This behavior is normal and expected. GPTranslate translates and rewrites URLs dynamically via JavaScript, so translated URLs are generated on-the-fly in the browser and are not physical URLs.
For this reason, if you copy and directly open a translated URL generated by GPTranslate, it will result in a 404 error. These URLs should be considered virtual URLs, created only at runtime during the translation process.
When sharing or opening a page, always use the original base URL. GPTranslate will then translate the content dynamically according to the selected language.
If you need physical and directly accessible multilingual URLs (for example URLs containing
/en,/fr,/de, etc.), this functionality is provided by the Joomla native multilingual system.GPTranslate can integrate with Joomla’s native multilingual routing in two different ways:
Option 1 – Standard Joomla multilingual setup
- Create a Content Language or install a Joomla language pack for each language you want to use
- Enable the Joomla “System – Language Filter” plugin
With this setup, Joomla generates real multilingual URLs and GPTranslate dynamically translates the content starting from the original base language.
Option 2 – Using “Force Language Filter SEFs”
Alternatively, GPTranslate provides a dedicated option called “Force Language Filter SEFs”.
When this option is enabled, GPTranslate overrides the default Joomla check that normally requires a physical language pack to be installed. This allows Content Languages to be used in SEF URLs even if the corresponding Joomla language pack is not installed.
This approach makes it possible to enable multilingual routing by simply creating Content Languages, without installing full Joomla language packs for each language.
This option is useful in advanced setups, but the standard Joomla multilingual configuration remains the recommended solution for maximum compatibility.