Maintenance mode is activated by WordPress during updates to ensure a smooth transition. However, if an error occurs during the update, the maintenance mode might not be properly deactivated, resulting in the website being stuck and displaying a maintenance message.
This guide covers the steps to follow if a WordPress website is stuck in maintenance mode. An example of the message displayed when the site is stuck in maintenance mode is shown below.
Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.
Deactivate Maintenance Mode
- Log into the cPanel
- Navigate to the File Manager, located in the Files section
- Navigate to the document root for the website
- Enable hidden file display
- Remove any files named .maintenance
TIP: Alternatively, the following command can be run over SSH while in the document root to automatically remove all .maintenance files.[ ! -f ".maintenance" ] && echo -e "\e[31m.maintenance file not found\e[0m" || mv .maintenance .maintenance.bak | echo -e "\e[92m.maintenance found and renamed to .maintenance.bak\e[0m"