Important: This feature is currently export-only and is a work in progress. You can export translations from your store, and the exported format is compatible with Shopify's native translation import in the admin. However, we've added extra columns to make it easier to identify what's being translated.

We welcome your feedback! If you have any suggestions for improving this feature, please contact us.

Overview

The translations export creates a spreadsheet with one row per translatable field per locale. Each row shows:

The resource being translated (type, ID, handle)
The parent resource (for nested items like product options or metafields)
The specific field being translated
The default content (in your store's primary language)
The translated content (in the target locale)

Shopify Compatibility

The exported translation files are compatible with Shopify's native translation import functionality in the admin. You can export translations from Altera, edit them in your spreadsheet software, and import them directly into Shopify.

Additional Columns for Context

To make translations easier to work with, we've added several helper columns that aren't part of Shopify's standard format:

ID: The full Shopify Global ID (GID) of the resource (e.g., gid://shopify/Product/8079393226938)
Handle: The handle of the resource being translated (e.g., premium-cotton-tee)
Parent Type: The type of the parent resource (for nested items)
Parent ID: The full GID of the parent resource
Parent Handle: The handle of the parent resource

These additional columns make it much easier to identify what you're translating, especially when working with nested resources like product options or metafields. For example, when translating a metafield, you can see the namespace and key in the Handle column and the parent resource's handle in the Parent Handle column.

Note: The Type and Identification columns are part of Shopify's standard translation format and are required for importing translations back into Shopify.

Translatable Resource Types

The following resource types can be translated:

ARTICLE: Blog articles
BLOG: Blog information
COLLECTION: Product collections
DELIVERY_METHOD_DEFINITION: Shipping methods
EMAIL_TEMPLATE: Transactional email templates
FILTER: Collection filters
LINK: Navigation menu links
MEDIA_IMAGE: Media file alt text
MENU: Navigation menus
METAFIELD: Custom metafields
METAOBJECT: Metaobject content
ONLINE_STORE_THEME: Theme customizations
PAGE: Store pages
PAYMENT_GATEWAY: Payment method names
PRODUCT: Product details
PRODUCT_OPTION: Product option names (Size, Color, etc.)
PRODUCT_OPTION_VALUE: Product option values (Small, Blue, etc.)
SELLING_PLAN: Subscription plan details
SELLING_PLAN_GROUP: Subscription plan groups
SHOP: Store information
SHOP_POLICY: Store policies

Fields

Type

Description	Example Value
Resource type	`PRODUCT`

The type of Shopify resource being translated. See Translatable Resource Types for a complete list of supported types.

This column is part of Shopify's standard translation format.

ID

Description	Example Value
Shopify Global ID (GID)	`gid://shopify/Product/8079393226938`

The full Shopify Global ID (GID) for the resource. This includes the resource type and numeric ID in a URI format.

This is an Altera-specific field that provides the complete resource identifier.

Identification

Description	Example Value
Shopify resource numeric ID	`8079393226938`

The numeric ID portion of the resource's Shopify Global ID (GID). This is extracted from the full GID format (e.g., gid://shopify/Product/8079393226938).

This column is part of Shopify's standard translation format and is required for importing translations back into Shopify.

Handle

Description	Example Value
Resource handle	`premium-cotton-tee`

The URL-friendly handle for the resource. This is an Altera-specific field that makes it easier to identify what you're translating. Not all resource types have handles.

Parent Type

Description	Example Value
Parent resource type	`PRODUCT`

For nested resources (like product options or metafields), this shows the type of the parent resource. For top-level resources, this will match the Type field.

This is an Altera-specific field that provides additional context about the resource hierarchy.

Parent ID

Description	Example Value
Parent resource GID	`gid://shopify/Product/8079393226938`

For nested resources, this shows the full GID of the parent resource. For top-level resources, this will match the ID field.

This is an Altera-specific field that provides additional context about the resource hierarchy.

Parent Handle

Description	Example Value
Parent resource handle	`premium-cotton-tee`

For nested resources, this shows the handle of the parent resource. For example, when translating a product option, this shows the product's handle.

This is an Altera-specific field that makes it easier to understand the context of what you're translating.

