If your WordPress site is showing the message “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.” and it has been there for far longer than a minute, don’t worry – your site isn’t broken. WordPress enters this state automatically during updates and is supposed to leave it as soon as the update finishes. Occasionally an update is interrupted, and the site gets stuck in maintenance mode. The fix is simple: delete one file via FTP and your site will be back to normal.
Why does this happen?
When WordPress starts a core, plugin (add-on) or theme (template) update, it creates a hidden file called .maintenance in the root of your installation. While that file exists, WordPress shows the maintenance message to every visitor. Normally WordPress deletes the file the moment the update finishes – but if the update is interrupted (browser closed, server timeout, connection drop), the file is left behind and your site stays in maintenance mode.
Remove the .maintenance file via FTP
You’ll need an FTP client and your FTP credentials. See how to add and connect to an FTP account if you need help with that.
- Connect to your hosting using your FTP client.
- Open the folder containing your WordPress installation – typically example.com/public_html/.
- Look for a file called .maintenance in that folder. It may be hidden by default – in FileZilla, enable Server > Force showing hidden files if you don’t see it.
- Delete the .maintenance file.
Reload your site in the browser. The maintenance message will be gone and your site will display normally.
Finish what the update started
Log in to the WordPress dashboard (admin area, wp-admin) and check whether the update that triggered the maintenance mode is still pending. If it is, run it again – this time to completion – so your site stays up to date with the latest security fixes.