You try to update something and WordPress refuses: “Another update is currently in progress.” Except there isn’t one. A previous update got interrupted and left a lock behind that WordPress won’t clear on its own. Here’s how to remove it.
Why the lock exists
When WordPress starts a core update, it sets a temporary flag in the database called core_updater.lock to stop two updates running at once. Normally it clears the flag when the update finishes. If the update is interrupted — a timeout, a closed tab, a server hiccup — the flag stays set, and WordPress thinks an update is still running.
The easy fix: just wait
The lock is designed to expire on its own after about 15 minutes. If you’re not in a hurry, wait a quarter of an hour and try again — often the message clears itself and you can update normally.
The fast fix: remove the lock in the database
If you’d rather not wait, delete the lock directly.
- Log in to cPanel and open phpMyAdmin.
- Select your site’s database, then open the
wp_optionstable (your prefix may differ). - Use the search or browse to find the row where
option_nameiscore_updater.lock. - Delete that single row.
That’s it. Return to WordPress and the update proceeds normally.
If it keeps happening
A lock that reappears means your updates keep getting interrupted, and that points to a resource issue. Raise the PHP memory limit to 256M and the execution time to 300 seconds so updates have room to finish. Updating one thing at a time, rather than several at once, also reduces the chance of a mid-update timeout.
Prevent it entirely
The root cause is almost always an update that ran out of time or memory. Once you’ve raised those limits, updates complete cleanly and the lock never gets left behind. Take a backup before major updates too, so an interruption is never a real problem.
If updates consistently time out even after raising the limits, there may be a server-side cap we need to lift — send us a ticket and we’ll check.
