Select features that are not within or intersecting the features of another layer in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

Selecting features using the Select By Location tool is basic, useful data analysis. By default, the Select By Location tool provides a list of spatial relationships, such as Intersect, Contains, and Within, that select features which intersect or are within another layer's features.

It is also possible to select features that are not within or intersecting features of another layer by checking the ‘Invert spatial relationship’ check box when configuring the Select By Location tool. Clicking the Switch button in the attribute table after selecting features using the Select By Location tool will yield the same results.

This article provides instructions to select features that do not intersect or are not within the features of another layer in ArcGIS Pro.

Procedure

Use one of the following options to select features that are not within or intersecting features of another layer in ArcGIS Pro.

Check the 'Invert spatial relationship' check box when configuring the Select By Location tool

1. Open an ArcGIS Pro project.
2. In the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Selection group, click Select By Location.
3. Check the Invert spatial relationship check box in the Select By Location window. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: How to use Select By Location for more information.

In the image below, points which do not intersect the polygon layer are selected (highlighted in light blue) on both the map and in the point layer attribute table.

Select features using the Select By Location tool, then click the Switch button in the attribute table

1. Open an ArcGIS Pro project.
2. In the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Selection group, click Select By Location, and configure the Select By Location tool. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: How to use Select By Location for more information.

In the example displayed in the image below, the Relationship parameter is set to Intersect. Point features which intersect the polygon layer are selected on the map.

3. In the Contents pane, right-click the input layer and click Attribute Table.
4. In the attribute table, click Switch to switch the selection.

In the image below, after clicking Switch, only point features that do not intersect the polygon layer are selected on the map.