Merge and Split Segments
Automatic segmentation during file parsing doesn't always match how a sentence should really read: sometimes two segments belong together as one sentence, and sometimes a single segment is too long and should be broken into smaller pieces. Merge Selected and Split let you fix this directly in the wxrks Editor, without losing the original document structure.
💡 Who is this for? This guide is for any user working in the wxrks Editor who needs to merge adjacent segments into one or split a single segment into multiple parts within the wxrks platform.
Overview
Merging and splitting only change how segments are grouped for translation. They never change the original uploaded file, and the original document structure is always available again — including on delivery, in translation memory, and in the segment's change history.
This is a different feature from splitting a Work Unit into multiple parts, even though both use the word "split." Splitting a Work Unit divides a whole file into separate tasks that can be assigned to different vendors, before translation starts. Splitting a segment (this article) divides one sentence inside a file into two or more segments, from inside the Editor, while translating.
Requirements
Two things must both be true for a user to merge or split segments:
Permission — the user's role must have the Merge Segments / Split Segments permission. This is granted by default to the Account Admin, Client, Project Manager, and Vendor roles.
Org unit setting enabled — an admin must turn the feature on for the org unit (see below). It is off by default.
If either is missing, the Merge Selected and Split actions are hidden in the Editor.
Undo works differently: once a segment has been merged or split, any user with the underlying permission can undo it, even if the org unit setting is later turned off. Turning the setting off only blocks new merges/splits — it never strands existing ones.
Enabling Merge & Split for an Org Unit
Go to the org unit's Settings → General page.
Click More settings to expand the additional toggles.
Find Enable Merge Segments and Enable Split Segments, and turn on the ones you want available in the Editor for that org unit. They're independent — you don't need both.
Click Save.
The toggle only controls whether the actions appear in the Editor. It doesn't retroactively affect merges/splits already made, and it doesn't grant the permission itself — a user still needs the role permission described above.
Merging Segments
In the Editor, select two or more adjacent segments (same work unit, consecutive order).
Click Merge Selected from the segment actions toolbar.
The selected segments become one segment, in the position of the first segment you selected.
Notes:
You can't merge a locked or already-confirmed segment.
You can't merge a segment that's currently part of a split — undo the split first.
If one of the selected segments is already the result of an earlier merge, merging again folds it into the new, larger merge automatically; you don't need to undo it first.
After merging, the target text from each original segment is kept, joined together with a small boundary marker between parts (visible in the screenshot above). That marker isn't regular text — it can't be deleted or typed over. It only marks where one original segment ends and the next begins, so wxrks can restore the original segments later.
Splitting a Segment
Splitting works from the source text, not the translated text — this is intentional, since only the source reliably marks where one sentence ends and the next begins.
Click into the source text at the point where the segment should be split.
Click Split here.
The segment becomes two (or more, if you split more than once) separate segments at that point.
Notes:
You can't split a segment that's the result of a merge — undo the merge first.
If a translation already existed before splitting, only the first resulting part keeps that translation; the other parts start empty and need to be translated.
You can split an already-split part again to divide it further.
Undoing a Merge or Split
On a merged or split segment, open the segment actions and choose Undo merge or Undo split.
Confirm in the dialog.
The segment(s) return to how they looked before the merge or split, as if it never happened. There's no "redo" — if you want the same merge or split again, you do it again from scratch, as a new operation.
Undo is blocked if a reviewer has already added a review comment on one of the affected segments — resolve or remove that review first.
How This Affects Later Workflow Steps
A merge or split you make is carried forward automatically into every later workflow step for that file (for example, from Translation into Review, then into QA), as long as that later step hasn't already been delivered.
If any later step in the chain has already been delivered, the merge, split, or undo is blocked entirely — nothing is applied partially. You'll need to wait until that step is reopened, or coordinate with whoever manages the workflow.
Merges and splits never affect earlier, already-completed workflow steps — only the step you're working in and the ones after it.
Exporting and Delivering
Bilingual exports (XLIFF, XLSX, TMX, Loc-kit) and the final delivered file always reflect the original document's segment boundaries, regardless of any merges or splits made while translating. You don't need to do anything special — wxrks resolves the structure back to the original segments automatically at export and delivery time.
Known Limitations
Translation memory fuzzy-match suggestions may currently show an extra internal marker for merged segments. This doesn't affect what gets delivered or saved to TM — it's a display artifact in the suggestion panel that's being addressed.
Quality Assurance checks haven't yet been verified against merged segments; a false tag-mismatch warning is possible on a merged segment until this is confirmed.
Troubleshooting
Merge/Split actions don't appear in the Editor. Confirm your role has the Merge/Split permission, and confirm an admin has enabled the corresponding toggle in the org unit's General settings.
"Merge Selected" is disabled even though I selected multiple segments. The segments must be adjacent (next to each other in the document) in the same work unit. Segments that are locked or already confirmed also can't be merged.
I can't split a segment. Check whether the segment is the result of a merge — you need to undo the merge before you can split it.
Undo is blocked. A reviewer has likely added a comment on one of the affected segments. Resolve that review before undoing.
I merged or split a segment, but the change didn't carry over to a later workflow step. That later step has probably already been delivered. Merges, splits, and undos are blocked from applying to a chain that includes a delivered step.