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Home › Support › English Support › [Resolved] ACF repeater field get's synced in all languages on options pages

[Resolved] ACF repeater field get's synced in all languages on options pages

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
If you're experiencing issues where the ACF repeater field gets synced across all languages on options pages despite having the 'ACFML Synchronise translations' field unchecked, this might be due to a bug in older versions of the ACFML plugin.
Solution:
We recommend updating to ACFML version 2.2.4, which we released recently. This version includes a permanent fix that prevents the synchronization of wrapper fields on option pages unless explicitly set to 'Copy'.

If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, please check related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verify the version of the permanent fix, and confirm that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. We highly recommend opening a new support ticket if the problem persists. You can do so at WPML support forum.

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

Everyone can read, but only WPML clients can post here. WPML team is replying on the forum 6 days per week, 22 hours per day.

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This topic contains 14 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Kresimir 1 week, 4 days ago.

Assisted by: Christopher Amirian.

Author Posts
April 13, 2026 at 11:48 am #17965666

Kresimir

ACF repeater field get's synced in all languages on options pages even with the "ACFML Synchronise translations" field unchecked.
April 14, 2026 at 6:22 am #17967482

Dražen
Supporter

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+02:00)

Hello,

Thanks for contacting us.

While you wait for my colleague to take over the ticket, let me try to help you with the issue quickly.

This depends on the translation preferences you have set for the repeater field and its subfields.

If the repeater (or its subfields) is set to Copy, then this behavior is actually expected WPML will keep the values synchronized across all languages, even if the “ACFML Synchronise translations” option is disabled. The “Copy” setting forces the same data in all languages by design.

Also, on options pages, synchronization can behave slightly differently compared to regular posts, and in some cases values are still shared or require re-saving per language depending on configuration.

For more details, please check:
https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/translate-sites-built-with-acf/recommended-custom-fields-translation-preferences-for-acf-and-wpml/

So in short:
Even with “ACFML Synchronise translations” disabled, if fields are set to Copy, they will still sync that setting mainly affects order/structure, not the actual field value behavior.

Please let me know if this helps and if not what translation settings you have set.

Regards,
Drazen
April 14, 2026 at 8:43 am #17967824

Kresimir

The field is set to don't translate. Also the issue happens only on options pages and only after updating Select Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual
Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual to 2.2.3
April 14, 2026 at 11:25 am #17968442

Christopher Amirian
WPML Supporter since 07/2020

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)

Hi,

Welcome to WPML support. I created a clean installation of WordPress, WPML, and ACF pro.

I set the languages to English and Croatian. Would you please replicate the issue with a simple Options page and a repeater field?

Please keep the setting as is when it comes to the translation option for the repeater field.

You can access the dashboard here:

hidden link

I will report this as soon as the issue can be replicated there.

Thanks.
April 14, 2026 at 12:37 pm #17968644

Kresimir

I can't since you don't have ACF pro enabled and I need that to create an option page. But the site that I used to report the issue doesn't have any custom code. It uses ACF pro, WPML plugins and the Twenty Twenty theme. I've used it before to report issues to WPML and there is event a user profile used by WPML support. I can send you the credentials and the instructions where you can see the issue.

April 14, 2026 at 12:57 pm #17968700

Christopher Amirian
WPML Supporter since 07/2020

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)

Hi,

Sorry for the inconvenience. I already installed the ACF Pro but forgot to activate the license.

Now the ACF Pro is installed and it is activated.

Thanks.
April 14, 2026 at 1:05 pm #17968754

Kresimir

I created the options page and a Repeater test field. I've set the repeater and the text field to not get translated and also disabled "ACFML Synchronise translations". I've added two rows in the repeater in English options page (hidden link). If you go to the Croatian version (hidden link) you get two empty rows.
April 14, 2026 at 1:34 pm #17968807

Christopher Amirian
WPML Supporter since 07/2020

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)

Hello,

Thank you for replicating the issue. I reported this to the second tier support.

I will get back to you as soon as I have news.

It may take time.

Thanks.
April 15, 2026 at 12:54 pm #17971451

Christopher Amirian
WPML Supporter since 07/2020

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)

Hi,

We have found out that the same behavior is happening even on older versions of Advanced Custom Field Multilingual and it is not related to the latest update,

You can test by going to:

https://wpml.org/account/downloads/

Clicking the "Download WPML manually " link

Find "Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual" row and click the exclamation icon next to it to have access to older versions and you can download and test.

Thanks.
April 15, 2026 at 2:07 pm #17971748

Kresimir

Version 2.1.5 doesn't have the issue. But nevertheless even if older versions have the issue it's still an issue that shouldn't happen :)...

April 15, 2026 at 2:10 pm #17971752

Christopher Amirian
WPML Supporter since 07/2020

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)

Thank you. Yes, I already reported this.

It may take time but I will get back to you if I have news.

Thanks.
April 16, 2026 at 9:31 am #17973588

Christopher Amirian
WPML Supporter since 07/2020

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)

The issue is reported to the development team.

Thanks.
April 16, 2026 at 7:53 pm #17975445

Nicolas V.
WPML Supporter since 12/2021

Languages: English (English ) French (Français )

Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)

Hello,

Could you please try the following and let me know if it resolves the issue for you:

1. Make sure you have a full backup
2. Open the ...wp-content/plugins/acfml/classes/Options/EditorHooks.php file.
3. Look for line 205.
4. Replace:

	private function copyWrapperToTranslations( $value, $field ) {
		$optionName      = Obj::prop( 'name', $field );

5. With

	private function copyWrapperToTranslations( $value, $field ) {
		if ( WPML_COPY_CUSTOM_FIELD !== (int) Obj::prop( 'wpml_cf_preferences', $field ) ) {
			return;
		}

		$optionName      = Obj::prop( 'name', $field );

I tested it myself and it worked for me.
Nico
April 21, 2026 at 9:30 am #17983428

Kresimir

Thank you for the snippet but I'm more interested when will the fix be implemented in the plugin?

April 21, 2026 at 12:13 pm #17984106

Nicolas V.
WPML Supporter since 12/2021

Languages: English (English ) French (Français )

Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)

Hello,

We already released ACFML 2.2.4 today. It includes a permanent fix for your issue:

Implemented a mechanism to prevent synchronization of wrapper fields on option pages when it’s not explicitly set to “Copy”.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers,
Nico