How to Set Your Store's Language and Region on Shopify

Before you start, know that Shopify separates language from market settings. Your store's language controls the text customers see in your theme, checkout, and policies. Your region or market settings control currency, shipping zones, and domain targeting. Most merchants need to configure both to sell internationally.

When you add a new language, Shopify automatically installs the Translate & Adapt app, which you'll use to manage all translations.

Source: Shopify

The Translate & Adapt app installs automatically when you add your first new language. If you already have languages published and need to install the app manually, click Install Shopify Translate & Adapt from your Store languages settings page.

Each Shopify plan (Basic and above) supports selling in up to 20 languages from a single store.

After adding a language, you have two options: manual translation or automatic translation. Manual gives you full control but takes longer. Automatic is faster but requires review for accuracy.

You can translate content directly from the Translate & Adapt app or from any content page.

If you need to translate large amounts of content quickly, use auto-translate for the entire store or specific resources.

Auto-translate language limit: The Translate & Adapt app supports automatic translation for a maximum of two languages. If your store requires more than two languages, additional languages must be translated manually or by importing a CSV

Translations will appear on your storefront within a few minutes. Review auto-translated content before publishing to customers, especially for product descriptions and policies.

Beyond translation, you can create custom content adapted to regional and cultural preferences in each market.

Use custom content to:

When you translate resources that include images or videos, you can upload different versions for different languages.

You can also localize PDFs and other files using metafields. After adding a file metafield to your resource, it appears in the translation editor.

Display different logo versions for different markets, such as English text for US customers and French text for Canadian customers.

Note: If your logo was uploaded as a brand asset via Settings > General > Brand assets, it cannot be localized by market. To display different logos for different markets, you must upload the logo directly in your theme settings (not through brand assets), then use Translate & Adapt to customize it per market.

Your default language is what displays to customers when no other language preference is detected. Most stores use the language of their primary market.

Important: Changing your default language deletes all existing translations for the language you switch to. For example, if you change your default from English to French, any existing French translations in your store are permanently removed. Export your translations from Settings > Languages before making this change if you want to preserve them.

If you use Shop Pay, you can customize the checkout language separately. Shopify supports 33 pre-translated checkout language options. To customize the wording in your checkout, go to Settings > Checkout > Edit checkout content.

To customize Shop Pay checkout wording, you need to update the default wording through your theme's language editor. The exact steps depend on your theme, but generally involve editing your theme's language files in the theme editor under Actions > Edit languages.

The Translate & Adapt app works with other third-party translation apps that use the Translations API. Content created in third-party apps appears in both the Translate & Adapt app and the original app. If you're already using a translation app, you can continue using it alongside Translate & Adapt.

Find compatible apps in the Shopify App Store by searching for "translation" or "language."

Translating content before adding the language: Add your language in Settings first. This installs the Translate & Adapt app and creates the language structure.

Not reviewing auto-translated content: Automatic translation is fast but not always accurate for nuanced product descriptions or brand voice. Review and edit before publishing.

Forgetting to translate policies: Your return policy, privacy policy, and terms of service should be translated to meet local requirements. Some regions legally require policies in the local language.

Mixing up language and market settings: Adding a language doesn't automatically create a market. You need to configure markets separately in Settings > Markets if you want to target specific countries with localized pricing and shipping.

Assuming all content translates automatically: Forms created with Shopify Forms, collection filters, and some app content won't translate through Translate & Adapt. Check each content type.

Not setting up international domains before managing per-market languages: Language settings cannot be managed independently per market unless international domains (subfolders or subdomains) are configured. Without international domains, your language settings apply equally across all active markets, and per-market language customization in Settings > Markets is not available.

"What language are you looking to publish? To ensure that the preferred language is applied to your storefront theme, head to admin Settings , then the Languages section , where you will be able to update the Published language . If, after following these steps, you’re still seeing English as default, check for any translator apps you may have installed previously. It could be a case of the app interfering and overriding your changes. Sometimes, snippets of leftover code can cause this issue even if you delete the app."

Start by adding your first new language in Settings > Languages, then use the Translate & Adapt app to translate your most important pages—homepage, top products, and policies—before moving to the rest of your catalog.