How to create a project without a translation memory
This is useful when you want to start fresh without leveraging previous translations, or when working on content that shouldn't be influenced by existing TM matches.
Overview
This article explains how to create a project without any translation memories attached. This is useful when you want to start fresh without leveraging previous translations, or when working on content that shouldn't be influenced by existing TM matches.
When to use it
Starting a new project where previous translations aren't relevant
Working with content that requires completely fresh translations
Testing or training scenarios where TM matches would interfere
Projects where you want full control over translation consistency from scratch
How it works
Creating a project without translation memories requires two steps: first create an AI Translation Profile with no TMs, then use that profile when creating your project.
Step 1 — Create an AI Translation Profile with no translation memories
Navigate to Settings in the left navigation sidebar
From the Settings page, go to the dropdown in the top left corner and select AI translation profiles
Click + Create Profile
Name the profile No TM Profile (or any descriptive name)
Under Linguistic Resources > Translation Memories > Configuration, disable Auto-link new translation memories
Click the top Unlink button to disconnect all translation memories from the profile
Click Save as new profile to create the new profile
Step 2 — Create a project using that translation profile
Navigate to Projects in the left navigation sidebar
Click + New Project
When you configure the project, click AI translation profile and select the No TM Profile
Finish configuring the project (name, languages, deadline, etc.)
Click Create Project
Your project will now be created without any attached translation memories.
Adding a translation memory later
If you decide to add a translation memory after creating the project:
Go to your project's Overview page
Click on Linguistic Assets in the left side bar
Click Add and select how you want to add a translation memory:
Create new : Create a fresh TM for this project
Select existing : Choose from available TMs matching your language pair
Upload : Import a TM from a TMX, SDLTM, or XLSX file
Configure TM permissions (read-only or writable)
⚠️ Adding a TM after translation work has begun won't automatically save previous translations to that TM. Only new translations will be stored.