More fixes

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

WordPress shows this line, and nothing else, while it installs an update. To do that it puts a small file called .maintenance in the site's main folder and deletes it when the update finishes. If the update stops halfway (the tab was closed, the server ran out of time or memory, several updates ran at once), the file can be left behind and every visitor gets the message. Your pages and orders are not lost. Below is a rebuilt example (not a real client), then the safe order of steps.

First: is it still updating, or stuck?

• Wait ten minutes, then reload in a private window. A normal update takes seconds to a couple of minutes. Current WordPress versions also stop honouring a leftover .maintenance file about ten minutes after the update began, so a site that clears by itself needs nothing more than a check that the update really finished.
• Still there after that? Something else is keeping it up: the file was written by a maintenance-mode plugin or a host tool with a later time in it, a cache is serving a stored copy of the message, or the update broke a plugin and the site is about to show a different error once the message goes.
• Note what was updating. The dashboard's Updates page, the plugin list or your host's activity log usually shows which plugin, theme or WordPress version it was. That is the thing to finish properly later.

The safe order of steps

1. Back up the files (host's file manager or SFTP) before changing anything.
2. Delete .maintenance from the folder that holds wp-config.php (often public_html). Its name starts with a dot, so file managers hide it: in cPanel's File Manager open Settings and tick "Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)"; in an SFTP app turn on hidden files. Delete only that one file.
3. Load the home page and /wp-admin in a private window. If the site is back, go to Dashboard > Updates and finish what was updating, one item at a time, and do not leave the page until each one says it is done.
4. If the site now shows "There has been a critical error" or a blank page, the update stopped mid-copy and left a plugin or theme half-installed. Rename that plugin's folder in wp-content/plugins (add -off), log in, and reinstall it fresh from Plugins > Add New. Our critical error guide covers the rest.
5. If WordPress itself was updating, go to Dashboard > Updates and use "Re-install version". If you cannot log in, upload fresh wp-admin and wp-includes folders of the same version from wordpress.org over the old ones. Never overwrite wp-content or wp-config.php: that is your content and your settings.
6. If there was no .maintenance file, look for a "coming soon" or "maintenance mode" plugin (rename its folder) and your host's own maintenance or staging switch, then purge every cache (caching plugin, host cache, Cloudflare "Purge everything").
7. Remove the leftovers: an empty or stale wp-content/upgrade folder can be deleted once everything works. Then test the home page, an inner page, the contact or order form and the dashboard login.

Common causes and what each one needs

What not to do

• Do not delete other dot-files you find next to it, such as .htaccess: that one controls your addresses and redirects.
• Do not start the same update again while the first one may still be running. Wait the ten minutes first.
• Do not restore an old backup over the whole site just for this message. Orders, bookings and form entries since that backup would be lost, and deleting one file is usually the whole fix.
• Do not run "Update all" on a busy shop in the middle of the day. Small batches, at a quiet hour, with a backup taken first.

If you can reach the host's file manager and the WordPress dashboard, the steps above are usually enough. If the site earns you money every hour it is down, that is what the box below is for.