Spatial Analyst and/or 3D Analyst toolbars are inactive (grayed out)

Description

In ArcMap, the Spatial Analyst and/or the 3D Analyst toolbar is inactive (grayed out).

Solution or Workaround

There are two reasons as to why the toolbars are inactive:

• The extension is not enabled. In ArcGIS, any desired toolbar can be added to the GUI. However, some require the activation of an extension. To enable extensions, in ArcMap menu click Customize > Extensions, and check the extensions. (In ArcGIS 9.x versions, navigate to Tools > Extensions, and check the necessary extensions. Click OK.)
  • Using Extensions in ArcGIS
• There are no raster datasets in the map. Analysis in both the Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst toolbars are based on raster datasets. Therefore, when there are no raster datasets in the map, these toolbars are inactive. Once a raster dataset is added to the map, the toolbars become active.