Masking Map Labels

I'm making a map with some Esri roadways basemap layers. Down around the the scale bar, legend, and other text elements is a dense part of a city with a lot going on with roadways. Some of those roadway labels are appearing in Data View and it looks like garbage in Layout View. I'd like to remove these.

Labels in Data View are cluttering up graphic elements in Print View

Quick solution

1. Switch to Data View (or double click your data frame to enter data view from your Layout View - I switched completely over to Data View in these screenshots)

2. From the Draw toolbar, add a rectangle graphic element (or other shape that fits your project) to cover the area you want to avoid labeling

The Draw toolbar

3. Open the element's Properties dialog, and choose No Color for the Fill and Outline. You can set the Outline Width to 0 if you want

That's it! Return to Layout View and reset your positioning. Any labels under your transparent graphic(s) will be masked.

Another method, rather than switching over to Data View, is to double click on your data frame to temporarily enter Data View from your layout view. It's a bit easier to draw your masking graphics while keeping your map elements visible.

I have cities labeled on this map, and one major label was being placed under my legend. Instead of converting those to graphics, I extended my transparent element slightly above where my legend is positioned, and ArcMap moves the otherwise hidden label well into view.