Open data and inspect attributes

Prepare your data

Complete installation. Keep data in an accessible folder. Shapefile shp, shx, dbf, prj, and other matching companion files should stay together; copying only the shp file is insufficient.

Preserve coordinate reference system information for projected data. If the system is unknown, ask the provider rather than choosing one because the display looks plausible.

Open and locate a layer

1. Use the data-opening control to select a local file and wait for loading.
2. Find the new layer in the left layer list and click it to locate its extent.
3. Compare its position with a known location or basemap.
4. Toggle visibility to confirm which data you are viewing. Adjust opacity to compare overlapping layers.

If loaded data is not visible, check visibility and extent before checking the coordinate system and companion files. An unavailable online basemap does not necessarily mean that your local data failed to load.

Inspect attributes

Select a vector layer and open its attribute table from the toolbar. Check records and fields before filtering, calculating values, or exporting. Abbreviated field names and coded values require the data provider's dictionary to interpret correctly.

The style menu provides colors, outlines, labels, and categorized styling. Recheck the current layer before making display changes.

Continue

Read Spatial processing and quality checks for batch operations, or Editing and export to change and save results.