Help
Log in

Add language translations using the Translate & Adapt app

Translate & Adapt app icon
Translate & Adapt
Install Translate & Adapt from the Shopify App Store.

With the Translate & Adapt app, you can add translations to your store for products, collections, blog posts, policies, and pages.

On this page

Install the app

When you add a new language to your store, the Translate & Adapt app is installed automatically.

If you already have languages published to your store and you want to install the app, then in your Store languages settings, click Install Shopify Translate & Adapt.

Manually translate content

You can access the translation editor directly in your Shopify admin from the Translate & Adapt app, or from any content page that you want to translate.

Manually translate content in the Translate & Adapt app

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. Select the language that you want to translate.

  3. Select the resource that you want to translate.

  4. Enter your translated content into the appropriate field.

  5. Click Save.

Manually translate content from a content page

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to the content page that you want to translate. For example, to add translations for a product, go to the product page.
  2. Click More actions > Localize.
  3. Optional: If you have multiple languages, then from the drop-down menu, select the language that you're providing translations for.
  4. Enter your translations into the appropriate field.
  5. Click Save.

Localize images, videos, and other files

When translating a resource that includes images or videos, you can add a different version of the image or video file for different languages.

Steps:

  1. Ensure that you've uploaded a new version of the file in Content > Files. Learn about managing file uploads.

  2. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.

  3. In the section for your current theme, click Edit theme.

  4. In the theme editor, select an image or video.

  5. Click the three-dot button in the upper right corner, and select Localize. This will open the Translate & Adapt translation editor.

  6. Select the language that you want to translate to.

  7. In the row where the file is displayed, click Change.

  8. Select the image or video that you want to translate from your uploaded files.

  9. Click Close.

  10. Click Save.

You can also localize other files, such as PDFs, by using metafields. After you add a file metafield to your resource, it's displayed in the translation editor.

Localize logos for different markets

You can customize your store logo to display different versions for different markets. For example, you might want to display a logo with text in English for your United States market, and a logo with text in French for your Canadian market.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. In the Theme section, click Theme settings.

  3. Select the market that you want to display a customized logo for.

  4. Optional: Select the language for that market.

  5. In the Logo image row, click Change.

  6. Select or upload the logo image you want to use for that market.

  7. Click Save.

Translate URL handles

When translating a resource, you can also localize the URL handle for different languages. Sitemaps will update to include translated URL handles. Redirects will be created from default language URLs to translated URLs when translated URL handles are created.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. Select the language that you want to translate.

  3. Select the localized content that you want to have translated URL handles.

  4. Navigate to the URL handle row and add your translated URL handle.

Search and Filter

You can search and filter across resources within the app.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. Select the search icon (magnifying glass), and enter a search term in the search box.

  3. Select the filter option to choose a specific resource.

Search results are grouped by resource type. If the word or group of words you searched for are included multiple times within a resource type, then it's displayed as one group. Selecting an individual search result will take you to that field. Search will also try to find similar words to your search term. If the field that you're trying to find isn't displayed, then try exporting the CSV from Settings > Languages to determine if it's available in the Translation API. If the field isn't in the Translations CSV, then it isn't translatable.

Automatically translate content

You can use the Translate & Adapt app to automatically translate content. Automatic translations are provided by AI translations from Shopify. Before you publish translations to your storefront, you should review them for accuracy.

Automatically translate content for a language

If you add automatic translations, then you need to activate them for each individual language that you want to translate. After you automatically translate a language, the translations will take a few minutes to display on your storefront.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. Select the language that you want to translate.

  3. Click Auto-translate.

  4. Click Translate.

Auto-translations will be added for:

  • Content that has not been translated yet
  • Auto-translated content that is out of sync

Automatic translations are out of sync when the source language has been updated after running automatic translation. When you click Auto-translate on your content, empty and outdated content will be translated. This will not change any translations that you have added, or edited, manually.

New automatic translations won't be added unless you click Auto-translate.

If new content is added (for example, a new product has been added), then you need to return to the app and click Auto-translate again to add the translations to the new content, in each language.

Automatically translate content for a single resource

If you want to automatically translate only a specific part of your content, then you can initiate an automatic translation for a single resource. After you automatically translate a single resource, the translations will take a few minutes to display on your storefront.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. Select the localized content that you want to translate.

  3. Click Auto-translate.

  4. Click Save.

Create custom content for a market

Custom content can be created to help adapt to the regional and cultural aspects in each market.

