How to Import Translations into Shopify

Written by Noah Howadt
Last updated: July 24, 2026

Updating or importing translations into your Shopify store by CSV sounds simple, but in practice there are several common pitfalls. If you upload a raw or loosely formatted spreadsheet to Shopify, it’s easy to run into import errors, mismatched fields, or invalid locale values.

In this guide, we’ll explain why CSV translation imports often fail, outline Shopify’s exact file requirements, and walk through how to prepare your translations for a successful import.

Why CSV Translation Uploads Often Fail

Shopify allows store owners to export and import multilingual content by CSV, but the import format is fairly strict. A single missing quote, mislabeled column, or invalid locale can be enough to stop the upload.

Common pitfalls include:

• Formatting Errors: Missing header rows, the wrong character encoding, or improperly escaped commas and quotes can cause the CSV to be rejected.
• Field Mapping Issues: If resource identifiers or field names don’t match Shopify’s expected structure, translations may fail to import or end up on the wrong field.
• Locale Mismatches: Using non-standard ISO language codes, such as es_ES instead of es, or a locale that isn’t enabled in Shopify can prevent the import from going through.

Shopify’s CSV Translation Structure Explained

To import translations successfully, your CSV file needs to follow Shopify’s translation CSV structure. Below are the six required columns:

Note: Shopify requires the exact header names shown above. Capitalization and column ordering matter.

If you don’t want to adjust the file manually, you can use Translingo’s free formatter to map your columns and generate a Shopify-compatible CSV.

How to Prepare and Import a Translation CSV

If you’re preparing the file yourself in Google Sheets or Excel, follow this process:

1. Export the original template from Shopify Admin > Settings > Languages.
2. Open the file in a spreadsheet editor and ensure your character encoding is set strictly to UTF-8.
3. Map your translated text row by row into the Translated Content column, ensuring every Type, Identification, Field, and Locale value strictly matches Shopify’s existing records.
4. Escape special characters, HTML tags, and line breaks properly so Shopify can read each row correctly.
5. Re-export as CSV and upload it back to Shopify.

Why manual preparation often takes longer than expected

• Time-consuming: Large catalogs can produce thousands of translation rows.
• Easy to misalign: Small spreadsheet edits can shift rows or disconnect translated content from the correct resource or field.
• Encoding issues: Spreadsheet tools can alter special characters, accents, or non-Latin scripts when saving CSV files.