Understanding And Fixing “Briefly Unavailable for Scheduled Maintenance” in WordPress

Seeing “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute” on your WordPress site can be nerve-wracking. Minutes turn into an hour, and your site remains inaccessible.

You start to feel stressed about lost traffic and missed opportunities during your WordPress website maintenance.

Fortunately, fixing this issue is simpler than you think. In this article, we’ll walk you through two tested and foolproof methods to get your WordPress site out of maintenance mode quickly. No matter how long it’s been down, you’ll be able to restore access to your site and continue with your updates.

TL;DR: “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” means updates are running on your WordPress site. But failed updates can get your site stuck on this message. Resolve this by deleting the hidden .maintenance file via FTP or cPanel.

What does “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.” mean?

When you see the message, “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute,” it means that your WordPress site is undergoing updates. This can include updates to the WordPress core, themes, or plugins. Usually, this message only lasts a few seconds or minutes.

Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes

WordPress temporarily creates a hidden file called .maintenance in your site’s root folder (public_html or www). This file prevents visitors from accessing your site during updates. 

This way, no one sees incomplete or broken parts of your site while updates are happening. It also keeps visitors from causing potential errors by trying to use the site during this sensitive time.

Why your site got stuck in maintenance mode

A WordPress site being stuck in maintenance mode is a common issue many users face. This typically happens when there’s an interruption during an update process, which can be caused by several factors:

1. Plugin and theme conflicts: Updating plugins or themes sometimes causes them to clash with each other or with core WordPress files, disrupting the update process and leaving your site in maintenance mode.

2. Incomplete update: An update can be interrupted due to a timeout, server overload, or running out of allocated memory, leaving your site halfway through the update.

3. Hosting issues: Shared hosting environments are especially prone to performance bottlenecks. If your server is busy or has limited resources, it can interrupt the update process, resulting in WordPress maintenance state.

4. Browser or network problems: Issues can sometimes stem from your end too. A network drop or browser crash can halt the update process, leaving your site in this state.

5. Manual errors: Administrators might manually update or change settings through FTP or cPanel incorrectly, not following the right sequence, and accidentally triggering maintenance mode.

So sometimes things don’t go as planned. If an update is interrupted or fails, your site can get stuck in maintenance mode indefinitely. When this happens, not only do visitors see the maintenance message, but you also lose access to your wp-admin dashboard. This makes it tricky to fix the problem.

A) Resolve the “Briefly unavailable” WordPress error using FTP

Before you get started with technical troubleshooting, make sure to take a complete backup of your site.

If you’re stuck in maintenance mode, one quick way to fix it is by using FTP. Here’s how you do it: 

Step 1: Clear cache: Start by clearing your browser’s cache to view the latest version of your site.

Step 2: Connect to your site via FTP: Download and install an FTP client like FileZilla. Open it and establish a connection to your site via FTP. Check with your hosting provider for the FTP credentials to do this. 

Step 3: Locate the .maintenance file: Navigate to the root folder of your WordPress site. It’s usually called public_html or www. The .maintenance file is located here but is usually hidden. To unhide it, go to the Server menu and select Force showing hidden files. 

Step 4: Delete the .maintenance file: Right-click on the .maintenance file and choose Delete. Deleting the file forces WordPress out of its maintenance mode. Return to your browser and refresh your site to see if it’s back to normal.

B) Resolve the “Briefly unavailable” WordPress error using cPanel File Manager

If you don’t want to use FTP, you can also fix the maintenance mode issue through your hosting control panel’s file manager. 

Note that most hosting providers use cPanel as their file manager. If your host uses another file manager, the steps should be similar if not the same. Here’s how to go about it with cPanel:

Step 1: Log into your cPanel account: Navigate to the File Manager. 

Step 2: Locate the .maintenance file. Open your WordPress site’s root folder, usually named public_html or www. If the .maintenance file is hidden, click the Settings button in the top right corner and select the Check the Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) checkbox.

Step 3: Delete the .maintenance file: Right-click on the .maintenance file and delete it. This lifts your site out of maintenance mode.

The fixes did not work. What now?

If the previous methods didn’t solve your problem, don’t worry. There are still a few more steps you can take to get your site back online:

• Double-check that the .maintenance file hasn’t reappeared. If it’s there, delete it again.

