# Show only your assigned territories

Official GBMaps guide for the classic map maker. VectorMaps has a different interface.

Source: https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned
Updated: 2026-10-22

Use Hide unassigned areas when you have coloured the part of the country that matters and want everything else out of the way. It is especially useful for a regional sales or service map.

[Watch tutorial video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Ln7HnGfw4)

Some videos show an earlier layout. The written instructions below describe the current controls; this is a guide, not a video transcript.

![Show only your assigned territories — current GBMaps controls](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/help/images/details.png)

The current panel, with its options expanded where useful. Select a numbered circle to read its explanation.

## Before hiding

![A Yorkshire map with green and blue territories, surrounded by uncoloured postcode shapes, town and village names and boundary lines.](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/help/images/example-unassigned-before.png)

The green and blue shapes belong to our zones. With Hide unassigned areas off, the surrounding postcode shapes and place labels are still visible. Compare this with After hiding: the map position, scale, zone colours and selected detail layers are the same.

## After hiding

![The same Yorkshire map at the same scale, with surrounding unassigned shapes and labels hidden. The two coloured territories and their relevant map detail remain.](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/help/images/example-unassigned-after.png)

Hide unassigned areas keeps the assigned territory and the useful detail within it, including relevant place labels and parts of wider boundaries. It hides the surrounding artwork rather than deleting it. Use the same control again to restore the full map.

## 1. Assign the area you want to keep

Create your zone names in START HERE. Select a zone by clicking its name in the legend, then click the shapes on the map that you want to keep in that territory. Repeat for any other zones before hiding unassigned areas. The tool checks which shapes belong to a zone, rather than simply which ones look coloured: a shape deliberately assigned a white fill still belongs to its territory.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned#hide-unassigned--assign)

## 2. Click Hide unassigned areas

The tool keeps the assigned polygons and limits other map detail to the useful territory footprint. It considers the broader boundaries and place labels/dots as well as the small polygons, so an area boundary is not discarded just because you coloured districts within it.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned#hide-unassigned--enable)

## 3. Choose which kinds of detail remain

The normal Map details switches still matter. If town names were already hidden, this setting does not turn them on. Start with the details you want, then use Hide unassigned areas to restrict their geographic extent.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned#hide-unassigned--layers)

## 4. Show the full map again

Use the same button to restore unassigned artwork. Your territory colours remain. If everything disappears, check that you have actually assigned polygons to a territory, and that the relevant regions and layers are enabled.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned#hide-unassigned--restore)

## 5. Save the focused view

Save the map after changing the setting. Reopening retains the setting with the rest of the map. Older saved maps that never used it retain their normal full-map behaviour until you choose to enable it.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned#hide-unassigned--save)

## 6. What happens in On Google

The polygon overlay shows only assigned polygons when this setting is on. The geographic background remains available, so roads and places on that background can still be seen outside your territories. Return to Design or Print View to change the setting, then reopen On Google.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=hide-unassigned#hide-unassigned--google)

## Related guides

- [START HERE: names, colours & territories](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=colouring)
- [Regions, London & inset maps](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=regions)
- [On Google: explore the geographic preview](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=google)
- [Save, open & keep a separate copy](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=save)