Translate your site content

Requirements

Translate your primary locale's content into other languages with AI, your own translations, or a translation app.

When you add a secondary locale, it inherits content from your primary locale. You can use AI to translate that content automatically as you work, request translations for individual elements, pages, or Collection items, or write your own translations.

Before you get started

Agentic translation is available on all paid Localize plans. To use it, add a secondary locale and a matching target language.

You can translate and review content while publishing is disabled for a locale. Publishing a secondary locale requires a paid Localize add-on.

Learn more about adding a secondary locale and target language settings.

Choose how to translate

If you want to…	Use…
Translate content automatically, then review and edit translations independently	Agentic translation in one-time mode
Keep translations updated when your primary content changes	Agentic translation in continuous mode
Choose a particular element, page, Collection item, or field to translate	An AI translation you trigger
Write translations yourself or manage them through a translation app	Direct editing or an app

Agentic translation is the automatic part of Webflow's AI translation features. You can also request individual AI translations without turning on agentic translation.

Automatically translate content with agentic translation

Agentic translation translates supported text in pages, page metadata, components, and CMS content. You configure it for each target language and choose how translations should respond to later changes.

Choose one-time or continuous translation

Behavior	One-time translation	Continuous translation
Existing content	Translates content that hasn't been localized yet	Translates content using the primary locale as its source
New content	Translates new content while the mode remains enabled	Translates new content while the mode remains enabled
Later changes to primary content	Leaves existing translations unchanged	Updates translations to reflect the primary content
Editing translations independently	You can edit translations yourself	Edit the primary content or adjust translation settings. Direct text editing is disabled on the canvas and in element settings and component properties; resets are disabled for affected fields.

One-time means once per piece of content. It isn't a single translation run that switches itself off afterward.

For example, you can use one-time translation for a French blog, edit the French headlines yourself, and still have new posts translated automatically. If you later change an existing headline in your primary locale, its French translation stays unchanged until you update or reset it.

Use continuous translation when you want primary content to drive updates across languages without resetting each translation.

Important

Switching to continuous translation can replace existing translations, including translations written by your team or supplied through an app. Choose one-time translation if you need to keep editing translations independently.

Turn on agentic translation

To turn on agentic translation for a target language:

Open the Localize panel from the left toolbar
Click Target languages
Hover over the language you want to configure and click the "settings" icon
Choose One-time translation or Continuous translation
Set Turn on agentic translation to On
Click Confirm

To change the translation mode, return to that target language's settings and choose the mode you want to use. Review the warning above before switching to continuous translation.

When translation runs

With agentic translation enabled, translation is triggered when you:

Open a page or CMS item in the secondary locale in Webflow
Finish editing an element or field in the primary locale and move focus away from it
Publish content through a supported publishing workflow

Turning on agentic translation doesn't immediately translate the entire site in the background. Opening a page or CMS item in the secondary locale lets you translate and review it before publishing.

Translation takes time to process. Review the result rather than assuming that a completed publish means every translation has finished.

Review and publish translations

To review a translation before publishing:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Open the page or CMS item you want to review
Wait for the translation to finish
Review the translated content

In one-time mode, you can edit the translation directly. In continuous mode, make changes to your primary content or use tone, formality, and glossary settings to guide the translation.

Publish your changes when you're ready. Translating a CMS item doesn't publish it or change its publishing status. You can manage publishing statuses separately for each locale. Learn more about localizing Collection content.

Refresh a translation in one-time mode

If primary content changes after it has been translated, one-time mode leaves the existing translation in place. You can edit that translation yourself, or reset the localized content to use the current primary content as the source.

Resetting removes the selected content's localized value. It doesn't clear translation memory or guarantee a different AI-generated result.

To reset a top-level component's localized settings on the canvas:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Right-click the top-level component you want to reset
Click Reset localized settings

To reset an individual Collection field:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Go to CMS tab > Collection > a Collection item
Click the label of the field you want to reset
Click Reset

The field inherits its primary-locale value again. You can then request an AI translation using the field's "globe" icon, or let agentic translation process it on a supported trigger.

Translate individual text elements with AI

You can request a translation for text-based elements, including links, buttons, and forms.

To translate text as a designer:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Right-click the text element
Choose Translate to [language]

To translate text as a marketer or content editor:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Select the text element
Click the "globe" icon

Continuous translation, exclusion rules, and your access to the content or locale can affect which AI translation controls are available.

Translate static page content with AI

You can request a translation of static text across a page, including text in components, without turning on agentic translation.

To translate a page as a designer:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Open the page you want to translate
Right-click a text element on the canvas
Choose Translate page to [language]

On a Collection page template, use this command to translate static template text. To translate content connected to CMS fields, use the Collection item or field procedures below.

Translate Collection items or fields with AI

To translate a Collection item:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Go to CMS tab > Collection > a Collection item
Click Translate all fields

To translate a single Collection field:

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale
Go to CMS tab > Collection > a Collection item
Hover over the field you want to translate
Click the "globe" icon

These actions translate content; they don't publish the item.

Pro tip

Enterprise and Advanced Localize plans also let you localize Collection slugs. For example, you could change the Collection slug from careers to empleos for a Spanish locale.

Learn more about localizing Collection content.

Write translations yourself or use an app

Use the locale switcher to go to the secondary locale, where you can write or edit its content directly. You can also use a translation app, like Lokalise, to manage translations outside Webflow.

If agentic translation is enabled, use one-time mode when you need these translations to remain independent of later changes to primary content. Continuous translation can replace independently authored translations.

Learn more about localizing content and styles.

Adjust how AI translates your content

You can guide translations with:

Tone and formality: set the writing style for each target language. Learn more about target language settings
A custom translation glossary: specify terminology such as product and brand names. This feature is available to Enterprise customers. Learn more about custom translation glossaries
Translation exclusions: keep selected page content, components, or Collection fields out of translation. Learn more about translation exclusion rules

Set exclusions before translating content that should stay unchanged. Page content, component content, and Collection fields have separate exclusion scopes.

How translation memory reuses translations

Translation memory stores AI translations and reuses a matching result when the same content is translated again on the same site, with the same source language, target language, and translation settings.

Reusing a stored translation doesn't consume additional included words. Changes to the source content or settings can require a new translation.

Translation memory works automatically. You can't view, edit, or clear its entries in this release, and editing text in a secondary locale doesn't update the stored translation.

If content doesn't translate

Check that:

Agentic translation is enabled for the matching target language, if you expect automatic translation
The content isn't excluded from the translation action you're using
You have permission to edit the content and access the locale
Your site has translated words available, or AI-credit use is enabled and credits are available
You aren't expecting one-time mode to update content that has already been translated

Learn more about locale-specific access.

Learn more about AI translation usage for word allowances, credit opt-in, and what happens when your allowance runs out.