[Feature Request] Ability to swap default and secondary languages without losing translations

Store Feedback

Topic summary

A merchant requests the ability to swap Shopify’s default and secondary store languages without losing existing translations.

Current limitations:

  • Changing the default language in Settings only relabels content—it doesn’t promote translations to become the new default
  • Shopify deletes translations for the language being switched
  • CSV import/export and translation apps (Translate & Adapt, Langify, Matrixify) cannot overwrite default language content

Real-world scenario:

  • A store was built in English, Dutch translations were added via AI, but switching Dutch to default deleted all the AI-generated content with no recovery option

Proposed solution:

  • Add functionality to promote a secondary language (with its translations) to default status while preserving all content
  • Include an option like: “Make this language default and keep its translations as content”

This would prevent merchants from needing to rebuild entire stores if they initially selected the wrong default language.

Community members expressed support, noting many merchants would benefit from this feature.

Summarized with AI on October 24. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

right now, if you start a store in the “wrong” default language, there is no way to fix it.

  • changing the default language in Settings → Languages only relabels the existing content. it does not promote your translations to become the new default.

  • when you switch, Shopify deletes the translations for that language.

  • CSV import/export only works for secondary languages — the Default content column is locked. so you cannot overwrite the primary language content, no matter what edits you do.

  • apps like Translate & Adapt, Langify, or even Matrixify can’t solve this either, since none of them can overwrite the default language.

real-world problem: i had a client who wanted Dutch as the only language. we built in English, added Dutch with AI (worked perfectly), then tried to make Dutch default. but as soon as we switched, all translations were deleted and there was no way to use the AI Dutch content.

requested feature:
please add a way to promote a secondary language (with its translations) into the new default language without losing data. ideally with an option like: “make this language default and keep its translations as content.”

this would save merchants from rebuilding entire stores if they picked the wrong default at the start.

1 Like
2

very helpful, thanks so much for this

3

Hi there Ibrahim @ibrahimsu Your suggestion actually does make a lot of sense and it’s something I believe a lot of merchants would actually benefit from. I believe someone from the Shopify support team would pick up on this sooner rather than later

1 Like