Rotate point marker symbols in ArcMap

Summary

Instructions provided describe how to rotate point features symbolized with point marker symbols in ArcMap. By default, it is not possible to rotate point features. This makes sense if point features are symbolized with round symbology. However, if a different marker symbol is used, it may be desirable to rotate the point features.

Procedure

1. Right-click the marker symbol layer in ArcMap.
2. Select Open Attribute Table.
3. Create a new numeric field in the layer's attribute table.
4. Use the Field Calculator to add a value for all records.

Note:
The actual value does not matter; it is only important to calculate a value.

5. Right-click the layer in the Table of Contents and select Properties.
6. Click the Symbology tab, and select Advanced > Rotation.
7. Select the field that contains the rotation angle from the Rotate Points by Angle in this field drop-down list.
8. Select the rotation style.
9. Click OK in the Rotation dialog box. It closes.
10. Click OK in the Layer Properties dialog box. It closes.
11. Start an edit session.
12. Click the Edit tool.
    
13. Click the feature or features to be rotated.
14. Click the Rotate tool (on the Editor toolbar).
    

Note:
The Attributes tool  can be used to type values into the Rotation field to change the rotation angle.

15. Click anywhere on the map and drag the pointer to rotate the feature to the desired orientation.