diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c18e1b1..82172db 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ module.exports = {
   // Optional: Default value for new translations
   defaultValue: '__MISSING_TRANSLATION__',
   // Optional: Regex to extract transations from source code
-  parseRegex: /\B\$t\s*\(\s*['"]([\w/: ._-]+)['"]/g
+  parseRegex: /\B\$t\s*\(\s*['"]([\w/: ._-]+)['"]/g,
+  // Optional: Keep missing translations and not delete them
+  keepMissing: false
 }
 ```
diff --git a/examples/default/locales/de.json b/examples/default/locales/de.json
index 55caf8a..a02c8ab 100644
--- a/examples/default/locales/de.json
+++ b/examples/default/locales/de.json
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@
   "key_2": "Key 2 DE",
   "key_4": "Key 4 DE",
   "context": {
-    "key_1": "Context Key 1 DE",
     "key_2": "Context Key 2 DE",
+    "key_1": "Context Key 1 DE",
     "nested": {
+      "old": "Old nested key DE",
       "key": "Nested Key DE"
     }
   },
diff --git a/examples/default/locales/en-GB.json b/examples/default/locales/en-GB.json
index 0efd8cd..d5deb37 100644
--- a/examples/default/locales/en-GB.json
+++ b/examples/default/locales/en-GB.json
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@
   "key_2": "Key 2 EN",
   "key_4": "Key 4 EN",
   "context": {
-    "key_1": "Context Key 1 EN",
     "key_2": "Context Key 2 EN",
+    "key_1": "Context Key 1 EN",
     "nested": {
+      "old": "Old nested key EN",
       "key": "Nested Key EN"
     }
   },
diff --git a/src/extract.ts b/src/extract.ts
index a76b9a8..b16f02d 100644
--- a/src/extract.ts
+++ b/src/extract.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,14 @@ export const writeTranslations = async (
 ): Promise<void> => {
   await Promise.all(Object.values(translationResults).map(async (languageTranslations) => {
     await Promise.all(Object.values(languageTranslations).map(async ({ filePath, translations }) => {
-      const content = JSON.stringify(translations, undefined, 2)
+
+      // Sort all keys
+      const allKeys = new Set<string>()
+      JSON.stringify(translations, (key, value) => {
+        allKeys.add(key)
+        return value
+      })
+      const content = JSON.stringify(translations, Array.from(allKeys).sort(), 2)
 
       const directory = dirname(filePath)
       if (!existsSync(directory)) {
diff --git a/src/merge.ts b/src/merge.ts
index b83f3d8..d4b08a9 100644
--- a/src/merge.ts
+++ b/src/merge.ts
@@ -15,14 +15,17 @@ export const generateNewTranslations = async (
   options: I18nExtractOptions
 ): Promise<TranslationMapWrite> => {
   return generateTranslationMap(options, async ({ language, namespace }) => {
-    let translations: TranslationStructure = {}
+    const _existingTranslations = existingTranslations[language]?.[namespace]?.translations || {}
+
+    let translations: TranslationStructure = options.keepMissing
+      ? JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(_existingTranslations))
+      : {}
     let result: TranslationResultWrite = {
       translations,
       untranslatedCount: 0
     }
 
     const _translationKeys = translationKeys[namespace] || []
-    const _existingTranslations = existingTranslations[language]?.[namespace]?.translations || {}
     for (const translationKey of _translationKeys) {
       [translations, result] = await writeTranslationStructure(
         translationKey,
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 9d0113a..54b6634 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -28,4 +28,5 @@ export interface I18nExtractOptions {
   namespaces?: Namespace[]
   defaultValue?: string
   parseRegex?: RegExp
+  keepMissing?: boolean
 }
diff --git a/tests/extract.spec.ts b/tests/extract.spec.ts
index c4c183b..c1cf065 100644
--- a/tests/extract.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/extract.spec.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,51 @@ describe('i18nExtract', () => {
     }))
   })
 
+  it('should extract translations and keep old', async () => {
+    const options = await import('../examples/default/i18n-extract.config.cjs')
+    await i18nExtract({
+      ...options.default,
+      keepMissing: true
+    })
+
+    expect(mockedMkdir).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    expect(mockedWriteFile).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+
+    expect(mockedWriteFile).toHaveBeenCalledWith('examples/default/locales/de.json', toJSON({
+      context: {
+        key_1: 'Context Key 1 DE',
+        key_2: 'Context Key 2 DE',
+        nested: {
+          key: 'Nested Key DE',
+          old: 'Old nested key DE'
+        }
+      },
+      key_1: 'Key 1 DE',
+      key_2: 'Key 2 DE',
+      key_3: 'Key 3 DE',
+      key_4: 'Key 4 DE',
+      new_key: '__MISSING_TRANSLATION__',
+      old_key: 'Old key'
+    }))
+    expect(mockedWriteFile).toHaveBeenCalledWith('examples/default/locales/en-GB.json', toJSON({
+      context: {
+        key_1: 'Context Key 1 EN',
+        key_2: 'Context Key 2 EN',
+        nested: {
+          key: 'Nested Key EN',
+          old: 'Old nested key EN'
+        }
+      },
+      key_1: 'Key 1 EN',
+      key_2: 'Key 2 EN',
+      key_3: 'Key 3 EN',
+      key_4: 'Key 4 EN',
+      new_key: '__MISSING_TRANSLATION__',
+      old_key: 'Old key'
+    }))
+  })
+
   it('should extract with missing translations', async () => {
     const options = await import('../examples/default/i18n-extract.config.cjs')
     await i18nExtract({
diff --git a/tests/load.spec.ts b/tests/load.spec.ts
index e71a9f3..266c6ea 100644
--- a/tests/load.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/load.spec.ts
@@ -79,9 +79,10 @@ describe('loadTranslations', () => {
             key_2: 'Key 2 DE',
             key_4: 'Key 4 DE',
             context: {
-              key_1: 'Context Key 1 DE',
               key_2: 'Context Key 2 DE',
+              key_1: 'Context Key 1 DE',
               nested: {
+                old: 'Old nested key DE',
                 key: 'Nested Key DE'
               }
             },
@@ -98,9 +99,10 @@ describe('loadTranslations', () => {
             key_2: 'Key 2 EN',
             key_4: 'Key 4 EN',
             context: {
-              key_1: 'Context Key 1 EN',
               key_2: 'Context Key 2 EN',
+              key_1: 'Context Key 1 EN',
               nested: {
+                old: 'Old nested key EN',
                 key: 'Nested Key EN'
               }
             },