How to fix the 'Scheduled Maintenance' message in WordPress

This article describes how to troubleshoot a problem that may occur after a WordPress update.

Problem

When you try to view your WordPress site, you receive the following message in your web browser:

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

During a normal update, WordPress enters maintenance mode, displays this message, and blocks site access temporarily. When the update is complete, WordPress removes the message and your site is accessible again.

However, if a WordPress update is interrupted or fails, this message can remain visible, preventing access to your site. In this case, you must manually “unblock” the update maintenance mode.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel.
   If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
2. In the Files section of the cPanel home screen, click File Manager.
3. Click Web Root, select the Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) check box, and then click Go.
4. Locate the .maintenance file.
5. Right-click the .maintenance file, and then click Delete.
6. At the Are you sure you wish to delete? prompt, click Delete File(s).
7. Open the WordPress site in your web browser. You should see the main page now, not the scheduled maintenance message.
8. Log in to WordPress as the administrator. The administration screen displays the following message:

   An automated WordPress update has failed to complete - please attempt the update again now.

9. Click the please attempt the update again now hyperlink to retry the WordPress update.