When you link a product to a metaobject entry that has already been translated, Shopify does not always carry that translation over to the new link - the storefront can show the English (default language) content for that product on the German (translated) storefront, even though the metaobject entry itself is fully translated into German.
⚠️ Fix: Use the Sync button in Translation Lab → Metaobjects. Sync is not scoped to a single entry, product, or language - running it refreshes the translations for all metaobject entries, across every linked product and every language, in one pass.
Important - Sync scope: Sync is a global, store-wide action. It is not limited to one metaobject entry, one product, or one language. Running Sync once refreshes the translations for every metaobject entry on the store, across every product linked to them, and every translated language on the store - all in a single run. It does not need to be run per-product or per-language.
The problem
Say you use a metaobject entry called Black to power color swatches - it holds the swatch label and hex value, and it's already been translated into French, where it shows as Schwarz on every product currently using that swatch.
You then create a new product with a Black variant and link it to that same Black metaobject entry. On the French storefront, the new product's variant still shows Black instead of Schwarz - even though the metaobject entry itself already has a French translation, and every other product using it displays correctly.
Why this happens
This is a Shopify data-model behavior, not a TLab translation issue. Shopify's Translations API stores a translation against the specific resource reference (the product-to-metaobject link) it was created for. Linking an existing metaobject entry to a new product creates a new reference between that product and the entry. Shopify does not automatically resolve the existing French translation for this new reference on its own - it only recognizes it once translations are re-synced.
How to fix it
Instead of running a full translation task, use Sync:
Go to Translation Lab → Metaobjects.
Click Sync.
Sync is a global refresh - it rewrites the existing translations for every metaobject entry, across every product linked to them and every language on the store, not just the one entry or product you're troubleshooting. It does this without consuming a new translation job.
Reload the storefront in the translated locale (clear cache if needed) and confirm the variant now shows Schwarz instead of Black.
Best practice
Whenever you link an already-translated metaobject entry to new content - a new product, a new variant, or a new page - run Sync. Since it refreshes everything at once, it's a safe, low-cost habit to run any time you suspect a new metaobject association hasn't picked up its translation, and it doesn't use any of your translation quota.
This problem and its fix apply only to metaobjects, and only to the specific situation where the metaobject entry shows as translated inside Translation Lab but the translated text does not appear on the storefront for a product linked to it.