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

Problem:
You are experiencing issues with WooCommerce product images not syncing across different language versions on your site. After changing a product image in the main language (Polish), other languages display incorrect images. This problem began following a major WPML update.
Solution:
First, edit a product in the original language and ensure that the checkboxes for duplicating the featured image and attachments in the Language block are checked. Save these changes and update the translation. If the problem persists, navigate to WPML -> Settings -> Media translation section. Here, select the three options in the second sub-section and click 'Start'. Wait for the process to complete and verify if the images now appear correctly in all languages. It's crucial to create a full site backup before performing these steps.

If you have previously used automatic translation, re-sending the products for translation will not incur additional costs as the translations are stored in the Translation Memory. You can test this with a few products first to ensure the issue is resolved before proceeding with the rest.

Please note that we do not provide custom scripts for syncing all fields of products, taxonomies, and metadata as this falls outside our support scope. We recommend following the outlined steps and contacting us if further assistance is needed.

If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix,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 problems persist, please open a new support ticket 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 7 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Carlos Rojas 5 months ago.

Assisted by: Carlos Rojas.

Author Posts
July 28, 2025 at 9:56 pm #17276876

witoldW

Background of the issue:
I am trying to not translate media and have the same picture for each WooCommerce product regardless of language. The issue can be seen at: hidden link.

Symptoms:
The same product image is not appearing in all languages. When I change the image in the main language (Polish), other languages show a seemingly random image, possibly related to the product it was cloned from. This issue started after the last big WPML upgrade.
Take SKU 5907255742264-1 as an example.

Questions:
Why are product images not syncing across languages?
How can I ensure the same product image appears in all languages after changing it in the main language?

July 29, 2025 at 11:19 am #17278508

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+01:00)

Hello again,

Please edit a product in the original language -> Go to the right column -> Language block -> Make sure the two checkboxes for duplicating the featured image and the attachments are checked -> Save the changes and update the translation.

If the issue persists, then go to WPML -> Settings -> Media translation section -> Select the three options in the second sub-section and click 'Start' -> Wait for the process to finish and double-check if the images are now appearing correctly in all languages.

Important note: Don't forget to create a full site backup before running the steps described above.

July 29, 2025 at 11:49 am #17278589

witoldW

Ok, I misunderstood how the plugin works then. I set media to translatable and the media translation panel appeared in settings. I thought that if I set it to non-translatable, then it will just pull the same image for all languages.

Anyway, now the problem is how to fix the existing products. I translated all non-translated media using the media settings. I want all products to have the same image in Eglish and German as they do in Polish. If I edit a product in polish and save, then the images get in fact updated in other languages, but there are too many to do this manually.

Please provide a tool or SQL query to od that. It is fixed if I do auto translation and completely overwrite the existing one, but I don't want to pay credits for translation I've already done.

July 29, 2025 at 12:12 pm #17278751

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+01:00)

Hi,

If you automatically translated the products, then sending the products for automatic translation again won't cost you anything because the translation is saved in the Translation Memory: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/translating-page-slugs/

I recommend you test with a few products, and once you check that the issue is solved for these products, then send the rest.

July 29, 2025 at 12:28 pm #17278780

witoldW

This is not the correct solution to the problem. I want to be able to sync product images without retranslating all the affected products (which I have thousands of and incorrect images can easily be missed) if they ever fall out of sync again for any reason.

July 29, 2025 at 12:43 pm #17278833

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+01:00)

Hi,

If the products are translated, then they won't be re-translated, just updated, and the images will be synced. You can use a few products for testing first, and if the results are the expected ones, then you can do it for the rest.

July 29, 2025 at 12:56 pm #17278967

witoldW

Do you have a script that lets me re-sync all fields of all products, taxonomies and metadata according to the current WPML settings. I have a long history of sync problems/not-synced product info and I'd like to have a way to do this all at once, using a script and be sure it is 100% correct.

July 30, 2025 at 7:18 am #17280650

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+01:00)

Hi there,

I don't have a script for that because that is custom coding, which falls outside of the scope of our support service. Would you mind following the steps I described and let me know the results?