Most of a Shopify product page can be translated: title, description, options and the URL handle. Three things on it cannot. Shopify's documentation states that Translate & Adapt does not translate tags or product images, and metafields are conditional — supported when added as file metafields to a resource, while metafield is simultaneously listed among unsupported resource types for search.
That ambiguity is real and it is in Shopify's own doc. Check the specific metafield you care about rather than assuming coverage either way.
The URL handle quirk nobody mentions
You can localise the URL handle per language, which matters because a translated slug is a genuine multilingual-SEO signal. But one segment is fixed: the word products cannot be translated. So a French product URL keeps an English path segment in the middle of it. That is a Shopify constraint, not an app limitation, and no ranking guide states it.
Tags are the one that costs you
Tags cannot be translated. If your merchandising, collections or filtering rely on tags — and on most stores they do — then the mechanism behind your navigation stays in your source language even when every visible product page is translated. Collection filters are on the same excluded list, which compounds it.
This is worth designing around rather than discovering. It usually means not relying on tag text as customer-facing copy in markets you are localising — and checking the same exclusion list before you plan any bulk translation import or export, since nothing untranslatable can appear in one.
What translates well automatically, and what does not
Product titles and short descriptions survive machine translation well. Long-form product copy carrying brand voice does not, and product copy is where a premium brand is most exposed — a shopper who reads a slightly wrong description discounts the brand rather than the translation. Our position is unlimited machine translation as the baseline, with human review where the market matters; nearly all our merchants choose the proofreading tier for exactly this reason.
The scale question matters more than the quality one. Forty products added in September need forty translated descriptions, and then it happens again in October. With continuous localisation, adding a product on the source store means it is live in every language without anyone touching it. Mac Duggal reached 28 markets in under three months on that model, taking international from 8% to 16% of DTC revenue.
Across 40+ merchants and 50+ site and country combinations, translated stores lifted conversion by an average of 40% at launch, with individual results between 15% and 100%. Choosing between tools rather than configuring one? The best Shopify translation apps guide compares what each architecture reaches, and what Shopify Markets covers sets the native boundary.
Frequently asked questions
Can Shopify translate product tags?
No. Shopify's documentation lists tags among the content Translate & Adapt cannot translate.
Are metafields translatable?
Conditionally. Shopify supports metafields added as file metafields to a resource, while listing metafield among unsupported resource types for search. Verify the specific metafield rather than assuming.
Can I translate the product URL?
Partly. URL handles can be localised per language, but the word 'products' inside the path cannot be translated.
Do product images get translated?
No. Product images are on Shopify's documented exclusion list, so any text inside an image stays in its original language.
