Wednesday, August 6, 2025

WordPress Site Stuck in Maintenance Mode? Here’s How to Exit Safely

 











🛠️ What is WordPress Maintenance Mode?

When WordPress performs automatic updates for core, plugins, or themes, it temporarily puts the site into maintenance mode, displaying this message:

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

If the update process is interrupted or crashes, the site can get stuck in maintenance mode.

✅ Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

🔹 Step 1: Connect to the Website Using FTP or cPanel

  1. Use FTP software (like FileZilla) or your web hosting File Manager.

  2. Navigate to the root directory where WordPress is installed (usually public_html).

🔹 Step 2: Delete the .maintenance File

  1. Locate the file named .maintenance in the root directory.

  2. Delete this file.

Once deleted, the website should come back online immediately.

⚠️ If you don’t see the file, make sure hidden files are visible in your FTP or cPanel settings.

🔹 Step 3: Clear Caches (Optional)

If the message still appears:

  • Clear your browser cache.

  • Clear your WordPress cache plugin (if any).

  • Clear CDN cache (Cloudflare or others).

🔹 Step 4: Retry the Update

If the update failed previously:

  1. Log into the WordPress dashboard.

  2. Go to Dashboard > Updates.

  3. Re-run any pending updates for plugins, themes, or WordPress core.

🔹 Step 5: Disable Automatic Maintenance Mode (Advanced)

For more control, users can add a filter to prevent auto maintenance:

  1. Edit wp-config.php or create a plugin snippet:

    php
    remove_action('admin_init', '_maybe_update_core');
remove_action('admin_init', '_maybe_update_plugins');
remove_action('admin_init', '_maybe_update_themes');

  2. This stops WordPress from auto-triggering maintenance mode without manual updates.

⚠️ This is only for advanced users or managed environments.

📌 Conclusion

Getting stuck in maintenance mode can happen to anyone during an update. The fix is usually as simple as deleting the .maintenance file.