“Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.” If that message has been on your site for more than a few minutes, an update got interrupted. The fix usually takes two minutes.
Why it happens
Every time WordPress updates a plugin, theme or core, it creates a file called .maintenance in your site’s root folder. Visitors see the maintenance message while that file exists. When the update finishes, WordPress deletes it. If the update times out, the browser tab closes, or the server runs out of memory partway through, the file stays and your site stays in maintenance mode.
The fix
- Connect to your site with SFTP or your host’s file manager.
- Open the folder that contains
wp-config.php(usuallypublic_htmlor the site’s web root). - Turn on “show hidden files.” Files starting with a dot are hidden by default.
- Delete the
.maintenancefile. - Reload your site. It should load normally.
If you have WP-CLI access, wp maintenance-mode deactivate does the same thing.
Then finish the update
Deleting the file does not complete the update that failed. Go to Dashboard → Updates and check what is still pending. A plugin that was halfway through updating may be missing files, so update it again (or reinstall it). If the site shows a critical error after you remove the file, the half-finished plugin is the likely cause: see how to fix the white screen of death.
Avoid it next time
- Update plugins a few at a time instead of all at once.
- Keep the browser tab open until updates finish.
- Make sure your PHP memory limit and execution time are not set too low.
- Run updates on a staging copy first, so a failed update never touches the live site.
Rather not deal with it?
Our Care Plans run updates on staging first and fix anything that breaks before it reaches your live site. If the site is stuck right now, the $79 one-time fix gets it back.