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Fix WordPress Stuck in Maintenance Mode

WordPress maintenance mode

Sometimes WordPress updates get interrupted, and your site gets stuck on:

Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.

This is almost always fixed by removing one small file.

Step 1: Remove the .maintenance file

  1. Open your website files using: - cPanel File Manager, or - Enhance Files, or - FTP/SFTP
  2. Go to the WordPress root (where wp-config.php lives).
  3. Find the file named: - .maintenance
  4. Delete it.
  5. Reload your site.

That’s it in most cases.

Tip

If you don’t see .maintenance, enable “show hidden files” in your file manager.

Step 2: Clear cache (if it still shows)

If you use a cache plugin or CDN, it may still show the old maintenance page.

  • Purge your cache plugin (if admin loads)
  • Purge CDN cache (Cloudflare, etc)
  • Clear browser cache and retry incognito

Step 3: Re-run updates safely

If the update was interrupted, you should complete it:

  1. Log into /wp-admin/
  2. Go to Dashboard → Updates
  3. Run updates one group at a time: - WordPress core - Plugins - Themes

If a plugin update fails repeatedly, update it manually or ask GOZEN HOST support.

Prevention (the boring part that saves you later)

  • Avoid running updates during peak traffic.
  • Take a backup before updates (especially WooCommerce sites).
  • Don’t close the browser mid-update.
  • If your site is large, update plugins one-by-one.

Summary

Delete the .maintenance file from the WordPress root. If the page persists, clear caches and complete pending updates from the WordPress dashboard.