During the course of your ArcGIS Explorer session, whether you are working with an existing map or preparing a new map for others in your organization, you may decide that another basemap better suits the purpose of the map and supports the other contents of the map more menaingfully. In addition you can save your existing map as a basemap and then add it to an application configuration.
To change the basemap
- In the Map group on the Home tab, click Basemap to display the Basemap gallery.
- Depending on the application configuration you are using, or if you are signed into an organization, you may see different collections of basemaps. Administrators of ArcGIS online organizations can control the basemaps that appear in the gallery by sharing ArcGIS Explorer maps (.nmf) in the specified group for the basemap gallery:

- Choose a basemap to replace the current one.
ArcGIS online organization administrators can control the basemaps that appear in the ArcGIS Explorer basemap gallery by specifying a group that contains ArcGIS Explorer Maps (.nmf).
In the above example all ArcGIS Explorer maps in the Washington DC Basemap group will be shown as basemap choices in the ArcGIS Explorer basemap gallery, for anyone that is signed into the organization.