If you see the message “Translation keys in theme have reached the limit.” in your Shopify store, it means that the number of translation keys in your language file (e.g., en.default.json) has reached Shopify’s hard limit.

⚠️ What is the Translation Key?

Every theme comes with its own translatable resources. Some come with the theme by default and are stored in the theme locale files like en.default.json, fr.json, de.json, etc. Others are created when you add content through:

• Your theme Customizer

• Through a Third-party page builder app (Like "Ecomposer" for example)

Creating a lot of page templates in Shopify (or page builder apps), floods your theme with translation keys and you might get this error when you start translating the given pages.

Shopify sets a limit of:

A maximum of 3,400 translation keys per locale file.
Once this limit is reached, no new translation entries can be added. This may cause some content to fail to display or translate properly.

You can learn more from Shopify’s official documentation

Shopify has stated that this limit is in place for "performance reasons", although they have not placed the same limit for the primary language. (only for the secondary languages)

✅ How to Fix It?

To fix this issue, you need to audit and clean up your language files. Follow these steps:

1. Locate the Locale File
   Go to your current theme’s language folder and find files such as:

   • locales/en.default.json

   • locales/fr.default.json, etc.



2. Identify Unnecessary Keys
   Carefully check all translation keys and look out for:

   • Keys left behind by uninstalled apps

   • Outdated theme sections no longer in use

   • Duplicate or unused keys

3. Remove Unused Keys
   Delete translation keys that are no longer referenced in the current theme code.

   
   

   ⚠️ We recommend backing up the locale file before making any changes to avoid accidentally removing important content.

Here are some real-life examples from other Shopify users facing similar issues:

https://community.shopify.dev/t/limitations-for-the-theme-settings-locale/12758

If you’re not familiar with editing locale files or are concerned about removing the wrong keys, it's a good idea to reach out to your theme developer or Shopify support.