How to Create a New File Geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro

The geodatabase is the spatial database format for ESRI software, especially ArcGIS Pro. It is a handy database format that can store almost any spatial file. We can store points, polygon, polylines as well as raster layers in the geodatabase format. When we created a new project in ArcGIS Pro, we will have a default geodatabase that is automatically created. But, we can also create our own geodatabase file directly from the ArcGIS Pro program. In this article, we will show you how to create a new File Geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro.

In the previous ArcGIS version prior to ArcGIS Pro, there are two different geodatabases, personal and file geodatabase. But in the new ArcGIS Pro version, the Personal geodatabase is not available anymore. Both File and Personal geodatabase have their own benefits. Here are some differences between File and Personal Geodatabase.

File Geodatabase:

• A collection of various types of GIS datasets held in a file system folder
• Each dataset is a separate file on disk
• A file geodatabase is a file folder that holds its dataset files
• One TB for each dataset. Each file geodatabase can hold many datasets
• Cross platform

Personal Geodatabase:

• Original data format for ArcGIS geodatabases stored and managed in Microsoft Access data files.
• All the contents in each personal geodatabase are held in a single Microsoft Access file (.mdb)
• Two GB per Access database.
• Windows only

For more information, please visit this page that explains in detail about the File and Personal Geodatabase differences

https://nhd.usgs.gov/userGuide/Robohelpfiles/NHD_User_Guide/Interactive_Tutorials/Module_1/Dynamic_Extract/Dynamic_Extract_Popups/Personal_Vs_File_GDB_s.htm

Steps to Create a New File Geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro

To create a new File Geodatabase, follow the steps below.

1. Open ArcGIS Pro
2. Go to View >> Catalog Pane to open the Catalog panel on the right side of the ArcGIS Pro window.
3. From the Project tab, right-click Databases and then click New File Geodatabase.
4. Browse the location where to save the file and then give a name for our new File Geodatabase.

When this process is complete, you will see the new File Geodatabase in the Databases panel.

How to Add a New Feature Class to the File Geodatabase

Now let’s create a new feature class into the File Geodatabase that we’ve just created. In this example, I am going to create a new polygon into the new geodatabase file we created earlier. There are several type of features that can be stored in the geodatabase.

Supported type of features:

• Line
• Polygon
• Point
• Multi point
• 3D object
• etc

To add a new feature class, right-click the geodatabase | New | Feature Class from the Catalog pane.

Give a name for the new feature class. Select the type of features. In this example, I choose polygon. On the next step, you can add more fields to the new feature class.

Click Next and then select the spatial reference for the new feature class.

In the next step, you can specify the tolerance, resolution, etc.

Now the process is completed. We can use it in our map.