Does this match what you’re seeing?
- Every page says ‘Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.’
- An update was interrupted or the browser was closed during it
During updates WordPress creates a .maintenance file to show this message. If the update is interrupted, the file stays and the message never goes away.
Fix
- Open System Info & Files then File Manager and go to the WordPress folder (usually
public_html). - Show hidden files. How to show hidden files like .htaccess
- Delete the file called
.maintenance. - Reload the site.
Then finish the update
The interrupted update may be half-done.
- Log in and go to Dashboard → Updates.
- Run any updates still listed.
- If a plugin now appears broken, delete it and reinstall it.
Avoiding it
- Don’t close the browser tab while updates run.
- Update plugins in small batches rather than all at once.
- Update when the site is quiet.
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