WPML Update is Incomplete: How to Fix the ACF Multilingual Error

A few days ago, I came across a fairly serious warning inside WordPress after updating WPML. The main plugin was up to date, Media Translation was also updated, but WPML kept showing the message “WPML Update is Incomplete” and warned that one of its components was still running an outdated version.

The exact message was:

WPML Update is Incomplete

You are running updated sitepress-multilingual-cms and wpml-media-translation, but the following components are not updated:
acfml (required version: 5.0.0)

In my case, the problem was related to Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual, internally known as acfml. The main WPML components were already updated, while this add-on was still running a much older version.

The first thing we may think is that we simply need to click “Update”. The problem appears when WordPress does not offer any update, WPML is correctly registered, and there is no obvious way to update that component directly from the WordPress dashboard.

Before downloading files, manually replacing plugins or making changes to a website that has been running for years, it is worth asking a much more important question: do we really need Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual?

That is exactly what I did on my own website, and that is what I am going to explain in this article.

What does the WPML Update is Incomplete error mean?

WPML does not work through a single plugin. The main component is accompanied by different extensions that can be installed depending on the needs of each project.

For example, there are components for image translation, SEO compatibility, content import and export, and integration with other WordPress plugins.

If you are not very familiar with how this CMS works, you can also read my article about what WordPress is and how it works.

When WPML is updated but one of those components remains on an old and incompatible version, the following warning may appear:

WPML Update is Incomplete.

That was exactly what was happening in my case.

The installation included, among other components:

• WPML Multilingual CMS updated.
• WPML Media Translation updated.
• WPML SEO updated.
• The WPML licence correctly registered.
• Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual still on version 1.4.0.

WPML, however, required ACF Multilingual 5.0.0.

So this was not a licence problem, nor was WPML incorrectly registered. An old component had remained inside WordPress and had not been updated together with the rest.

WPML provides information about its versions and components on its own website. If you want to check information directly from the developer, you can visit the official WPML website.

What is Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual?

Before deciding what to do with the plugin, we first need to understand what it is used for.

Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual is an extension that integrates WPML with Advanced Custom Fields, usually known as ACF.

ACF is a widely used WordPress plugin for creating custom fields.

For example, imagine a real estate website. In addition to the normal title and description of a property, the developer could create separate fields for:

• price;
• surface area;
• number of bedrooms;
• number of bathrooms;
• location;
• property type;
• additional features.

All of that information can be stored through custom fields instead of being entered directly into the standard WordPress editor.

Another example could be a corporate website where certain blocks include specific fields for a subtitle, highlighted text, an image, a call to action or other information later used by the template.

The problem appears when that same page is available in several languages.

That is where ACF Multilingual comes in.

What is ACF Multilingual used for with WPML?

Let us assume that we have one page in Spanish and its corresponding English translation.

Within the normal content we could have:

Spanish: Consultoría SEO para empresas.

English: SEO consulting for companies.

WPML can manage the translation of that content.

But imagine that the template also includes an ACF field called “Highlighted text” containing:

More than ten years working in search engine optimisation.

That value does not necessarily appear inside the standard page editor. It may be stored as a custom field.

If we need a different value in English, WPML has to know how that field should be handled. Depending on the type of information, we may want to translate it, copy it or keep exactly the same value in every language.

ACF Multilingual is precisely what makes that integration between ACF fields and WPML easier to manage.

This helps clarify something important: ACF Multilingual is not the plugin that translates the entire website.

It does not replace WPML either.

It is a specific add-on for websites that use Advanced Custom Fields and need to manage those fields in more than one language.

Why might I have ACF Multilingual installed without knowing what it does?

This situation can be quite common on websites that have been running for many years.

A WordPress installation can change considerably over time.

We may have used different:

• themes;
• page builders;
• plugins;
• translation systems;
• SEO tools;
• cache systems;
• custom fields;
• custom-developed solutions.

In addition, certain extensions may have been added as part of an older WPML configuration or during the original development of the website.

Years later, the architecture of the website may have changed completely while the plugin remains installed.

This is especially common on long-running projects.

