Woocommerce product categories not found for translated language

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

Problem:
If you're experiencing a 'page not found' error when trying to access product category pages on your translated WooCommerce site using WPML, the issue might be due to missing translations.
Solution:
We recommend checking the WPML → Taxonomy Translation → Product Categories to ensure that the Plural translation field is not empty. If it is, fill in the missing translation. Next, remove the product-category slug from String Translation, update the permalinks, and re-translate the slug. This should resolve the 404 error.

Please note that this solution might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case. We highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the problem persists, please open a new support ticket at https://wpml.org/forums/ for further assistance.

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Tagged: Exception

This topic contains 4 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by hansN-10 3 weeks, 6 days ago.

Assisted by: Andrey.

Author	Posts
July 14, 2025 at 6:45 pm #17235351
hansN-10	Background of the issue: I am trying to access product category pages on my translated site using WPML for my WooCommerce store at hidden link. Symptoms: I get "oops that page can not be found" when trying to access product category pages on my translated site. Questions: Why are the product category pages not found on my translated site?
July 14, 2025 at 8:07 pm #17235571
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for contacting WPML support. Please try the following steps to resolve the issue:  1. Go to WPML → String Translation.  2. Search for the string “product-category”.  3. Delete the string from the String Translation table.  4. Go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes to refresh your permalinks.  5. Navigate to WooCommerce Multilingual and re-add the translation for the product category.  6. If the category is already translated, try synchronizing your menu again. Please ensure you back up your database before making any changes.
July 15, 2025 at 9:08 am #17236920
hansN-10	Hello Andrey and thank you for your reply. I followed your instructions 1-4. 5: Do you mean Woocommerce Multilingual > Store-URL:s tab? Yes, the translation is alrady there (see screenshot) 6: Do you mean WPML > WP menu sync? There is nothing that can be syncronized there, see screenshot 2 The issue is still there after doing the above. Maybe I should clarify that it is ALL the product categories that are not working for the translated language (English). It is not just a single product category that has problems, so is there a setting that is wrong that is causing this? Best regards, Hans New threads created by Andrey and linked to this one are listed below: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/split-the-link-on-the-translated-english-page-still-points-to-the-swedish/
July 15, 2025 at 1:16 pm #17237970
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for your feedback, Hans. 5: Do you mean Woocommerce Multilingual > Store-URL:s tab? Yes, the translation is alrady there (see screenshot) 6: Do you mean WPML > WP menu sync? There is nothing that can be syncronized there, see screenshot 2 Yes, you are correct. I need to request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to your site—preferably to a test site where the problem has been replicated if possible—in order to be of better help. When you log in to leave your next reply, you will find the needed fields below the comment area. The information you will enter is private, meaning only you and I can see and access it. However, please try to temporarily deactivate all plugins except WPML, WooCommerce, and WooCommerce Multilingual to check if the issue persists.
July 16, 2025 at 2:28 pm #17242676
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for the details, Hans. I was able to identify and resolve the issue. In WPML → Taxonomy Translation → Product Categories, the Plural translation field was empty, which caused the 404 error. After filling in the missing translation, I removed the product-category slug from String Translation, updated the permalinks, re-translated the slug, and the issue was resolved. We’ve reported this to our development team for further investigation. Additionally, I’ve opened a separate support ticket regarding your other issue, and I’ll continue assisting you there: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/split-the-link-on-the-translated-english-page-still-points-to-the-swedish/
July 16, 2025 at 4:55 pm #17243098
hansN-10	Thank you Andrey, that worked!