Sync translations

Translations run only when you click Sync Translations on a language’s Translation Sync card — nothing translates automatically when you add a language, publish a new article, or edit an existing one. The sync only translates what’s still missing, so re-running it is always safe and never re-does completed work.

Before you start

• A user role that can edit Knowledge Base settings.
• At least one secondary language added — see Enable a language.

Run a sync

1. Open Settings → Knowledge → Markets and Languages.
2. Click into the language. The Translation Sync card shows current coverage:
   Articles translated — e.g. 0 / total for a freshly added language
   Categories translated — 0 / total
   Subcategories translated — 0 / total
3. Click Sync Translations. Jobs are queued for everything that’s missing, and progress polls live (every few seconds).

Job statuses

• pending — Queued, not yet started
• scanning — Inventorying what needs translation
• translating — AI translation in progress
• completed — Done; coverage panel updated
• failed — Hit an error — usually transient; re-run Sync Translations to retry

Depending on KB size, a full sync takes minutes (small KB, ~50 articles) to longer (hundreds of articles). The Sync Translations button stays available throughout — clicking it again only translates what’s still missing.

Which articles translate first

Jobs run in roughly publish-date order — recently published articles translate first. If you have priority articles, publish edits to them before running Sync so they jump to the front of the queue.

Keeping translations current

• Article edits do not auto-translate. When you publish an edit, the original-language article updates; secondary-language versions stay on the old translation until you click Sync Translations again. This is intentional — translation uses AI inference and runs cost-aware. Set a quarterly or monthly cadence for re-syncing.
• New articles do not auto-translate. Same reason. After publishing a batch of new articles, run Sync Translations to pick them up.
• Disabled languages keep their translations. The Translation Sync card and its coverage stats stay visible even while a language is toggled off.

For what counts as “fully translated” for each entity, see Translation completeness.

Force Retranslate All

If you need to start over — for example after changing protected terms or making structural content updates — Force Retranslate All runs every article through translation again, ignoring existing translations. This costs significantly more than a normal sync, so reserve it for those cases; a regular Sync Translations covers everything else.

Common gotchas

• Translation doesn’t run on save. Editing an article doesn’t queue a re-translation — run Sync Translations afterwards.
• A failed job is usually transient. Re-run Sync Translations; it picks up where it left off.
• Sync is per-language. There’s no per-article re-translate button — the sync runs at the language level for everything that needs work.

See also

• Enable a language
• Translation completeness reference
• Why is my translation not appearing?
• Manage protected terms