Your products can be fully translated while the theme around them still says "Add to cart" and "Search" in your default language. Theme text lives in a different place from product content, but you do not need to open a code file to translate it. This guide covers the kinds of theme text, where to translate each one, and the limits to know about.
The two kinds of theme text
Themes hold two kinds of wording. Knowing which is which tells you where to look when something stays untranslated.
| Kind | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Default theme text | Add to cart, Sold out, Search, cart messages | Built into the theme |
| Your own theme content | Announcement bar, homepage headings, section text, footer | Typed by you in the theme editor |
Translate theme text in Translate & Adapt
Shopify's Translate & Adapt app is installed automatically when you add a language, and it has a Theme section alongside products and pages. No file editing is involved.
- Open the app: From your Shopify admin, go to Apps, then Translate & Adapt
- Pick the language: Select the language you want to translate into
- Pick the resource: Select the theme resource you want, such as default theme content
- Translate and save: Enter the translation in the field, then click Save
Shopify's automatic translation can fill theme text too. For default theme text it adds missing translations and does not update ones that already exist.
Images in the theme
Text inside an image cannot be translated as text. Shopify lets you swap the file per language from the theme editor instead.
- Upload: Add the translated image under Content, then Files
- Localize: In the theme editor, select the image, open the three-dot menu and click Localize
- Assign: Choose the language, click Change and select the new file
Rules for what to leave alone
Some theme fields contain HTML or Liquid as well as words. Shopify's guidance on translating themes says what to change in each case.
- ✅ Plain text: Replace it with the equivalent in the target language
- ✅ HTML: Translate the link names and the styled words
- ❌ HTML: Leave link destinations, tags and symbol codes unchanged
- ❌ Liquid: Do not translate Liquid tags, objects or filters. Translate the text around them
Limits to know about
These points come from Shopify's help documentation. After you save, switch your storefront to the new language and click through the header, a product page, the cart and the footer.
- Partial is fine: You do not have to translate every field. Untranslated fields show the theme's default language
- Per-language cap: Each theme locale file can store up to 3,400 translations
- Missing fields: If a field is not in the translations CSV exported from Settings, then Languages, it is not translatable
The wider review process is in how to translate your Shopify store safely.
Doing this at scale
LinguaFlow drafts AI translations for each language you add and applies your brand glossary and tone rules. You review and edit before publishing, and it publishes through Shopify's native Translations API with no theme edits, with an audit log and rollback. See LinguaFlow.