The Data Editor
A spreadsheet for your layers: clean, calculate, restructure and publish a dataset’s complete attribute table — without touching its geometry.
What it is#
Open Tools → Data Editor, pick a dataset or table from the library rail (or upload a file, or start a blank table), and the complete data loads as an editable spreadsheet. Geometry rides along read-only — the Data Editor is for attributes and structure, in the layer’s own coordinate system.
Editing#
- Cells — edit inline; boolean cells get a Null/True/False dropdown.
- Rows — add, duplicate and delete, with checkbox selection; filter and sort while you work.
- Columns — rename, change display label, change type, reorder, add and remove. Field types: Text, Integer, Decimal, Boolean, Date and time.
- Undo/redo —
Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+Shift+Zall the way back.
Bulk tools#
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Calculate field | Set a value, copy another field, build text from a {field} template, or do arithmetic (add, subtract, multiply, divide). |
| Find / replace | Per field, optionally case-sensitive, optionally only in selected rows. |
| Format | Trim whitespace, UPPERCASE / lowercase / Title Case, round to 2 decimals, convert to integer, normalize numbers, convert to ISO dates. |
Saving — two distinct doors#
The Data Editor never writes cell-by-cell into the live layer. Saving publishes your complete working copy through the same server-side pipeline as uploads:
- Save as new feature service — creates a new item and leaves the source untouched.
- Overwrite feature service — atomically replaces the source dataset while keeping the layer’s identity: same layer ID, same styling, same sharing, and every map or dashboard that references it picks up the new data the moment the job finishes. If the layer was edited elsewhere while you worked, the swap aborts safely and the old data stays intact. You’re warned about dropped or renamed columns, since those may need restyling.
Limits and roles#
The editor loads a full working copy, so it caps at 500,000 rows (and very heavy geometry may hit a memory budget) — for bigger live edits, use the QGIS plugin. Editing and publishing require the Editor role or higher; read-only roles can still open a layer and export it as CSV.