Setting up and managing languages in your store

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up and managing multiple languages in your Shopify store using the Athens theme. Whether you’re translating your store content, localizing images and files, or creating custom content for specific markets, this guide will provide step-by-step instructions to help you navigate the process with ease.

Step 1: Set up Shopify’s translate & adapt app

For this guide we’ll be using Shopify’s Shopify Translate & Adap app to manage translations and localization. You can also use a compatible third-party translation app if you prefer, but since Translate & Adapt is developed by Shopify, we’ll use it as the example throughout this guide.

When you add a new language to your store, Shopify automatically installs the Translate & Adapt app, so you don’t need to install it separately before getting started.

If your store already has published languages but Translate & Adapt isn’t installed, navigate to Settings > Languages and click Install Shopify Translate & Adapt.

Step 2: Add a language

Your store already has a default language, which is the language used for your store’s original content. To offer your store in additional languages, you first need to add them through your Shopify admin:

1. From your Shopify admin, navigate to Settings > Languages.
2. Click Add language.
3. In the Add language dialog, select the language you want to add from the dropdown menu, and then click Next.
4. Turn on each domain where you want the language to be available.
5. Click Done.

Each domain also displays the markets that use it.

You can add additional languages by repeating the steps above.

Step 3: Add translations for your content

After adding your languages, you can start translating your store content using Shopify Translate & Adapt.

From Settings > Languages, find the language you want to translate, click Translate, and then select Translate & Adapt from the dropdown menu.

This will open the Translate & Adapt app for the selected language, where you can browse the different types of content available for translation.

To start translating your content, select a content type, such as Products, and then select the item you want to translate.

The original content is displayed in the Reference column, while the fields for the selected language are displayed alongside it. Enter your translations in the corresponding fields and click Save when you’re finished.

Shopify Translate & Adapt also offers automatic translations for a maximum of two languages. To automatically translate your content, click Auto-translate, and then click Translate. Empty and outdated fields will be automatically translated into the selected language, while any translations that you’ve added or edited manually won’t be replaced.

If you add new content to your store later, such as a new product, automatic translations aren’t added automatically. Return to Translate & Adapt and run Auto-translate again for each relevant language.

Note: Policies aren’t automatically translated by Translate & Adapt and need to be translated manually. For legal and policy content, Shopify recommends consulting a professional translator.

Another way to access Translate & Adapt is directly from the content you want to translate. For example, when editing a product in your Shopify admin, click More actions > Localize to open the product in Translate & Adapt.

Alternatively, you can manage translations using a CSV file. From Settings > Languages, click Export to export your translations. Add or edit your translations in the Translated content column of the exported CSV file, and then return to Settings > Languages and click Import to import the updated file. CSV files don’t generate translations automatically, so you need to provide the translated content yourself.

Step 4: Publish your languages

When you’re ready to make a language available to customers, navigate to Settings > Languages.

Find the language you want to publish, click the three-dot menu (⋯) next to it, and then click Publish.

Once published, the language will display a Published status in the Languages settings.

To make a language available to customers in specific markets, it also needs to be assigned to the appropriate domain and market. You can manage domain and language customizations from Markets in your Shopify admin.

Step 5: Assign your languages to domains

When you add a language in Step 2, you can assign it to one or more domains during the setup process. If you need to change where a language is available later, you can manage its domain assignments from Settings > Languages.

To manage a language’s domain assignments:

1. From your Shopify admin, navigate to Settings > Languages.
2. Find the language you want to assign, click the three-dot menu (⋯) next to it, and then click Assign to domain.
3. In the dialog that appears, turn each domain on or off depending on where you want the language to be available. The markets that use each domain are displayed below it.
4. Click Done.

You can repeat these steps for any additional languages that you want to assign to your domains.

Step 6: Enable the language switcher on your storefront

Once your languages are set up, you can enable the language selector in the Athens theme so customers can choose their preferred language from your storefront.

1. From your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Edit theme.
2. Open the theme editor for your Athens theme.
3. Select the Header section.
4. Scroll to the Language selector settings.
5. Turn on Enable language selector.
6. Click Save.

The language selector will allow customers to switch between the languages that are available on your store.

And that’s it! Your multilingual store is now set up with the Athens theme, allowing customers to browse your storefront in the languages you’ve made available.