Field

Description	Example Value
Translatable field key	`title`

The specific field being translated. Common field keys include:

title: Resource title or name
body_html: HTML description or content
meta_title: SEO title
meta_description: SEO description
option1.name: Product option name (Size, Color, etc.)
alt_text: Image alt text

The available fields vary by resource type. For example, products have fields like title and body_html, while metafields have a single value field.

Locale

Description	Example Value
Target language locale	`fr`

The language code for the translation. This uses ISO 639-1 two-letter language codes, optionally followed by a region code (e.g., en, fr, es, pt-BR, zh-CN).

The available locales are determined by which languages you've enabled in your Shopify admin under Settings > Languages.

Default content

Description	Example Value
Original content in primary language	`Premium Cotton T-Shirt`

The original content in your store's primary language. This is the content that should be translated into the target locale.

For fields like product descriptions, this contains the HTML content. For plain text fields, it contains the plain text.

Translated content

Description	Example Value
Translated content in target locale	`T-Shirt en Coton Premium`

The translated content for the target locale. If no translation exists yet, this field will be empty.

For rich text fields, this should contain the translated HTML. For plain text fields, it should contain the translated plain text.

Export Filters

You can use these filters to limit which translations are exported:

locale: Filter by language code (e.g., fr, es, de)
Supports comma-separated values: locale=fr,es,de
Use NOT_EQUALS to exclude specific locales: locale NOT EQUALS en
By default, exports all non-primary locales
type: Filter by resource type (e.g., PRODUCT, COLLECTION, PAGE)
Supports comma-separated values: type=PRODUCT,COLLECTION
See Translatable Resource Types for valid values
By default, exports all translatable resource types

Product-Level Filters

When exporting product translations (including PRODUCT, PRODUCT_OPTION, and PRODUCT_OPTION_VALUE types), you can filter by product attributes:

product_status: Filter by product status
Options: active, draft, archived, unlisted
Example: product_status=active to only export translations for active products
product_tag: Filter by product tag
Example: product_tag=summer to only export translations for products tagged "summer"
Supports partial matching
product_created_at: Filter by product creation date
Example: product_created_at=2024-01-01 to export translations for products created on that date
Supports date ranges with GREATER_THAN and LESS_THAN relations

Note: Product-level filters only apply to PRODUCT, PRODUCT_OPTION, and PRODUCT_OPTION_VALUE resource types. Other resource types (like COLLECTION, PAGE, etc.) will pass through unfiltered when product-level filters are applied.

Example Use Cases

Exporting Product Translations

Export all product translations for French and Spanish:

Select the Translations object type
Add filters: locale=fr,es and type=PRODUCT
Export the file

Identifying Nested Resources

When working with nested resources like product options, the parent columns help you understand the context:

Type	ID	Identification	Handle	Parent Type	Parent ID	Parent Handle	Field	Locale	Default content	Translated content
PRODUCT_OPTION	gid://shopify/ProductOption/123	123	-	PRODUCT	gid://shopify/Product/456	cotton-tee	name	fr	Size	Taille

This makes it clear that you're translating the "Size" option name for the "cotton-tee" product.

Working with Metafields

For metafield translations, the Handle column shows the metafield namespace and key:

Type	ID	Identification	Handle	Parent Type	Parent ID	Parent Handle	Field	Locale	Default content	Translated content
METAFIELD	gid://shopify/Metafield/789	789	custom.care_instructions	PRODUCT	gid://shopify/Product/456	cotton-tee	value	fr	Machine wash cold	Laver à froid

This shows you're translating the custom.care_instructions metafield for the "cotton-tee" product.

Limitations and Future Plans

Current Limitations

Export only: Translation import is not yet supported
No filtering by field: You cannot yet filter to export only specific fields (e.g., only titles, not descriptions)
Product filters only: Resource-level filtering is currently only available for products. Other resource types (collections, pages, etc.) cannot yet be filtered by their attributes.

Planned Features

We're actively working on this feature and plan to add:

Import support to create and update translations
Resource-level filtering for additional types (collections, pages, etc.)

If you have suggestions or feature requests, please contact us

Metafield Definition Fields

Product Fields

Metaobject Fields

Metaobject Definition Fields

Metafields

Translation Fields