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How to fix "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance" in WordPress

WordPress puts a site into maintenance mode while it installs an update and takes it out again when the update finishes. If the update was cut short, the site stays in maintenance mode. Removing one small file brings it back.

By
WP Ministry
Published
Tested on
WordPress 7.1.3, PHP 8.3.35

In short

  • The site is not broken and nothing has been lost. It is waiting for an update that never told it to stop waiting.
  • Deleting the file named .maintenance from the site's main folder brings the site back at once.
  • WordPress ignores that file once it is ten minutes old, so a site left alone comes back by itself.
  • Afterwards, run the interrupted update again so nothing is left half-installed.

While WordPress installs an update it creates a file named .maintenance in the site's main folder. For as long as that file is there, every visitor sees "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute." When the update finishes, WordPress deletes the file and the site returns.

If the update is cut short, nothing deletes the file, and the site stays as it is. Your content is untouched.

WordPress only obeys the file for ten minutes from the moment the update began. If you have just seen the message for the first time, waiting ten minutes and reloading may be all it takes.

Where it goes wrong

A page request passes through each of these in turn. This one comes from WordPress itself.

  1. Browser
  2. DNS
  3. HTTPS
  4. CDN or firewall
  5. Web server
  6. PHP
  7. WordPress (this error comes from here)
  8. Database and files

What causes it

How to fix it

Take the site out of maintenance mode

  • Easy
  • No risk
  • About 5 minutes
  • Steps tested on WordPress 7.1.3

  1. Step 1: Open the site's main folder

    Use your host's file manager, or connect over SFTP. It is the folder that holds wp-config.php and the wp-content folder.

  2. Step 2: Show hidden files

    The file's name begins with a dot, which hides it in most file managers. Look for a setting named "Show hidden files".

  3. Step 3: Delete the file named .maintenance

    Delete that one file and nothing else.

  4. Step 4: Reload the site

    It loads as it did before the update.

If you have WP-CLI, one command does the same:

bash
wp maintenance-mode deactivate

Finish the update that was interrupted

  • Easy
  • Back up first
  • About 10 minutes
  • Steps tested on WordPress 7.1.3

An update that was cut short may have left files half-copied. Run it again so that what is installed is complete.

  1. Step 1: Open Dashboard, then Updates

    Anything that did not finish is still listed as having an update.

  2. Step 2: Update one thing at a time

    Update WordPress first if it is listed, then each plugin, then each theme. One at a time keeps each spell in maintenance mode short.

  3. Step 3: Check the site after each one

    If the site breaks after a particular update, you know which one to look at.

With WP-CLI, this checks that WordPress's own files are complete and unchanged, then updates every plugin:

bash
wp core verify-checksums
wp plugin update --all

When to get help

If the site shows a different error once it is out of maintenance mode, the interrupted update left a plugin, a theme or WordPress itself half-installed. That is repairable, but it is a different job from this one.

Common questions

Is my site hacked?

No. This is WordPress's own message, shown on purpose while it updates.

Why did the update stop?

Most often the tab was closed or the connection dropped while it ran. On small hosting plans the server may also stop a task that runs too long or uses too much memory.

How do I stop it happening again?

Update one thing at a time, keep the tab open until WordPress says it has finished, and take a backup first. Updates tested on a copy of the site before they reach the live one never put visitors in front of this message.

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