The following are some examples of how custom content can be used:

  • Support regional spelling or preferred terms in a market. For example, creating a Sweaters menu title for a United States market, and a Jumpers menu title for a United Kingdom market.
  • Display promotional content based on the customer's market. For example, creating a custom Thanksgiving announcement bar in October for Canadian customers.
  • Use metafields to display a fixed money value for a given market. For example, creating a display in Canadian dollars that displays how much you have contributed to charities in your Canadian market.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to the content page that you want to customize for a market. For example, to add custom content for a product page, open the product page.
  2. Click More actions > Localize.
  3. Select the market that you want to display customized content for from the drop-down list.
  4. Optional: Select the language that you want to display customized content for from the drop-down list.
  5. Enter your customized content into the appropriate field.
  6. Click Save.

Third-party app compatibility

The Translate & Adapt app is compatible with other third-party translation apps that use the Translations API. Content created with these apps will be in both the Translate & Adapt app and the third-party translation app.

Translate & Adapt app limitations

Review the following limitations of the Translate & Adapt app:

  • The Translate & Adapt app can't be used to translate certain content, and some content types are not supported.
  • Some languages can't be translated using the Translate & Adapt app. Learn more about unsupported languages.
  • URL handles, such as /products/en-ca/shoes can be translated into /products/es-mx/zapatos but the word products can't be translated.
  • URLs handles can't be customized for markets. Translations can only be added for URL handles on all markets where a language is visible.
  • Some Translatable Resource Types aren't supported by Translate & Adapt app search. Learn about unsupported translatable resource types.

Content types that can't be translated with the Translate & Adapt app

You can't translate the following types of content with the Translate & Adapt app:

Languages that are incompatible with the Translate & Adapt app

The following languages can't be translated using the Translate & Adapt app:

  • Bengali
  • Cebuano
  • Corsican
  • Frisian
  • Haitian Creole
  • Hawaiian
  • Hmong
  • Latin
  • Nyanja (Chichewa)
  • Odia (Oriya)
  • Samoan
  • Scots Gaelic
  • Sesotho
  • Tagalog (Filipino)

Unsupported translatable resource types

Search includes support for resources listed in the resource type filter. Additional resources can be searched for within CSV export. The following Translatable Resource Types aren't supported by search:

  • DELIVERY_METHOD_DEFINITION
  • EMAIL_TEMPLATE
  • FILTER
  • METAFIELD
  • ONLINE_STORE_THEME_APP_EMBED
  • ONLINE_STORE_THEME_SETTINGS_CATEGORY
  • ONLINE_STORE_THEME_SETTINGS_DATA_SECTIONS
  • PACKING_SLIP_TEMPLATE
  • PAYMENT_GATEWAY
  • SELLING_PLAN
  • SELLING_PLAN_GROUP
  • SHOP
  • SHOP_POLICY

Language selectors

You can let customers choose their preferred language by activating language selectors in your theme. If you're using a free theme from Shopify, then language selectors are built in.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.

  2. Find the theme that you want to edit, and then click Edit theme.

  3. Search your theme settings for Enable language selector. It might be in Theme settings, the footer, or the header, depending on your theme and the theme developer.

If you're not using a free theme from Shopify, then review the support documentation for your theme or contact the theme developer. You can add them by using a third-party geolocation app from the Shopify App Store to add language and country selectors to any theme. Language selectors can also be built for a theme.

Uninstall the Translate & Adapt app

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt.

  2. Click Horizontal menu, and then click Uninstall.

Translations and content generated by the Translate & Adapt app aren't deleted when the app is uninstalled. You can delete translations inside the app before uninstalling, or remove them after uninstalling by exporting and importing a CSV file.

Troubleshooting the Translate & Adapt app

Troubleshoot "Your Shop Does Not Support this Language" error when importing a CSV

If you receive this error when trying to import a language CSV file, then the language in your CSV might match your store's current default language.

The CSV import feature only applies translations to secondary languages, not your default language, which is located in Settings > Languages.

Example scenario

  1. Your store had Turkish as the default language with all in-admin content in Turkish.
  2. You exported your English translations to a CSV file.
  3. You changed your default language from Turkish to English in Settings > Languages.
  4. You tried to import the English CSV to update your store content, but received the error.

The import fails because the CSV is trying to import English content as a translation, but English is now your default language, not a secondary language.

To resolve this, you can manually update the content in your Shopify admin by copying content from your CSV, and then pasting it into the appropriate pages. You can also use a bulk editing app.

Alternatively, you can use Markets to change the default language.

Use Markets to change the default language that displays to customers

To use Markets to change the default language, review the following steps:

  1. Revert your default language change.
  2. Add the secondary language back.
  3. Re-import the CSV.
  4. Switch the default language for customers using Markets. Changing the default language through Markets doesn't require you to adjust your store content.