My own website has been running on WordPress for many years and uses Avada, WPML and different tools that have been updated, modified or replaced over time.

That is why finding a plugin installed does not necessarily mean that the plugin is still essential.

How to know whether we really need Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual

Before deleting anything, there are several checks we can perform.

1. Check whether we use Advanced Custom Fields

The first step is to go to:

Plugins → Installed Plugins

and check whether any of the following are installed:

• Advanced Custom Fields;
• Advanced Custom Fields Pro;
• ACF.

If the website does not use ACF, the need to keep ACF Multilingual becomes much less likely.

Even so, if we are dealing with an old website, I would not delete the add-on immediately without carrying out a few more checks.

2. Review how the pages are built

We can open some of the main pages inside the WordPress dashboard and check how their content is stored.

On a website built mainly with Avada Builder, Gutenberg or another visual builder, it is possible that the current content now depends entirely on the builder and that older ACF fields are no longer used.

If custom field groups still appear on those pages, then it is worth checking what they are used for before touching ACF Multilingual.

3. Compare the website in different languages

This is a simple and particularly useful check.

My website is mainly available in Spanish and English, so I reviewed the main pages in both languages looking for possible problems.

For example:

• Spanish text appearing on the English version;
• English text appearing on the Spanish version;
• empty blocks;
• images disappearing;
• content reverting to the original language;
• elements no longer being displayed.

This check does not technically prove that there are absolutely no ACF fields anywhere in the database, but it does allow us to identify quickly whether we are causing a visible problem on the website.

What happens if we deactivate ACF Multilingual?

This is one of the most important distinctions in the whole process:

deactivating a plugin is not the same as deleting it.

When we deactivate Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual, WordPress stops executing the plugin, but its files remain installed.

That means we can reactivate it if we notice any problem.

Simply deactivating ACF Multilingual does not normally delete the content that may have been stored through ACF either.

What may stop working correctly is the integration between those fields and WPML.

For example, if a page depends on a translated ACF field, we could encounter:

• an incorrect value;
• content from the original language;
• an empty field;
• different behaviour between translations.

That is why, when we do not really know whether an old plugin is still being used, temporarily deactivating it can be a much more cautious test than deleting it straight away.

The test I carried out on my own website

This article comes from a real problem that appeared on my own website after updating WPML.

It is not an error I created deliberately to write a tutorial.

WPML was updated and correctly registered, but Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual had remained on an older version and the system was requesting version 5.0.0.

Because I was not sure what role that component still played in a website that has been online for so many years, I preferred to check whether it was actually doing anything before manually replacing plugins.

The process was simple:

1. check the WPML warning;
2. identify ACF Multilingual as the conflicting component;
3. check the installed version;
4. confirm that WPML was correctly registered;
5. deactivate only Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual;
6. keep WPML and the other components active;
7. review the Spanish and English versions of the website afterwards.

After deactivating it, the main pages continued to work and I did not detect any obvious mixing of Spanish and English content.

For that reason, in my particular case, I have preferred to keep ACF Multilingual deactivated while I finish checking that there is no old dependency that would justify keeping it active.

This does not mean that everyone should deactivate ACF Multilingual when the same error appears.

If a website uses ACF to manage multilingual content, the correct solution is to update the component.

How to update ACF Multilingual if we really need it

If, after reviewing the installation, we confirm that ACF Multilingual is necessary, then we should keep it updated and use a version compatible with WPML.

The first attempt should be made directly from WordPress.

We can check:

Plugins → Add New Plugin → Commercial

or the corresponding WPML section for available updates.

We should also make sure that the WPML installation is correctly registered.

If the system still does not offer the update, we can log into the provider account and review the components available for manual installation.

In any case, when there is a major version jump and we are working on a production website, it is advisable to create a backup before replacing plugins.

You can check the instructions directly in the official WPML documentation.

When does it make sense to leave ACF Multilingual deactivated?

There is another possible scenario: we have confirmed that the website no longer uses multilingual ACF fields and the plugin has simply remained installed as part of an old configuration.

In that case, there is little point in keeping an active component that no longer performs any practical function.

