WPML menu translation is not one universal procedure. The correct workflow depends on how navigation was built and what each menu item points to. A classic theme may manage menus through the familiar menu interface, while a block theme uses the Site Editor and its Navigation block. A menu linking to translated pages follows a different path from a menu built mostly with manually entered custom URLs.
Before changing menu settings, identify the structure used on the site. Then separate three cases: links to translatable WordPress or WooCommerce content, Navigation block menus managed inside a template part, and classic menus containing custom links. This distinction helps prevent a common mistake: translating a visible label while leaving the destination, store interface, or extension-generated text in the wrong language.
Choose the correct WPML menu workflow
Identify classic menus and block-theme navigation
Start by checking how the active theme manages navigation. With a classic theme, menu configuration is handled through the classic menu interface, commonly associated with the Appearance menu area. With a block theme, the Site Editor is available and navigation is managed through the Navigation block. These are not interchangeable editing contexts, so the first decision should be based on the actual theme and screen used by the site.
Next, inspect the menu items themselves. Links to pages, posts, custom post types, products, categories, and similar content are connected to translatable destinations. Custom links are different: their displayed text and URL are entered separately. A Site Editor Navigation block can contain page links, custom links, submenus, and other supported blocks, while each Navigation block displays one selected menu at a time.
This gives you a practical decision framework:
- Content-linked menu: translate the linked WordPress or WooCommerce content through WPML, then review the menu destination.
- Site Editor navigation: locate the template part containing the Navigation block and submit that block through the relevant WPML translation area.
- Classic custom-link menu: create the target-language menu, assign its location, and review both translated labels and URLs.
Translate menus that link to WordPress or WooCommerce content
Translate the destination before reviewing the menu
When a menu item points to a page, post, custom post type, category, product, or similar translatable content, WPML’s workflow focuses on translating the linked content. The menu item is not necessarily an independent string that should be translated in isolation. Its output depends on the language version of the destination it references.
For example, a menu item leading to a shop page should be reviewed together with the translated shop content. The same applies to product and product-category links, as well as links to cart, checkout, or account pages in a WooCommerce store. Translating a visible menu label does not automatically translate the page, product, checkout interface, or any text generated by an extension.
Use this order of work:
- Identify the WordPress or WooCommerce content targeted by the menu item.
- Translate that destination through the appropriate WPML translation workflow.
- Review the menu in the target language and confirm that it points to the intended language version.
- Check the front end rather than relying only on saved administrative settings.
This approach keeps navigation connected to the content visitors are meant to see. It also makes the distinction between a translated destination and separately managed interface strings clear. A translated product link does not, by itself, establish that every product label, checkout message, or extension-generated string is translated.
Translate Navigation block menus in the Site Editor
Find the template part and Navigation Menu section
Use this workflow when the site uses a block theme and navigation is built with the Site Editor’s Navigation block. First identify the template part that contains the block. The relevant location may be a header or footer, although the exact placement depends on the site structure. The important point is to work with the template part that actually displays the navigation visitors use.
In WPML’s translation area, open the relevant Site Template Part. Then locate the Navigation Menu section and select the Navigation block for translation through the chosen WPML translation method. This is different from treating the navigation as a classic menu managed only through the traditional menu screen.
Before sending the block for translation, inspect what it contains. The Navigation block can include page links, custom links, and submenus. Each of these may require a different review after translation. A page link should lead to the translated content version. A custom link requires separate attention to its visible text and URL. A submenu should be checked as a complete path, not just as a translated parent label.
After translation, verify that the intended menu is selected and displayed by the Navigation block. Because a Navigation block displays one selected menu at a time, the translated result should be reviewed in the relevant template part and on the front end. Confirm the header or footer output in every enabled language before treating the navigation as complete.
Create translated menus with custom links
Translate the label and destination separately
Classic menus containing custom links require a more manual workflow. A custom link has an editable URL and separately editable displayed text. It is therefore possible to translate the label while leaving visitors directed to a page in another language. The URL must be reviewed or replaced independently.
