Need to switch original language from English to Dutch for all products and pages

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Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 1 reply, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Bruno Kos 1 month, 1 week ago.

Assisted by: Bruno Kos.

Author	Posts
May 14, 2025 at 11:06 am #17031787
ericS-63	Background of the issue: I have a multilingual site built with WPML, where English (.com) has been the original language for all products and pages. Dutch (.nl) has been used as a translation, and that content is now complete and up to date. I would like to remove English from the site and make Dutch the new original language for all content. Symptoms: I understand this cannot be done automatically in bulk via the UI. Questions: What is the safest and most efficient way to make Dutch the original language for all products and pages? Can I use the "Set this translation as original" option in the WPML Troubleshooting section for this? Once the switch is done, can I then remove English from WPML > Languages without affecting Dutch content? Is there a recommended way to batch update original languages if I have hundreds of products?
May 14, 2025 at 1:03 pm #17032407
Bruno Kos WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) German (Deutsch ) French (Français ) Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+02:00)	Hi, There is no one-click bulk option in the WPML UI, but there are a few practical approaches you can try to achieve this: Option 1: Change default language to Dutch, then clean up * Change the default language in WPML to Dutch https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/displaying-untranslated-content-on-pages-in-secondary-languages/manage-archive-listings-default-language-change/ * Disable English under WPML > Languages * Delete English content and translation data by following this process: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/deleting-languages-and-plugin-data-by-doing-a-wpml-reset-on-your-site/#step-1-remove-the-secondary-languages-and-all-existing-translations Option 2: Export/Import with WP All Export/Import * Use WP All Export + WPML integration: https://wpml.org/compatibility/2016/08/export-multilingual-websites-using-wp-all-export-and-wpml/ * Export your Dutch content * Delete all content and reset WPML * Set Dutch as the new original language, and re-import the content Option 3: Manual bulk delete and WPML reset * Bulk delete all English-original content (Products, Pages, Taxonomies) via WordPress * Reset WPML and reconfigure it with Dutch as the default language * Dutch content will then be assigned as original Let me know if you have any questions related to any of the above!

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