Type: Troubleshooting
Category: Umbraco CMS > Versions & Upgrades
Tags: block list, block grid, blocks, copy, paste, clipboard, language, culture, variants, vary by culture, element type, empty blocks, multilingual, v15, v16, v17, upgrade

Product: Umbraco CMS, Umbraco Cloud
Version: v15 and later

If you copy blocks from one language of a page and paste them into another language, and the blocks arrive empty, this article explains why and what to check. It applies to multilingual sites where languages are variants of the same content node.

Symptoms

You copy one or more blocks (for example from a Block List) on a page in one language.
You switch to another language of the same page and paste them.
The blocks are created, but their content and settings are empty.
The same copy and paste worked in Umbraco 13, and the site has since been upgraded.

This is not expected behaviour. Copying and pasting blocks between languages should keep their content.

Cause

This happens when both of these are true:

The block editor property on the page varies by culture.
The Element Types used in the blocks, or their properties, also vary by culture.

In Umbraco 13, variance on Element Types was largely ignored, so it was possible to have it switched on without noticing. From Umbraco 15, Element Type variance has a real effect, and the upgrade applies it to existing content.

When the block property already varies by culture, each language has its own separate set of blocks. If the Element Types inside also vary, a copied block keeps its values tied to the source language. When you paste it into another language, there are no values for that language, so the fields show as empty.

How to check if this applies to you

Go to Settings > Document Types and open the Document Type of the affected page. Check whether the block editor property varies by culture.
Open each Element Type that is used as a block in that property. Check whether the Element Type is set to vary by culture, and whether its properties vary by culture.

If both the block property and the Element Types vary, this article applies.

Solution

When the block editor property varies by culture, the Element Types used in it, and their properties, should not vary by culture. With that configuration, copy and paste between languages keeps the block content.

Important: Do not change this setting directly on a live site.

Changing variance on Element Types that already hold content can cause block content in your non-default languages to be lost. Results have differed between versions, so plan the change with your developer and test it on a lower environment, or on a copy of your content, before applying it to Live.

Because this is a change to your content model, the right approach depends on how many Element Types and pages are affected and how much content already exists in other languages. Your developer or implementation partner is best placed to assess that.

Preventing this on new content

When you create new Element Types for blocks, decide where variance should live:

If each language should have its own set of blocks, let the block editor property vary and keep the Element Types invariant.
If all languages should share the same block structure and only the block content should differ, use Block Level Variance: the block editor property does not vary, and the Element Types do.

If you are planning an upgrade from Umbraco 13, review the variance on your block Element Types before you upgrade.

Still having issues?

Contact Umbraco Support and tell us:

your exact Umbraco version, including the patch number
whether the site was upgraded from Umbraco 13 or earlier
which block editor and Element Types are affected, and how their variance is set

If you are chatting with Umboto right now, type "talk to human" and we will connect you with someone.

Copied blocks are empty after pasting them into another language