Short answer: a small Umbraco Dictionary can be translated manually in the Translation section. For larger dictionaries, use import/export when a translator needs an external file, or an integrated AI translation job when you want to fill missing values in bulk and review the results inside Umbraco.
What are Umbraco Dictionary items?
Dictionary items store short culture-specific strings used by templates and application code. They are commonly used for button labels, navigation text, form messages and other interface wording that does not belong to a content page.
Each item has a stable key and one value per configured language. Umbraco resolves the appropriate value for the active culture. The official Dictionary documentation explains the underlying CMS feature.
Option 1: translate values manually
Manual editing is the simplest and safest option for a small number of strings:
- Open the Translation section.
- Browse or search for the Dictionary item.
- Enter the value for each language.
- Save and test it in the rendered interface.
This works well when a bilingual editor owns the wording. It becomes repetitive when hundreds of items or several new languages are involved.
Option 2: export and import
Export/import can suit an external translator or migration workflow. It creates a clear handoff, but the file must preserve keys and culture mappings exactly. Agree how new, removed and renamed Dictionary items will be reconciled before importing changes into production.
Option 3: translate missing values with AI
An integrated AI job can use an existing source language to fill empty target-language values. A responsible workflow should preview the scope, use an approved model profile, avoid replacing populated values unexpectedly, continue past isolated failures and retain a report for review.
How the Omni Dictionary workflow works
- Choose the source and target language.
- Select an approved Umbraco.AI chat profile.
- Choose the Dictionary scope and review the request.
- Start the monitored background job.
- Inspect completed, skipped and failed values in Translation Jobs.
- Review important interface wording in context before release.
How do you keep interface translations consistent?
- Use the same source language for a coherent batch.
- Keep labels short and include enough context in the source wording.
- Use glossary rules for product names and prescribed terminology.
- Review ambiguous words such as “Home”, “Post” or “Submit” in their interface context.
- Check placeholders, punctuation, capitalisation and space constraints.
- Ask a fluent reviewer to inspect customer-facing and legally significant wording.
Will existing translations be overwritten?
A bulk tool should default to filling missing values rather than silently replacing completed work. Omni shows the intended operation and applies permission rules before an authorised editor can overwrite an existing value. Review those permissions for the team operating the Translation section.
When is AI worthwhile?
Manual editing is usually faster for a handful of strings. AI becomes useful when a language is being added to an established Dictionary, when many values are missing, or when repeated releases need a dependable first pass. Dictionary strings are also the cheapest content to translate with AI, because they are short — see estimating AI translation costs. The value comes from batching, monitoring and review—not from pretending every generated label is automatically correct.
Translate your Dictionary in Umbraco
Read the detailed Dictionary translation instructions, check provider setup and API costs, or see how Dictionary jobs connect to the translation management tools.