• Clear your browser cache. Your browser might still be showing you the old maintenance page. Refreshing the cache can help.
• Disable plugins temporarily. Use FTP or cPanel to go to your wp-content folder and rename the plugins folder to something like plugins_disabled. This will deactivate all your plugins. Go back to your site and see if the maintenance page has been lifted. To reactivate your plugins, revert back to the original name of the plugins folder.
• Increase PHP memory limit. Sometimes, your site may be stuck in maintenance mode because it doesn’t have enough memory to complete the updates. Open your wp-config.php file and add this line of code: 

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');

This gives your site more memory to work with. If the memory limit is already set to 256M and you’re still experiencing issues related to memory usage, you might want to increase it further. 512M is generally considered a high limit but it should cover most needs unless you are running very large or complex operations.

Make sure to edit this file carefully, as any mistake in the core files can cause your site to crash.

• Check file permissions and ensure they are set correctly. For most WordPress sites, folders should be set to 755 and files to 644.

• Manually complete your updates. Your updates have been interrupted so you will have to manually update your plugins or themes. Download the .zip file of the plugin or theme from the WordPress repository, and extract the files. Next, manually upload it to your site via FTP or cPanel.

Preventing the need for manual intervention, BlogVault lets you update WordPress, plugins, and themes without having to access your wp-admin dashboard. 

• Restore an old backup. If you have a recent backup, restoring it can revert your site to a state before the maintenance issue occurred. This can quickly resolve the problem.
• Contact your hosting provider. If all else fails, your hosting provider can offer professional support and resources to help resolve the issue. Make sure to give them a detailed explanation of the steps you already took to fix the issue.

Practices to prevent this issue in the future

You don’t want to be stuck in maintenance mode again, right? Here are some simple steps you can take to prevent this issue from happening in the future:

• Ensure a stable internet connection during updates. A shaky connection can interrupt updates and cause problems, so make sure your internet is reliable.
• Test updates on a staging website. Before making any updates live, try them out on a test version of your site. With tools like BlogVault, you can easily create a staging site with just a single click.
• Update in smaller batches. Instead of updating everything at once, update plugins and themes in smaller groups. This reduces the chances of conflicts and issues.
• Schedule maintenance during low-traffic hours. Plan your updates when fewer people are visiting your site. That way, if something goes wrong, fewer visitors are affected.
• Use a robust backup plugin to back up your site regularly. Regular backups make it easy to restore your site if something goes wrong during an update.
• Check plugin or theme compatibility before updating. Make sure the updates you’re applying are compatible with your current WordPress setup. This will help avoid conflicts and errors.

Parting thoughts

Getting stuck with the “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” message can be frustrating. However, it’s a problem you can fix with steps like deleting the .maintenance file from your root directory.

Use a staging environment, like the one you can create with BlogVault, to test updates without affecting your live site. Additionally, always remember to take regular backups of your site. This way, if anything goes wrong, you can quickly restore it. 

If you ever find that the problem persists despite all your efforts, don’t hesitate to contact your hosting provider. They have the tools and expertise to help you resolve more stubborn issues.

FAQs

How to fix WordPress errors “briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute”?

To get your WordPress site out of maintenance mode, use FTP or cPanel to delete the hidden .maintenance file located in your site’s root directory.This should bring your site out of maintenance mode instantly.

How long does scheduled maintenance take in WordPress?

Scheduled maintenance in WordPress usually lasts just a few seconds to a couple of minutes. It’s meant to be very brief while updates are being applied. If it takes much longer, something likely went wrong during the update process.

Why is my WordPress site not coming out of maintenance mode?

Your WordPress site might get stuck in maintenance mode if an update is interrupted or fails. This leaves the .maintenance file in place, preventing your site from returning to normal. Deleting this file via FTP or cPanel usually resolves the problem.

If I figure out how to revert this error, will I have to do the update again?

Yes. If you manage to revert the maintenance mode error, you have to redo the update that caused the problem. Sometimes, the update process gets stuck or interrupted, and deleting the .maintenance file stops the update halfway. You will need to return to your WordPress dashboard and attempt the update again to ensure everything is properly applied.

Why do websites shut down for maintenance?

Websites shut down for maintenance to ensure that updates are applied correctly without visitor interference. This helps prevent errors and ensures that new features or changes are implemented smoothly. It also keeps visitors from experiencing incomplete or broken website elements during the update process.