.po file needed or is .mo enough? 30% of translation missing in .mo file

I don’t really understand your goal here, but don’t delete PO files. They contain useful metadata that MO files don’t retain.

If you get incorrect results syncing PO files to your POT, then it’s the POT that’s incorrect. The solution is to sync the POT from the source code – see the documentation: https://localise.biz/wordpress/plugin/manual/sync

Note that a MO file will always be 100% complete, because MO files are sparse. Meaning they don’t contain untranslated strings at all. The percentages shown across Loco Translate are derived from the translation files themselves and not compared with any external source. For example: a PO file is not compared with its POT counterpart in order to calculate completion. It is only relative to itself. This is on purpose, because the relationship between these files is rather loose and very flawed. i.e. there is no guarantee the POT is correct.

Hey Tim,

okay, i get .po files back.

To maybe improve .mo file:
The first thing i always do is sync pot file, in my case synced already (1,959 strings)

Then i go to german without the .po file and see (1,175 strings)
you see this also in the screencast. So the reading of the .mo file is missing strings.

When i upload the .po file 100% translated, 1,936 strings

Tim, please double check so the .mo file used to show translations to visitors is containing all translations.

Appreciate your time and asking yourself if it could be improved.

please double check so the .mo file used to show translations to visitors is containing all translations.

If you have an example of a MO that’s missing strings when displayed, then please post downloads to both the MO and the PO from which it was compiled.