XY data from excel sheet to shapefile

[KellyLutsch]

Hello, 

I'm pretty new to ArcGIS and I'm trying to project an excel sheet with XY data as a shapefile. I have tried saving the excel sheet as a text file then in ArcGIS>add data> XY Data, then export the data as a shapefile. The points plot, but they plot very far off the intended mark (a basic state map). I've changed the coordinate system, I've added the XY data different ways and nothing is working. I'm totally stuck. If anyone has any ideas, I'd greatly appreciate it! 

-Kelly 

[DanPatterson_Retired]

You have to show the coordinates you have.

Are they in decimal degrees?

Longitude is X, latitude is Y

Longitude is -ve in the western hemisphere.

You only use Define Projection when you know the actual coordinate system.  Using it otherwise will totally make your data way off.

Just some of the issues to address

[KellyLutsch]

My coordinates are in decimal degrees. When I go through the Add Data>XY data process, I set the Longitude as X and the Latitude as Y. Sill, my points are plotted incorrectly. I've tried saving the excel sheet as a .txt and an excel sheet. Neither have plotted correctly. 

[DanPatterson_Retired]

got a couple of sample coordinates to expedite a solution?

[MelitaKennedy]

What Dan says. We need to see some sample coordinates and where the data should be (city, county, etc.). If there's a privacy concern you could email it to me directly (mkennedy at esri dot com) and I'll delete it when finished, or try obfuscating the coordinates.

Melita