dev3 ·
I clicked update on a plugin, the browser timed out, and now every page says "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute." It has been an hour.
#wordpress#updates#maintenance
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Why is my WordPress site stuck in "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance"?
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dev3 · Accepted answer
During updates WordPress creates a file named .maintenance in the site root. If the update process is interrupted, it is never removed.
Fix
- Connect with SFTP or the host file manager (enable hidden files).
- Delete
.maintenancein the WordPress root (next towp-config.php). - Reload the site.
Or: rm /var/www/example.com/.maintenance.
Then check the interrupted update
- A plugin might be half-updated. Reinstall it from the Plugins page, or
wp plugin install <slug> --force. - Core updates: run
wp core update --forceandwp core update-db, and check withwp core verify-checksums. - Look in
wp-content/upgrade/and remove leftover folders if updates keep failing.
Why it happened
- PHP execution timeout or memory limit hit during unzip (see the memory limit topic).
- Updating many plugins in one batch.
- A very slow disk or network between your server and wordpress.org.
Prevent it
- Update one at a time on large sites, or use WP-CLI which has no browser timeout.
- Back up first and test on staging.
- Keep wp-admin open until the update finishes.
If the site is still down after deleting .maintenance, see the white screen topic and read debug.log.
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