Add, translate, preview and publish a language

Add each shopper language to the same customiser. Translate it by hand, or review an AI first draft. Preview it privately. Publish it when it is ready.

Before you start

The default language is the fallback for shoppers who match no other language. The primary language is the language of the text on your option pages. Its language row shows the Primary badge. The primary language can be different from the default language.

When you add a language, its source language is, by default, the primary language. You can choose a different language as the source. If no language has the Primary badge, Sign Customiser selects the default language as the source.

Check the default language on older customisers. It does not always match the main language of your Shopify Store. A published language is visible to shoppers when it matches the language that the customiser receives. The customiser reads the language from the Language code override setting of the theme block, from the Shopify storefront, or from the shopper’s browser. A draft is private.

Open Languages

Open Customisers and select the customiser.
Go to Settings → Languages. If the window is narrow, select Menu first.

This page replaces the old single Language page.

Languages page of the customiser showing the Customiser Menu with Settings, Discounts and Languages, the Add language button and the English row marked Default and Published

Add a language

Select Add language.
Search by language, country or code. Choose the target language or regional variant.
Choose the source language. It defaults to the primary language.
To start with empty fields, leave Generate a first draft with AI off. To prepare an AI first draft, turn it on. The option shows only when AI translation is set up.
Select Add language.

Add a language dialog with the Language search field, the Source language select and the Add language and Cancel buttons

You cannot add the same language code twice.

Translate manually or review an AI draft

Select Edit on the language row. The editor shows the source wording beside the target translation. The source wording is published text. Unpublished drafts do not show as source wording:

For option, selection, setting and form text, it is the published text in the primary language. If that text is not published yet, the editor shows the text from the option page.
For interface text, such as buttons and messages, it is the published text in the source language of this translation. If that language has no published text for a field, the editor shows the default language text.

If no language has the Primary badge, the source wording is the current wording of the source language. This wording includes drafts.

The editor shows the language code of the source wording above the source column, for example Source · en. When the fields in a section come from different languages, each field shows its language code.

To narrow the list, use search or the Missing, Stale, AI and Manual filters. A filter shows when at least one field matches it. A filter that you selected stays visible, even when no field matches it now.

If a required translation is missing, the Required translations missing banner shows Show N missing. Select it to list the fields that need wording. You can also select the Missing filter.

Language editor for English showing the Preview and Publish buttons, the completion status, the Search labels and text field, the Save draft button and the All filter chip above the translation fields

To start an AI first draft later, select Translate with AI in the language header. This button works only on a language that is not published. It shows only when AI translation is set up and the language has blank fields or stale AI drafts. The default language and the primary language never show it. If you turned on Generate a first draft with AI when you added the language, the run has already started.

AI translates from the same source wording that the editor shows. It also gives the AI model the language of each source text. AI translates the language in sections. A run can continue for more than two minutes after the editor starts to follow it. The editor then shows a notice that the run takes longer than usual. You can cancel a run, or retry a failed run. AI fills blank fields and stale AI drafts. It makes a first draft only. It never publishes. It does not overwrite your manual edits, and the editor has no option to replace them. To change a manual edit, edit the field yourself.

When the run ends, read the AI translations. Then select Accept all AI translations (N) and confirm. This saves the translations immediately. You do not need to select Save draft.

Review before publishing

Check brand names, font families, placeholders and formatting tokens yourself. Review optional fields also. They do not block publishing.

English source labels beside French fields. The Colour label is marked Stale and has an Accept current wording button.

Save, preview and publish

Select Save draft.
Select Preview. This opens the real customer customiser with the draft wording. The public customiser does not change.
Complete each required field that has the Missing label. A missing required translation blocks publishing.
Select Publish. Matching shoppers then see the saved version.

Update a published language

Edits to a published language show as Unpublished changes. The last published version stays live until you publish again. If required target wording is missing, shoppers see the fallback wording, not an empty field. Do not rely on this. Complete and review the target wording.

Change option text in the primary language

You can also change option, selection, setting and form text in the editor of the primary language.

Select Edit on the language row that shows the Primary badge.
Edit the text.
Select Save draft. A draft does not change the option pages or the public customiser.
Select Publish. Sign Customiser updates the public customiser and the text on the option pages in the same step.

If the text is too long for its field, publishing stops and nothing changes. Make the text shorter. Then publish again.

When published text in the primary language changes, translations made from the earlier text become Stale.

Make another language the default

A language must be complete and published before you can make it the default. Open the More actions menu on the language row. Select Make default. The new default becomes the fallback for shoppers who match no language and for missing keys. This change does not make the new default the primary language. It does not translate old orders. It does not change the main language of your Shopify Store.

Make another language the primary language

Do this when you want to write your option text in a different language. A language must be complete and published before you can make it the primary language.

Open the More actions menu on the language row.
Select Make primary language.
Read the changes in the window. Then select Make primary language.

When you continue:

The option pages show the published text of the new primary language.
The other languages become translations of that text.
Translations that matched the old text stay current. The other translations show Stale.
The default language does not change.

The window can also tell you about these changes:

The number of unpublished drafts that the published text replaces.
The number of optional fields that are empty in the new language. Shoppers will not see these fields in any language.
The API v3 reads that will return text in the new language. Select Changes for API v3 integrations to see them.

If Make primary language is not available, publish complete translations first. You also cannot change the primary language while an AI translation runs. If no language has the Primary badge, the menu does not show Make primary language.

Remove a language

Open the More actions menu on the language row.
Select Remove and confirm.

Removal permanently deletes the translations and unpublished changes of that language. You cannot remove the default language, the only published language, or the primary language. You also cannot remove a language while an AI run is active.

Keep translations current

When source wording changes, the dependent translations can become Stale. A Review language updates notice then links to the affected fields. If more than one language is affected, the link opens the Languages list, filtered to the stale languages. Open a language from that list to see its stale fields. Follow the link. Edit the translation yourself. If the existing target text is still correct, select Accept current wording.

Accept all current wording adds the existing translations of stale fields to your draft. It does not create missing translations. Select Save draft to keep them.

Duplicate a customiser

The duplicate keeps the language list, the draft and published values, and your manual translations. An AI job that is still running does not continue on the duplicate.

Troubleshooting

Publish is disabled. Save your changes. Complete the required fields. Wait for any AI run to end. Publish also stays off when the language has no unpublished changes.
Publish stops with an error in the primary language. Some text is too long for its field. Make the text shorter. Then publish again.
The language is not visible. Make sure that it is published. In the theme block, leave Language code override blank so that the storefront language is used, or enter the exact published language code. A filled-in override replaces the storefront language. See Choose the customiser language on Shopify and Universal.
Old wording is still visible. Publish the unpublished changes. Shoppers see the published version, not the draft.
Two people are editing. Coordinate the work. For each field, the last saved version wins.