WPML

The Troubleshooting Tools in WPML > Support

The WPML > Support page lists every troubleshooting tool WPML ships, grouped into three tiers by how dangerous they are to run.

  • Safe to run yourself. Green badge. Self-serve tools you can run without WPML Support’s involvement.
  • Logs – read only. Sky-blue badge. Read-only views into what WPML has been doing. Useful for diagnosing intermittent issues; can’t make anything worse.
  • Advanced – only when WPML Support asks you to. Red badge. Destructive or hard-to-reverse tools. Don’t run these on your own; see Advanced tools.

This page covers the Safe tier. The Logs tier has its own reference at Logs; the Advanced tier at Advanced tools.

Finding the Right Tool – Search

The search box at the top of WPML > Support scans every tool and every sub-action across all three tiers. Type the symptom you’re seeing, the name of the thing that’s broken, or the operation you want to run (“stuck”, “cache”, “taxonomy”, “duplicate”, “sitekey”) and the matching tools appear with their tier badge.

You don’t need to remember which tier a tool lives in.

Safe to Run Yourself

System Check

What it does: shows the debug information WPML Support asks for first, runs connectivity tests against WPML’s servers, lists the PHP extensions WPML needs, and lets you refresh the local license data cache.

When to reach for it:

  • You’re about to ask a support question. Copy the Debug information block – see Sharing debug information with support for what else to include.
  • WPML can’t reach wpml.org and you want to confirm it’s a connectivity issue.
  • A subscription change isn’t reflected in WPML. Refresh license data re-fetches the account state.
  • You want to verify your server has the PHP extensions WPML needs (SimpleXML and others).

This is the first tool to reach for in most situations.

Fix Language Data

What it does: repairs the language assignments WPML stores against each post and term. Five sub-actions cover Set language information (assign language to content that has none), Synchronize posts taxonomies (re-link taxonomy translations to their posts), Remove comments that don’t match the content’s language, Fix terms count (recompute per-language term counts), and Fix post type assignment.

When to reach for it:

  • A post or term shows up in the wrong language column on the Translations Dashboard.
  • WPML reports the default language is a translation.
  • Taxonomy translations look disconnected from their posts.
  • You’ve changed a language code (e.g., en-gb → en) and need to re-assign existing content. See Changing the language code of existing content below.
  • Comments aren’t filtering correctly between languages.

Fix Translations

What it does: repairs translation state. Eight sub-actions: clear WPML’s cache, retry stuck automatic translations, refresh the connection to translation services, update the language switcher’s domain name (after a move), assign translation status to duplicates, cancel in-progress automatic jobs, reset the preferred translation service, and reset professional-translation state.

When to reach for it:

  • Translations look stuck. They sit in In progress forever or show no progress in WPML > Translations > Translation Jobs.
  • You’ve just moved the site to a new domain and the language switcher still points at the old domain.
  • A translation service connection has gone sideways and you want to reset it cleanly.
  • Duplicate posts that should be marked as translations aren’t being treated as translations.

Update Internal Links

What it does: scans posts created before WPML 4.7 and rewires their internal links to the correct translated versions. Newer posts have their links adjusted automatically; this tool only applies to sites that carried content over from older WPML versions.

When to reach for it: a one-time housekeeping action on long-running sites whose posts predate WPML 4.7. After the run completes, the section disappears – it only needs to run once per site.

Remove All Messages and Notifications

What it does: dismisses every WPML admin notice on the site and resets dismissible warnings so they can re-appear if they recur.

When to reach for it: the WPML admin pages are cluttered with old notices that no longer apply, or you’ve just resolved a long-standing issue and want to clean up the now-obsolete warnings.

WCML Status

What it does (WooCommerce sites only): a read-only status panel for WooCommerce Multilingual. Sub-sections show WooCommerce store-page translation status, products missing translations, taxonomies missing translations, multicurrency status, the status of WPML-aware plugins on the site, and the state of WPML Media for the store.

When to reach for it:

  • WooCommerce store pages aren’t appearing in translated languages.
  • Some products are missing from a language version of the shop.
  • Multicurrency is configured but prices aren’t switching correctly.
  • Before asking a WooCommerce-related support question, copy the status panel into your question.

Fix WCML Translations

What it does (WooCommerce sites only): repairs WooCommerce-specific translation state. Sub-actions cover synchronizing product variations, product image galleries, taxonomies for product categories, stock for products and variations, allowing translation of missing product reviews, creating missing translations for product attributes, and translating the Product Type taxonomy.

When to reach for it:

  • Product variations aren’t translating cleanly.
  • Stock isn’t synchronizing between language versions of the same product.
  • Product attributes are missing from one language.
  • A product review isn’t showing up in a language version.

Changing the Language Code of Existing Content

Switching a language’s code (e.g., from en-gb to en) on a site that already has content in that language is a multi-step change inside the database, not a server move.

The procedure: change the language code in WPML > Settings > Languages under Edit languages, then re-assign the language of existing posts and translations using WPML > Support > Fix language data > Set language information. Walk through it once on a staging copy before doing it on production.