WPML

Migrating From Another Multilingual Plugin to WPML

WPML imports translations from Polylang, TranslatePress, Weglot, GTranslate, and other multilingual plugins. You install WPML alongside your current plugin, run the import, then disable the old plugin. The path is plugin-specific in the details, but the high-level shape is the same in all cases.

The Seven-Step Migration Path

  1. Back up the site

    A full database + files backup is the only safe undo. Cross-version migrations touch a lot of database tables.

  2. Install WPML alongside the existing plugin

    But don’t activate WPML yet. Run WPML > Activate & Update to download the WPML core plus any add-ons you’ll need (typically WPML, String Translation, Translation Management, Media Translation).

  3. Run the migration step for your source plugin

    This is the plugin-specific part. The existing plugin’s data needs to be re-shaped into the structures WPML expects:

    • Polylang > WPML. The Polylang to WPML migration plugin reads Polylang’s translation relationships and writes them into WPML’s tables. Install it, run it, verify the result on a staging site before doing it on production.
    • TranslatePress / Weglot / GTranslate > WPML. These store translations differently from WPML (and from each other), so migration is less mechanical. Some sites do a content-level re-import; others restart translations using PTC and reuse the source plugin’s output as a translation memory seed. See the Polylang doc for the closest reference pattern, and contact WPML Support before starting. The right path depends on how the source plugin stored translations on your site.

  4. Deactivate the source plugin

    Once WPML’s data is in place and verified.

  5. Activate WPML and run the Setup Wizard

    Run through the Setup Wizard to confirm language configuration.

  6. Validate on the frontend

    Walk the site in each language. Check menus, taxonomies, custom fields, and any plugin integrations.

  7. If anything looks off

    Run Before asking for support. Many post-migration symptoms are resolved by Fix language data and Fix translations in WPML > Support.

What You Gain by Switching to WPML

The main reasons sites switch to WPML from another multilingual plugin:

  • AI translation through PTC, with translation memory and the auto-preference glossary that learns from your edits.
  • WooCommerce Multilingual. Full product translation including variations, attributes, and per-currency pricing.
  • Compatibility with major page builders, themes, and plugins. WPML ships compatibility configurations for Elementor, ACF, Gravity Forms, Yoast, and many more out of the box.
  • Professional translation services and translator workflows integrated into the admin.

Staging Recommendation

Don’t migrate directly on production. Clone the site to a staging environment, run the migration there, validate every language version of every important page, and only then repeat on production. WPML’s automatic reconnection makes the staging clone trivial once WPML is installed; doing it before WPML is installed means using your hosting provider’s clone tool.