Fixing WordPress stuck in maintenance mode — step-by-step

WordPress’s maintenance mode is an extremely helpful feature that allows your site to take itself offline whenever you’re performing an update or some other critical task. But when it refuses to turn itself off again, it can be a frustrating issue for a small business owner whose livelihood depends on the site. At WordPressAssistance.com, we’re experienced WordPress site managers with more than 15 years in the business, and we know that when your WordPress site is stuck in maintenance mode, you need safe, tested, and effective solutions now.

In this guide, we’ll show you easy ways to fix WordPress when it gets stuck in maintenance mode. We’ll explain what causes the problem in the first place, and then provide you with clear, step-by-step instructions to get your site back up and running as soon as possible.

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TL;DR – Fix WordPress Stuck in Maintenance Mode

Happens when the .maintenance file isn’t removed after a failed update (timeout, bad plugin/theme, weak hosting).

• Fix: Access site via FTP/File Manager → delete .maintenance → refresh.

If it repeats:

• Disable/recheck plugins or switch theme.
• Avoid bulk updates; do them one by one.

Consider better hosting.

• Use backups + maintenance mode plugins for prevention.

👉 Quick fix = delete .maintenance. Long-term fix = manage plugins, updates, and hosting.

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WordPressStuck in Maintenance Mode – What Causes It?

WordPress puts itself into maintenance mode when it’s updating core files, installing new plugins or themes, and when it detects critical errors. The maintenance mode file tells WordPress to display the error message, “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.” to everyone who attempts to visit your site, and then to block access to the site entirely. This is done to prevent visitors from seeing error messages or broken page elements during the update.

When WordPress updates itself, it creates a file called .maintenance and stores it in the root directory of your WordPress install. The .maintenance file is deleted automatically when the update completes and the site is back up and running. But sometimes, if the server times out during an update, the connection to your site is lost, a plugin or theme conflict occurs, or for other reasons, WordPress can fail to remove the .maintenance file and leave your site stuck in maintenance mode.

The error is somewhat common, and many WordPress website owners have experienced it at one time or another, but may not understand the reason for it, or how to correct it. Seeing the message persist, and being unable to visit your own site is understandably confusing. And while many folks have found their way to this page, we’re also here to help!

In some cases, a WordPress site may not get out of maintenance mode after updates because of issues with the WordPress code itself. But most of the time, the site is left “stuck” because it was unable to finish the update it was performing, and is thus waiting for the next scheduled update to try again. The root cause could be a server that’s too slow to complete the updates in time, a poorly coded plugin or theme, or a third-party hosting service that failed to complete a request.

A WordPress site stuck in maintenance mode is not in itself an urgent problem, unless it causes your site to be unavailable for a long time, but the message is still ugly and unprofessional to your visitors. It’s also a symptom of a problem with the software or with your server, and you’re likely to continue experiencing errors in the future if you don’t find the root cause and prevent it from happening again.

Now that you know why your WordPress site might get stuck in maintenance mode, you’re in a better position to know what to do to fix it quickly and easily.

How to Get Your WordPress Site Out of Maintenance Mode

Removing the .maintenance File from WordPress

As we discussed earlier, a WordPress site can get stuck in maintenance mode because WordPress is still waiting for the next update cycle to try completing the interrupted update, or it failed to complete a task because of another problem. As a result, the root cause may be more or less complex and will need to be addressed, but one easy step that’s always safe to take is to remove the .maintenance file manually. To do this, you’ll need to access your website’s root directory.

You can accomplish this using an FTP client like FileZilla, or through your web hosting control panel, using the file manager function. Once connected to your root directory, you will be able to see the .maintenance file stored in that directory. Make a backup of your site first or, at the very least, export your WordPress database if you have recently made changes to the site.

After making a backup, you can go ahead and delete the .maintenance file from the root directory. This action will take your site out of maintenance mode, but if the underlying issue is not addressed, the message may reappear during your next update cycle. Once you’ve deleted the file, be sure to refresh the browser to verify that the site is live and accessible again.

If you don’t see the .maintenance file, you’ll need to enable the display of hidden files in your FTP client or file manager. Files starting with a dot “.” are considered hidden on Linux/Unix-based servers by default. Also, make sure that you are in the correct directory and don’t accidentally delete other critical files. Deleting .maintenance file manually is a safe and effective way to fix the issue of a WordPress site stuck in maintenance mode, but should be done with care.

Plugins and Themes Troubleshooting

If you notice that your WordPress site has a habit of getting stuck in maintenance mode every time you update the WordPress core software, one of your plugins or your theme could be the cause of the problem. Poorly written, coded, or incompatible plugins and themes are the most common reason for your WordPress site not completing its updates successfully, and the main place to start looking when this occurs.

Try renaming your /wp-content/plugins/ directory (which will disable all plugins) via FTP or your hosting file manager and then try your updates again. If the site updates and comes out of maintenance mode successfully, you’ll know it’s a plugin causing the issue. You can re-enable the plugins directory and re-activate your plugins one by one until you find the culprit.

If the problem is still present, try changing to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Three for a while and see if the issue persists. If you identify a plugin as the source of the problem, try updating or replacing it. At the very least, only use plugins and themes that are from reliable sources, are maintained and updated regularly, and which have a good reputation. It’s also a good idea to perform all your updates on a staging site and test there first before updating your live site.

Fixing WordPress Maintenance Mode With Quality Hosting and Preventing Future Problems

A good hosting provider with a WordPress-optimized environment with fast and reliable server resources is a great first line of defense against getting stuck in maintenance mode. Slow or spotty hosting that has a high incidence of timeouts will almost certainly cause you to encounter more WordPress maintenance mode problems in the future.

Upgrading to professional WordPress hosting, or changing hosting providers will usually result in fewer WordPress problems, including a lower incidence of getting stuck in maintenance mode. Most WordPress hosting companies include managed automatic backups and staging site tools as standard, making it easy to manage, and without extra cost.

Second, always update your plugins, themes, and WordPress core one at a time rather than in bulk. Bulk updates put a lot more load on your server, and in our experience, increases the possibility of errors. It also helps to perform your updates during a maintenance window, so that you can allow the process to complete without visitors in your way.

Maintenance Mode Plugins

Another idea to help your visitors enjoy a better experience while your site is offline for updates is to use a WordPress maintenance mode plugin, with timed-out limits and friendly messages as opposed to WordPress’ default message. Using a dedicated WordPress maintenance plugin, rather than simply letting WordPress put itself into maintenance mode automatically is an easy and effective solution to this problem.

Managed WordPress Site Maintenance Support

Finally, make sure that you have regular, automatic backups of your site, and if necessary, consider using WordPressAssistance.com managed WordPress support to take care of your website. A good WordPress support company with a managed WordPress maintenance service will monitor your site on an ongoing basis for these types of errors and more, and correct them on your behalf as they occur.

At WordPressAssistance.com we know that downtime is a small business owner’s worst nightmare, which is why we also offer an industry-leading WordPressSiteCare program that covers all of this and more. Let us help you maintain a fast, safe, and secure WordPress site that serves you and your customers well, every day.