diff --git a/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.spec.ts b/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.spec.ts
index 547235772f3..24c52000837 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.spec.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { EntityType } from "../../../../../../hub/service/hub.service";
 import { NotificationService } from "../../../../../../common/service/notification/notification.service";
 import { DomSanitizer } from "@angular/platform-browser";
 import { commonTestProviders } from "../../../../../../common/testing/test-utils";
-import { of } from "rxjs";
+import { of, Subject, throwError } from "rxjs";
 import * as Papa from "papaparse";
 import JSZip from "jszip";
 import readXlsxFile from "read-excel-file";
@@ -108,6 +108,40 @@ describe("UserDatasetFileRendererComponent", () => {
       expect(component.isLoading).toBe(false);
     });
 
+    it("shows the loading error when the file cannot be fetched", () => {
+      vi.spyOn(TestBed.inject(DatasetService), "retrieveDatasetVersionSingleFile").mockReturnValue(
+        throwError(() => new Error("download failed"))
+      );
+      component.resourceId = 1;
+      component.versionId = 2;
+      component.filePath = "notes.txt";
+
+      component.reloadFileContent();
+
+      expect(component.isLoading).toBe(false);
+      expect(component.isFileLoadingError).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("drops a slow file once another file is selected", () => {
+      const slowFile = new Subject<Blob>();
+      const notes = new Blob(["notes"], { type: "text/plain" });
+      vi.spyOn(TestBed.inject(DatasetService), "retrieveDatasetVersionSingleFile").mockImplementation(path =>
+        path === "data.csv" ? slowFile : of(notes)
+      );
+      component.resourceId = 1;
+      component.versionId = 2;
+      component.filePath = "data.csv";
+      component.reloadFileContent();
+
+      component.filePath = "notes.txt";
+      component.reloadFileContent();
+      slowFile.next(new Blob(["a,b\n1,2"], { type: "text/csv" }));
+
+      expect(slowFile.observed).toBe(false);
+      expect(component.displayCSV).toBe(false);
+      expect(component.currentFile?.size).toBe(notes.size);
+    });
+
     it("fetches from the model endpoint when the file belongs to a model", () => {
       const datasetSpy = vi.spyOn(TestBed.inject(DatasetService), "retrieveDatasetVersionSingleFile");
       const modelSpy = vi
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.ts b/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.ts
index 85180685a8b..81c86cf2c24 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/app/dashboard/component/user/user-dataset/user-dataset-explorer/user-dataset-file-renderer/user-dataset-file-renderer.component.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { Component, Input, OnChanges, OnDestroy, OnInit, SimpleChanges } from "@
 import { ResourceRegistryService } from "../../../../../service/user/resource-registry/resource-registry.service";
 import { EntityType } from "../../../../../../hub/service/hub.service";
 import { UntilDestroy, untilDestroyed } from "@ngneat/until-destroy";
+import { Subscription } from "rxjs";
 import * as Papa from "papaparse";
 import { ParseResult } from "papaparse";
 import { DomSanitizer, SafeUrl } from "@angular/platform-browser";
@@ -139,6 +140,7 @@ export class UserDatasetFileRendererComponent implements OnInit, OnChanges, OnDe
 
   // control flags
   public isLoading: boolean = false;
+  private fileLoad?: Subscription;
   public isFileSizeUnloadable = false;
   public isFileLoadingError: boolean = false;
   public isFileTypePreviewUnsupported: boolean = false;
@@ -195,6 +197,7 @@ export class UserDatasetFileRendererComponent implements OnInit, OnChanges, OnDe
   }
 
   reloadFileContent() {
+    this.fileLoad?.unsubscribe();
     this.turnOffAllDisplay();
 
     // Pre-check - file size
@@ -213,7 +216,7 @@ export class UserDatasetFileRendererComponent implements OnInit, OnChanges, OnDe
     this.isLoading = true;
     const retrieveSingleFile = this.resourceRegistry.get(this.resourceType).retrieveSingleFile;
     if (retrieveSingleFile && this.resourceId && this.versionId && this.filePath != "") {
-      retrieveSingleFile(this.filePath, this.isLogin)
+      this.fileLoad = retrieveSingleFile(this.filePath, this.isLogin)
         .pipe(untilDestroyed(this))
         .subscribe({
           next: blob => {
@@ -295,6 +298,7 @@ export class UserDatasetFileRendererComponent implements OnInit, OnChanges, OnDe
                 break;
             }
           },
+          error: () => this.onFileLoadingError(),
         });
     }
   }