Translate & Adapt EU Update: Auto-sync translations for up to 8 languages
By Steven Van ·
Manual translations stay untouched, and eligible stores can trigger a one-time translation before the next weekly sync.
Changes to product descriptions and other store content can now carry through to translated storefronts each week. Shopify has added Auto-sync to Translate & Adapt for eligible stores and increased their automatic translation limit from two to eight languages, in addition to the store’s default language.
Weekly updates per language
Auto-sync adds missing translations and updates outdated machine translations without changing translations added or edited manually. For some theme content, including default theme text, it only fills in missing translations.
To enable it, open Translate & Adapt from Shopify admin, select a language and turn on the Auto-sync translations toggle. It is off by default and can be switched on or off for each language individually.
Translations run at the same day and time each week. Enabling Auto-sync does not trigger an immediate translation: the first run can be up to a week later. For an unpublished language, it waits until the next weekly run after publication.
Translate now and language slots
The Auto-translate button is now called Translate now for eligible stores. It runs a one-time translation without waiting for the weekly sync. Shopify recommends reviewing translations for accuracy before publishing them.
Using Translate now, Auto-sync or both for a language uses one of the eight language slots. Those slots cannot be reassigned to another language, and removing a language does not reset the limit.
Where it is available
The update covers stores located in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Shopify’s automatic translation documentation also says that any store displaying Translate now has access to eight languages and Auto-sync, even outside those countries. Other stores retain the two-language limit and must trigger updates with Auto-translate.
