How to download data from an ArcGIS web map with no download button
The layers on a public county or city web map can usually be downloaded even when the map has no download button. Getting them out by hand is another matter.
The data is behind the map
A public ArcGIS web map is a viewer. The layers you see come from map services on an ArcGIS server, and when those services are public, their data is public too. The missing download button is a choice about the viewer, not about the data.
What it takes by hand
Possible, but it's a GIS technician's job, not a quick download:
- Dig the service addresses out of the map, often through the browser's developer tools.
- Work out which of dozens of services and sublayers holds the data you actually want.
- Query each layer, a thousand or two features at a time, until you have all of them.
- Stitch the pieces back together without gaps or duplicates.
- Convert to the format you need, with the right coordinate system and projection file.
- Repeat for every layer, and start again when the county updates the map.
Budget anywhere from half an hour to an afternoon per map, more if the server is slow or something doesn't line up.
With MapPull
Paste the map's link. MapPull finds every layer behind it and lists them with their feature counts. Tick what you need, pick Shapefile, DXF, GeoJSON, or KMZ, and export. One zip, minutes not hours. Public data only: a layer that needs a sign-in is named and skipped.