Viewer not loading

MapShare draws scenes with WebGL. If you see “This browser can’t show 3D right now”, WebGL is unavailable.

1. Turn on hardware acceleration: Chrome/Edge → Settings → System → “Use graphics acceleration when available”, then restart the browser.
2. Update your browser and graphics drivers. Current Chrome or Edge works best on desktops.
3. Try a private window to rule out extensions (ad blockers and privacy tools can block the viewer).
4. On a work computer, remote desktop or virtual machine, the GPU may be switched off. Try another computer or your phone.
5. Check get.webgl.org: if the cube doesn’t spin, WebGL is blocked on that machine.

The viewer loads only as many points and splats as your device can handle: about 1 million points on phones and up to 3 million on desktops with more memory. If the graphics card runs out, you’ll see “The 3D view ran out of graphics memory” and the scene comes back with less detail.

1. Close other tabs and 3D apps, then reload.
2. Hide layers you don’t need in the layer list.
3. On phones and tablets, close background apps; older devices may show less detail.
4. On laptops with two graphics cards, set the browser to use the high-performance GPU.

Splats are sorted in background workers that need the page to be “cross-origin isolated”. MapShare sends the headers for this (COOP same-origin, COEP credentialless) on viewer, /p/ and /embed/ pages.

• Corporate proxies or security software that strip response headers stop splats from sorting. Try off the work network, or ask IT to pass the headers through.
• Open shared scenes from their own /p/ or /embed/ link, not inside another web app’s frame.
• Use an up-to-date Chrome, Edge or Safari. Very old browsers lack the features the viewer uses.
• “This layer is no longer available” means the file was removed. “Check your connection” means the files didn’t download; reload.

When you report a viewer problem from the Help button, we include your browser, GPU and whether the page was isolated, which usually pins it down.