For the target language, create a new menu in the classic menu workflow. Give it an identifiable name, assign it to the appropriate display location, and add the required items. When adding a custom link, enter the translated visible text and the correct destination URL for that language. If the link is intended to lead to an external destination, review that destination as well; if it leads to an internal page, confirm that the target-language page is used.
- Create the menu for the target language.
- Assign the menu to its display location.
- Add the required menu items.
- Enter translated visible text for each custom link.
- Review or replace the URL separately from the label.
- Save the menu and test every destination from the front end.
Custom links can also be placed inside submenus. Test those paths directly, because a submenu can appear correctly while one of its URLs still points to the wrong language or an unintended destination. The essential rule is simple: the label and destination are separate settings and must be validated separately.
Manage multilingual WooCommerce navigation
Separate menu destinations from store interface strings
Multilingual WooCommerce navigation combines menu configuration with broader store translation work. Begin by checking the destinations used in navigation: shop, product, product-category, cart, checkout, and account pages should correspond to the intended language version. Then use the workflow that matches the theme: a translated classic menu for classic navigation or the Site Editor Navigation workflow for a block-theme site.
Do not assume that every WooCommerce label is managed in the same WPML screen as the menu. WPML’s WooCommerce documentation identifies several customer-facing areas that may require separate translation and review, including products and variations, categories and tags, cart and checkout content, account-related labels, shipping and payment method text, and order emails. WooCommerce extensions may also generate their own customer-facing strings.
For that reason, treat store navigation as two connected tasks. First, configure the menu and verify its destination URLs. Second, review the store content and interface text that visitors encounter after following those links. Confirm which WPML components are installed and relevant to the store before applying product-specific instructions, since the sources do not establish one universal workflow for every extension.
Test the complete customer path in each enabled language. Where relevant, check the cart, checkout, account area, currency behavior, and language switching. Perform the review while logged out when possible, because logged-in and logged-out visitors may encounter different account and checkout states. Customer-facing commercial, legal, product, and checkout wording should receive human review rather than being treated as automatically correct.
Troubleshoot translated menu problems with a verification checklist
Front-end checks by menu type
When a translated menu does not behave as expected, return to the same decision framework used during setup. The documented workflow distinguishes menu types, but it does not provide a universal troubleshooting matrix for every theme, plugin, WooCommerce extension, or custom navigation implementation. A structured front-end review is therefore more reliable than assuming that one fix applies everywhere.
- Content-linked menus: confirm that the page, post, product, category, or other destination has a translation and that the menu opens the intended language version.
- Navigation blocks: verify the relevant template part, the selected menu, page links, custom links, and submenu destinations.
- Classic custom-link menus: inspect the visible label and URL as separate values, then test each internal or external destination.
- WooCommerce navigation: check shop, product, category, cart, checkout, and account paths, then review store interface strings separately.
If a label appears translated but the destination is not, inspect the URL rather than changing only the text. If the menu looks correct in the administration area but fails on the front end, verify the language-specific display location and the template part or menu selected by the theme. For a block-theme site, confirm that the Navigation block being translated is the one actually used in the displayed header or footer.
For WooCommerce, continue beyond the first click. Test the relevant store flow in each enabled language, including cart, checkout, account, currency, and language-switching behavior where those features apply. Look separately for untranslated checkout, shipping, payment, account, email, or extension-generated text. This prevents a menu translation from being mistaken for a complete multilingual store configuration.
Finally, save the relevant changes and repeat the front-end checks after translation review. Do not treat automatic translation as a guarantee of correct commercial or checkout wording. Manual verification of labels, URLs, destinations, and customer-facing store text is the final step before considering the multilingual navigation ready.
WPML menu translation works best when the menu’s construction determines the method. For content-linked menus, translate the linked WordPress or WooCommerce content first and then verify the destination. For block-theme navigation, work through the relevant Site Editor template part and its Navigation Menu section. For classic custom links, create a target-language menu and translate the label and URL separately. WooCommerce requires an additional review of store content and interface strings beyond the menu itself. Explore our WordPress plugins, WooCommerce extensions, themes and membership plans to find the right tools for your website.