Translate gettext
PO & POT Files

Upload your .po or .pot files, translate with context intact, and export files gettext-based apps can load without any conversion step.

Translate PO file
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pl.po
#. Translators: shown as a button on the blog post editor #: templates/blog/edit.html:12 msgctxt "Blog post action" msgid "Post" msgstr "Opublikuj" #: templates/nav.html:8 msgctxt "Navigation label" msgid "Post" msgstr "Wpis" #: templates/comments.html:24 msgid "%d comment" msgid_plural "%d comments" msgstr[0] "%d komentarz" msgstr[1] "%d komentarze" msgstr[2] "%d komentarzy"
#. Translators: shown as a button on the blog post editor
#: templates/blog/edit.html:12
msgctxt "Blog post action"
msgid "Post"
msgstr "Opublikuj"

#: templates/nav.html:8
msgctxt "Navigation label"
msgid "Post"
msgstr "Wpis"

#: templates/comments.html:24
msgid "%d comment"
msgid_plural "%d comments"
msgstr[0] "%d komentarz"
msgstr[1] "%d komentarze"
msgstr[2] "%d komentarzy"

Context and plurals,
built into the format

Gettext is one of the oldest translation formats still in wide use, and two features explain why it's held up: msgctxt lets the exact same source string, like the word "Post" as a button versus "Post" as a navigation label, carry two different translations without any key renaming. And plural handling goes through a real Plural-Forms rule, not a generic one/other split, filled in automatically for whichever language you export.

A .pot file is the template: source strings only, no translations, regenerated whenever your source code changes. Each language then gets its own .po file compiled from that template. SimpleLocalize tracks both, so updating the template surfaces exactly which strings are new or changed across every language's .po file.

Metadata header
msgid "" msgstr "" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n" "Plural-Forms: nplurals=3; plural=(n==1 ? 0 : n%10>=2 && n%10<=4 ? 1 : 2);\n" "Language: pl\n"
msgid ""
msgstr ""
"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
"Plural-Forms: nplurals=3; plural=(n==1 ? 0 :
  n%10>=2 && n%10<=4 ? 1 : 2);\n"
"Language: pl\n"

Beyond msgid and msgstr

The parts of a PO file translators actually rely on

Translator comments

Lines starting with #. carry notes for translators and are shown as context in the editor.

Reference comments

Lines starting with #: point back to where a string is used in your source code.

Source text as translation

If your PO files carry the source in msgid with no msgstr, an import option handles that case.

Language header

The Language and Plural-Forms metadata is filled in automatically for each exported file.

End-to-end workflow

Translate a PO file end to end

Upload a neutral pl.po file, translate values while keeping the original comments and context, and export one file per language, ready to drop into your gettext-based app.

Terminal
simplelocalize upload \ --apiKey PROJECT_API_KEY \ --uploadFormat po-pot \ --uploadLanguageKey en \ --uploadPath ./locale/messages.pot \ --uploadOptions MSGCTXT_AS_NAMESPACE
simplelocalize upload \
  --apiKey PROJECT_API_KEY \
  --uploadFormat po-pot \
  --uploadLanguageKey en \
  --uploadPath ./locale/messages.pot \
  --uploadOptions MSGCTXT_AS_NAMESPACE

Upload your POT template or source PO

1
Push your .pot template, or a .po file already carrying source text in msgid. Turn on MSGCTXT_AS_NAMESPACE if your files use msgctxt to disambiguate identical strings.
Translation editor, context panel
Key: Post (Blog post action) Context: Translators: shown as a button on the blog post editor Reference: templates/blog/edit.html:12
Key: Post (Blog post action)
Context: Translators: shown as a button
         on the blog post editor
Reference: templates/blog/edit.html:12

Keep translator comments visible

2
Lines starting with #. import as context, and #: reference comments stay attached to the key, so a translator can see where a string is actually used.
messages.ar.po (excerpt)
"Plural-Forms: nplurals=6; plural=(n==0 ? 0 : n==1 ? 1 : n==2 ? 2 : n%100>=3 && n%100<=10 ? 3 : n%100>=11 ? 4 : 5);\n"
"Plural-Forms: nplurals=6; plural=(n==0 ? 0 :
  n==1 ? 1 : n==2 ? 2 : n%100>=3 && n%100<=10
  ? 3 : n%100>=11 ? 4 : 5);\n"

Auto-translate every language

3
Run auto-translation once, and each exported language gets its own correct Plural-Forms rule, from two forms for English up to six for some Arabic dialects.
Terminal
simplelocalize download \ --apiKey PROJECT_API_KEY \ --downloadFormat po-pot \ --downloadLanguageKey pl,fr,de,ar \ --downloadPath ./locale/messages_{lang}.po
simplelocalize download \
  --apiKey PROJECT_API_KEY \
  --downloadFormat po-pot \
  --downloadLanguageKey pl,fr,de,ar \
  --downloadPath ./locale/messages_{lang}.po

Download one .po file per language

4
Export lands directly where your gettext-based framework expects it, with metadata headers filled in and ready to compile.

For developers

A localization platform,
that understands gettext

SimpleLocalize handles the gettext quirks that trip up a generic importer, then gives your team a place to work with translated .po files.

Context-aware import

Identical source strings stay separate translations when they carry different contexts, so nothing collides on import.

Real plural forms

The correct Plural-Forms header is generated for each language you export to, matching that language's actual grammar.

AI auto-translation

Translate new and changed strings with DeepL, Google Translate, OpenAI, Claude or Gemini, keyed to whichever language you're exporting.

CLI and REST API

Upload source strings and download translated .po files per language from the CLI or the REST API.

SimpleLocalize connects your code to professional translations

More conversions

Convert PO/POT to other formats

Free online converter, no account required. Upload a PO or POT file and download it in the format you need.

PO to JSON

Move msgid and msgstr pairs into a JSON file.

PO to CSV

Hand a PO file to a translator as a spreadsheet.

PO to YAML

Move a gettext catalog into a Rails or Symfony YAML file.

PO to PHP array

Get a Laravel-ready PHP array from a PO file.

CTA FeaturesGo to Editor

Start translating PO/POT files

  • msgctxt-aware, so identical strings can differ by context
  • Plural-Forms header filled in automatically per language
  • POT template changes tracked across every .po file
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Frequently asked questions about PO/POT files

What's the difference between .po and .pot?

A .pot file is the template extracted from your source code, strings only, no translations. Each language's .po file is generated from that template and holds the actual translated text.

Does SimpleLocalize support gettext plural forms?

Yes. The Plural-Forms header is filled in automatically for whichever language you export, rather than a generic singular/plural pair.

How does msgctxt work with translation keys?

Turn on the MSGCTXT_AS_NAMESPACE option, and a msgctxt value is imported as a namespace, so two identical msgid strings with different contexts stay separate keys instead of colliding.

Which platforms use PO/POT files?

Gettext is the default translation format for Django, WordPress, general PHP applications, Python, and most GNU and desktop Linux software.