Every active plugin means:

• additional code being executed;
• updates;
• potential incompatibilities;
• warnings inside the dashboard;
• one more component to maintain.

That does not mean we should start deleting plugins without checking anything.

My usual approach on an old website is:

check → deactivate → review → delete only when we are sure there is no dependency.

It is a much safer way to clean up WordPress.

Not every WordPress warning should be solved by updating blindly

This type of issue highlights something I consider important when working with WordPress.

Keeping plugins updated is necessary, especially for compatibility and security, but when a website has been running for many years, we also need to understand what we are updating and why it is there.

Sometimes the real problem is not that a plugin needs updating.

The problem is that we are still maintaining a plugin we no longer need.

Some time ago I documented another real problem on this same website related to WordPress optimisation. In that case, Jetpack Boost was interfering with Revolution Slider and causing the slider to stop working correctly.

The solution was not simply to deactivate everything either.

First, we had to identify which component was causing the conflict, understand why it was happening and act only on that specific part.

That is the same approach I have followed here.

What I would do if “acfml required version: 5.0.0” appears

If this exact message appears after updating WPML, I would follow this order:

1. Check the installed version of ACF Multilingual.
2. Verify that WPML is correctly registered.
3. Check whether WordPress offers an automatic update.
4. Review whether Advanced Custom Fields is actually being used.
5. Check whether there are custom fields that need to be translated.
6. If ACFML is necessary, update it to a compatible version.
7. If we do not know whether it is being used, create a backup and temporarily deactivate it.
8. Review the main pages in all languages.
9. Reactivate it immediately if any problem appears.
10. Do not delete it permanently until we are sure there is no dependency.

This process allows us to solve the problem without making unnecessary changes to the website.

WordPress, SEO and technical maintenance

Although this type of issue may appear to be purely related to WordPress maintenance, it also has an SEO impact.

A multilingual website where content disappears, languages become mixed or certain blocks stop displaying correctly can end up generating problems with user experience, indexing or overall page quality.

That is why technical maintenance is also part of a properly planned search strategy.

When I carry out a technical SEO audit, this type of issue forms part of the analysis alongside aspects such as architecture, content, indexation, internal and external links, usability and website performance.

In addition, search visibility no longer ends with traditional Google results. The rise of ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity and other systems is changing the way users discover companies, brands, products and services.

That is why I also work on strategies through my GEO and AI visibility consultancy, combining traditional SEO with content, entities, authority and brand presence designed to help companies be correctly understood and cited in these new environments.

A technically clean website, with a clear structure and coherent content, is still the foundation on which everything else is built.

My opinion as a WordPress expert

The WPML Update is Incomplete warning can look fairly alarming, especially when the system itself tells us that the website may not work correctly with that combination of versions.

But before modifying files, it is worth identifying exactly which component is causing the warning.

In this case, ACF Multilingual has a very specific function: connecting Advanced Custom Fields with WPML so that custom fields can be managed correctly in different languages.

If the website uses that functionality, we should keep the plugin and update it.

If, on the other hand, we discover that it is an old component that no longer plays any part in the current website architecture, we can consider deactivating it and carefully checking the result before deleting it.

That is what I have done on my own website.

After deactivating Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual, I reviewed the main pages in Spanish and English and, so far, I have not found any visible problems caused by its deactivation.

For that reason, I have preferred to keep it deactivated rather than update unnecessarily a component that apparently no longer performs any useful function on the website.

If you manage a WordPress website that has been running for many years, the same logic can be useful with other old plugins: do not delete blindly, but do not keep software active simply because it has always been there.

Do you need help with WordPress, SEO or GEO?

I have been working in digital marketing since 2013 and, since 2018, I have also been teaching marketing at the Universitat Politècnica de València. Through my agency, I work on search visibility, digital advertising, website development and optimisation, and artificial intelligence applied to marketing.

If your website has technical problems, needs to improve its visibility or you want to review potential issues that may be limiting its performance, you can visit my SEO and digital marketing services.

For projects focused specifically on artificial intelligence visibility, you can also visit my GEO consultancy and AI visibility service.

You can also view my business profile on Google, where you can find location information, contact details and client reviews.