Is it possible to update a localized storyboard's strings? Is it possible to update a localized storyboard's strings? ios ios

Is it possible to update a localized storyboard's strings?


There are two options:

Option 1

Xcode can "reload" the file by converting the file to either an [Interface Builder Cocoa Touch Storyboard] file type or a [Localizable Strings] file type.

  1. Select your base storyboard file from the Project Navigator
  2. Find the Localization section in the File Inspector
  3. If your file is currently a [Localizable Strings], change it to [Interface Builder Cocoa Touch Storyboard] or vice-versa.
  4. Xcode should have converted your storyboard to the current version, while preserving your old localization efforts. Here you can change the file back to the original file type if you would like.

Option 2

Use ibtool to extract the strings in your storyboard.

  1. Open the Terminal application

  2. Locate your Base.lproj directory

  3. Use this line to extract the strings:

    ibtool MainStoryboard.storyboard --generate-strings-file file_name.strings

  4. After ibtool extracts the strings to file_name.strings, you can copy and paste it to your original .strings file

Visit for more info: https://conyac.cc/business/columns/localization_guide_ios


Check out BartyCrouch, it perfectly solves your problem. Also it is open source, actively maintained and can be easily installed and integrated within your project.


Install BartyCrouch via Homebrew:

brew install bartycrouch

Alternatively, install it via Mint:

mint install Flinesoft/BartyCrouch

Incrementally update your Storyboards/XIBs Strings files:

$ bartycrouch update

This will do exactly what you were looking for.


In order to keep your Storyboards/XIBs Strings files updated over time I highly recommend adding a build script (instructions on how to add a build script here):

if which bartycrouch > /dev/null; then    bartycrouch update -x    bartycrouch lint -xelse    echo "warning: BartyCrouch not installed, download it from https://github.com/Flinesoft/BartyCrouch"fi

In addition to incrementally updating your Storyboards/XIBs Strings files this will also make sure your Localizable.strings files stay updated with newly added keys in code using NSLocalizedString and show warnings for duplicate keys or empty values.

Make sure to checkout BartyCrouch on GitHub or this detailed article for additional information.


You can manually add a key in your localization file. You can find the key object by selecting it on storyboard editor. Let's have a look at Object-ID in the identity inspector. It's look like "nwc-b2-19c"

On your localization update or add translation. For example :

"nwc-b2-19c.title" = "Translated title";