Why the ArcGIS sign-in prompt for World Services?

[MattGoodman]

I'm running ArcMap 10.5.1 and it, along with the last several version of ArcMap, have a very frustrating behavior when using the "Find" tool or the Geocoding toolbar. Nearly every time I use these tools, I'm only interested in searching against locally stored data. However, whenever I right-click the search box to bring up the context menu so that I can choose to "Pan-to" the match, ArcMap grinds away with a pinwheel for several minutes trying to use the internet connection to establish an organizational login to ArcGIS, for use of the "World Geocoding Service" and "World Routing Service".

Can't that login attempt occur at some point after the user has indicated they wish to use those services!? The average city-government ArcMap user wanting to find and pan the map to a particular property by searching their cadastral data for a parcel ID, or their address point data for an address, is faced with this excruciatingly long wait and warning pop-up for services they have no intention of using.

[JonathanQuinn]

Perhaps you can try disabling the default locators?

How To: Disable Default Locators that connect to ArcGIS.com 

[MattGoodman]

I tried changing the default locators xml but it didn't work. The software's behavior was unchanged....still grinds-away for minutes, trying to connect to ArcGIS Online and it still throws the sign-in prompt window. I imagine doing this might have prevented the application from trying to connect to the World Geocoding Service, but what about the World Routing Service?  This is an issue in both the Geocoding toolbar and the Find tool search results (r-click context menus). Is there also a way to somehow 'disable' the software's attempt to connect to ArcGIS Online for the World Routing Service as well? 

These work-around (editing buried xmls) seems like a bit of a 'hack' at an issue that should be resolved by the software engineers / user-experience folks. Could this get put on an bug punch-list? 

[JonathanQuinn]

Ah didn't look at the error closely enough. I tried this on my end, (at 10.6.1) with Fiddler running to capture requests and I don't see any outbound requests to the World Routing Service, (nor did I see the error you're seeing), but I do see requests to the World Geocoding Service.

What if you disable access to online resources altogether?

FAQ: How do I manage ArcGIS connections to online resources? 

Manage ArcMap portal connections—Help | ArcGIS Desktop 

With the transition to Pro, I can't comment on how bugs in ArcMap will get triaged/addressed, but feel free to contact Tech Support to log this as a usability bug.

[AndrewHayden1]

I've also noticed this with "Find Route" tool.

In regard to the "Find" tool I noticed (in Fiddler) when you right click on the record in the find dialog (say to pan/zoom to it), ArcMap tries to reach out to arcgis.com and geocode.arcgis.com.

To get around the issue, you might try to right click the ArcGIS icon in Windows System Tray and select “Properties”:

And then select “Never Check”:

[KimGleason]

We recently started experiencing this same issue in ArcMap 10.4.1 when using the "Find" tool. The ArcGIS Connection Properties on all our computers is set to "Never Check". Has anyone determined a solution to this frustrating change in the program?

Thanks! 

[Paul_Christensen]

I agree that this should be handled on the developer side, not the user side. I shouldn't have to go in and change obscure settings and files to avoid an in your face service that slows performance that I do not use.

I am also experiencing this exact issue on ArcMap 10.6. 

Open Find

type parcel ID into Find:

Right click result

Wait 10-30 seconds while everything grays out

Finally right click menu pops up and I am able to zoom to feature

Occasionally I get the online sign in error. Sometimes my arcmap session doesn't automatically sign in for me.

I get this lag if I am signed in or not but ONLY on the FIRST attempt to search and zoom to a feature. Every time after that it runs smoothly.

Also, only locally stored data on this map.

I will try the "Never check for connection", although that will totally disable my connection to online and I do occasionally upload Feature Services to my Online account for use in Collector.

I will also try updating the DefaultLocators.xml.

[Paul_Christensen]

Changing ArcGIS Connection Properties to "Never Check" gets rid of the pop up error "You must be signed in to ArcGIS Online with an org account to use the ArcGIS Online World Routing Services"

Changing the .xml AND the "Never Check" seems to quicken the right click lag but it still around 5-10 seconds before the menu displays.

[KimGleason]

Our Connection Properties have always been set to "Never Check". We use a local address locator in the DefaultLocators.xml and have disabled the check for ArcGIS services in this file.

The delayed "Find" tool response is worst if we start a new session of ArcMap. If we've already started ArcMap and open a new document, the delay is not as long.

This mysterious behavior started recently and we have not changed any settings in ArcMap. There was however a Windows 10 update and we've been suspecting a connection. But can not understand how that can be related.

[Paul_Christensen]

I am on Windows 7 still. Disabling the connection check just completely removes all connection to any online resources, and to me, seems like a poor workaround and doesn't solve the real issue. Which is, why do I need an internet connection to right click and zoom to a feature?