It's freaking slow and it grays out and takes forever to execute actions when compared to ArcMap. ESRI definitely needs to do something about it. My i7/24 GB RAM PC config is well in excess of the recommended by ESRI and still it's pretty slow w/ Pro.

Also, I don't like having to save a project before I can start playing w/ it. Sometimes I just don't wanna save it ....so?

[ericmeyers1]

I agree 100% regarding the hassle of having to create a project before being able to use arcGIS pro. All the time I will go into catalog or arcmap to just add a few layers or look at the attribute data. My role is a developer, so rarely am I actually making final maps. Unfortunately, it looks like this is the direction ESRI wants us to go because some settings/functionality only works if a default database and home directory is set up. Maybe ESRI wants us to utilize software like ArcReader to do this type of work... not sure.

[KoryKramer]

You'll see that Open ArcGIS Pro without having to Save‌ is marked as In Product Plan and we should see this with the next release, ArcGIS Pro 2.3.

[KennieHarris]

I have noticed the slow responsiveness in Pro while using basic tools and functionality. Expecting people in an organization to work locally is unreasonable. We place our data in network folders so that they are accessible to everyone and so that they are backed up regularly. I'm trying to do more in Pro to acclimatize myself with it, but the lag is too much for some of the simple tasks. I end up going back to Desktop for some things. My PC is well in excess of the recommended specs and I have an NVIDEA Quadro card.

[ericmeyers1]

I agree wholeheartedly with this as well. I thought the whole point of moving to an enterprise system was to move away from solo databases but pro in a way can be a step backwards. The map documents are now stored locally, causing a runaway solo MXD repository. (

[MikeLachance1]

I'm modeling a QC workflow using Pro tasks and the whole first few steps of filtering your data set (which can't be done by task command and has to be done with a python model), selecting all features, and zooming to them takes 5 or more minutes. That's just to get to the data you want to look at. This does not include making edits to the data. Manually, in ArcMap this takes me 1 minute max. I work for a state agency who is transferring all of the data to central network locations so Pro may be a no-go for us now.

[ZacharyBaron1]

"...expecting people in an organization to work locally is unreasonable..."  I agree with that. I would also characterize it as unrealistic. I have data all over the place...I would like to have one enterprise database where all my data resides, but that is never going to happen. And if it did happen it would be on a networked server, not on my local machine.

I keep checking in with Pro and these threads, but I do the majority of my work in Arc Desktop because I need to get things done. I was all for pushing through the learning curve for Pro, but I feel that the performance issues are the real reason I end up going back to Desktop.

[RickGonzalez]

Yup!  Can't stand Pro and is one reason I didn't go to the ESRI User Conference last year.   I can't stand that they use ArcPro and push it as if it were the greatest thing ever.  IT'S NOT!   It's is slow!  Riddle me this: when I use the Spatial Analyst  > Sample tool in ArcMap I can process a 52 x 32 mile raster grid that is 200 ft x 200 ft coarse in less than 5 minutes.  I'm doing the same in Pro at the moment as of this post and it's taking over 25 minutes now and counting!  It is too bad they don't have a competitor out in the GIS world that would give them pause to even release a crappy product.  Shame on you ESRI.

[MichaelVolz]

Rick:

Do you have the ability to create a case with tech support so maybe they can find out what the issue is with the slowness of ArcPro in your case?

Also maybe you can add your vote to this thread:

as well as add your 3 or 4 biggest gripes with the Pro software to give the dev team exposure to issues that existing ArcMap customers are seeing with Pro.

[KoryKramer]

Hi Rick,

I think all would agree that something that takes 5 minutes in ArcMap should probably take 5 minutes or less in ArcGIS Pro.  So there is something going on that needs to be investigated.  

I think that Michael's idea of working on this with technical support is a good one as there could be many factors at play.

I was curious to see if this is a "generic problem", meaning that it could be reproduced with any data.  I created a random raster of 52 miles X 32 miles and cell size 61 meters (about 200 feet).  I also created 1000 random points and ran Sample in ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro.

Results:

ArcMap = 1.36 seconds

ArcGIS Pro = 1.22 seconds

I don't think there is anything inherently slower about this operation in ArcGIS Pro.  But it would be valuable to investigate the specific performance issue you're experiencing with technical support so that we can understand what's happening.