Why Are My Segments Locked?

If segments appear locked in the Smartcat CAT editor, this is almost always caused by one of four reasons. This article explains each cause and how to resolve it.

If you’re working on a project in Smartcat and notice that some segments can’t be edited or confirmed because they appear locked, don’t worry — this situation is easy to fix!

• You or a supplier cannot confirm or edit segments in a project

• You see a "Locked by manager" message on a segment

• Segments are locked after importing an XLIFF file

⚠️The resolution for each of the causes below requires user permissions to view the editor from the organization side of the workspace. Typically this permission belongs to the Workspace Admin and Project Manager roles.

This is the most common cause for suppliers assigned to a project. In a project with multiple workflow stages (for example, AI Translation → Translation Review → Proofreading), a segment must be confirmed in each stage before the next stage can access it.

Identify the issue:

1. Open the document in the CAT editor

2. Hover over the confirmation icon in the toolbar. Confirmed stages appear highlighted, unconfirmed stages appear grayed out

3. Go to Filters → Current workflow stage → Unconfirmed segments to find any unconfirmed segments

Resolve it:

1. Review any segments flagged with critical issues (tag errors, glossary mismatches, formatting problems) and fix them

2. Confirm all segments in the previous stage

Segments in the next stage become editable once the previous stage is fully confirmed.

💡 If a segment is intentionally blank and not meant to be translated, lock it manually to prevent project completion issues.

Workspace Admins and Project Managers can manually lock segments to prevent changes. These appear completely grayed out and display a "Locked by manager" tooltip on hover.

Resolve it:

1. Open the project in the CAT editor

2. Hover over the locked segment to confirm it shows the "Locked by manager" message

3. Click the Lock/Unlock icon in the toolbar to toggle the segment's lock status

The segment is unlocked and available for editing.

If a file was imported with the setting Lock segments for imported translations and confirm them to the last stage selected, those segments are locked automatically on import.

Resolve it:

• Re-upload the file with the lock option deselected

Segments are unlocked and editable.

📌Segments from an XLIFF file can be locked even if you do not select the Lock segments option when importing the file. If a translation unit has an attribute “translate” with value “no” it is locked in the editor regardless of the selection during import. You must edit the XLIFF file itself if you want to edit this segment in Smartcat.

If you’ve checked all the above and the segment is still locked without an apparent reason, please reach out to Smartcat Support and include the following details:

1. Project name and link

2. Segment number(s)

3. Description of the issue

4. Screenshot (if possible)

This will help our team investigate the issue faster and provide the right solution.