Select by Location not showing possible Target Layers in the active Data Frame - ArcMap 10.8.1

[SamirPatel]

Problem: ArcMap 10.8.1 open with a blank map file. Insert another data frame in addition to the default one. Now you have two different data frames. Add different vector layers into the two different data frames. Try to do Select by Location.

I see possible Target Layers and Source Layers only from one of the two Data Frames, irrespective of which one is active. Even if I switch between activating different Data Frames, the Layers showing in the Select by Location dialog box show only layers in one of the Data Frames (sometimes not the active one).

Expected behavior: The possible Layers showing in the Select by Location dialog box should be from the active data frame.

Only if I activate the desired data frame and then save the map file, then restart ArcMap and open that map file, will I see the expected Layers from the active Data Frame when I go to the Search by Location dialog box.

What might be going wrong?

[RobertBorchert]

You can only search by location with in a single data frame

[SamirPatel]

Thank you for your suggestion. I am indeed trying Search by Location within a single data frame. The problem is that even if one data frame is active, somehow the possible Target layer(s) in the Search by Location dialog box in ArcMap 10.8.1 show as being from another non-active data frame. If I Activate the data frame, then save the map file, then reopen ArcMap, the correct possible Target layer(s) show up. Other users have reproduced this now, and it seemingly is not a problem in ArcMap of a few versions back. I'm thinking it's a bug.

[RobertBorchert]

Did you try pressing F5 after making the desired frame active?  

[SamirPatel]

Refreshing via the refresh icon or F5 do not seem to make a difference. Would appreciate if you have a moment and are on ArcMap 10.8.1 might be possible to try reproducing this error quickly: Blank map file, make two data frames (keep the default "Layers" and Insert one more, by default it should be called "New Data Frame". While "New Data Frame" is still active, add any one or two feature classes of data to it from your catalog. Refresh (F5) and then Go to Select by Location... you see no layers there as options! Activate you original data frame "Layers" and add one or two feature classes of data to that one. Again refresh (F5) and then Go to Select by Location... still you see no layers there as options! Save the map file, quit and restart ArcMap, reopen the map file. Now, with "Layers" as the active data frame, go to Select by Location... and you see the correct layers showing up as possible Target layer(s). Activate "New Data Frame" and go to Select by Location... you still see the (wrong) layers from the first "Layers" data frame as possible options! This only gets "corrected" by again saving the map file, quitting and restarting ArcMap and reopening the map file. As I've described it, it's apparent that even with only one data frame, I don't get the correct layers showing up unless I've saved and reopened the map file. I noticed this problem only because I was switching between data frames, but actually it's a matter of simply the software not loading the layers unless that data frame was active when the map file was saved and reopened.

[TamsenWaldron]

I was able to fix it by activating my single data frame.  I still think this is a bug because I have never had this issue before.  Thanks for your comment.

[SamirPatel]

Cross-referencing to the same issue reported here: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcmap-questions/arcmap-10-8-select-by-location-not-loading-layers/m-p...