diff --git a/hfutils/index/fetch.py b/hfutils/index/fetch.py
index d62f259046..29e3811779 100644
--- a/hfutils/index/fetch.py
+++ b/hfutils/index/fetch.py
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ def hf_tar_file_download(repo_id: str, archive_in_repo: str, file_in_archive: st
                          idx_repo_type: Optional[RepoTypeTyping] = None, idx_revision: Optional[str] = None,
                          proxies: Optional[Dict] = None, user_agent: Union[Dict, str, None] = None,
                          headers: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None, endpoint: Optional[str] = None,
-                         hf_token: Optional[str] = None):
+                         force_download: bool = False, hf_token: Optional[str] = None):
     """
     Download a file from a tar archive file in a Hugging Face repository.
 
@@ -470,6 +470,8 @@ def hf_tar_file_download(repo_id: str, archive_in_repo: str, file_in_archive: st
     :type headers: Dict[str, str], optional
     :param endpoint: The Hugging Face API endpoint.
     :type endpoint: str, optional
+    :param force_download: Force download the file to destination path. Defualt to `False`.
+    :type force_download: bool
     :param hf_token: The Hugging Face access token.
     :type hf_token: str, optional
     :raises FileNotFoundError: Raise this when file not exist in tar archive.
@@ -533,6 +535,13 @@ def hf_tar_file_download(repo_id: str, archive_in_repo: str, file_in_archive: st
     end_bytes = info['offset'] + info['size'] - 1
     headers['Range'] = f'bytes={start_bytes}-{end_bytes}'
 
+    if not force_download and os.path.exists(local_file) and \
+            os.path.isfile(local_file) and os.path.getsize(local_file) == info['size']:
+        _expected_sha256 = info.get('sha256')
+        if not _expected_sha256 or _f_sha256(local_file) == _expected_sha256:
+            # file already ready, no need to download it again
+            return
+
     if os.path.dirname(local_file):
         os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(local_file), exist_ok=True)
     try:
diff --git a/hfutils/index/local_fetch.py b/hfutils/index/local_fetch.py
index 4d86fbb5b2..c86ea1c01b 100644
--- a/hfutils/index/local_fetch.py
+++ b/hfutils/index/local_fetch.py
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ def tar_file_size(archive_file: str, file_in_archive: str, idx_file: Optional[st
 
 
 def tar_file_download(archive_file: str, file_in_archive: str, local_file: str,
-                      idx_file: Optional[str] = None, chunk_size: int = 1 << 20):
+                      idx_file: Optional[str] = None, chunk_size: int = 1 << 20, force_download: bool = False):
     """
     Extract and download a specific file from the tar archive to a local file.
 
@@ -190,6 +190,8 @@ def tar_file_download(archive_file: str, file_in_archive: str, local_file: str,
     :type idx_file: Optional[str]
     :param chunk_size: The size of chunks to read and write, in bytes. Default is 1MB.
     :type chunk_size: int
+    :param force_download: Force download the file to destination path. Defualt to `False`.
+    :type force_download: bool
 
     :raises FileNotFoundError: If the specified file is not found in the archive.
     :raises ArchiveStandaloneFileIncompleteDownload: If the downloaded file size doesn't match the expected size.
@@ -212,6 +214,13 @@ def tar_file_download(archive_file: str, file_in_archive: str, local_file: str,
 
     info = files[_n_path(file_in_archive)]
 
+    if not force_download and os.path.exists(local_file) and \
+            os.path.isfile(local_file) and os.path.getsize(local_file) == info['size']:
+        _expected_sha256 = info.get('sha256')
+        if not _expected_sha256 or _f_sha256(local_file) == _expected_sha256:
+            # file already ready, no need to download it again
+            return
+
     if os.path.dirname(local_file):
         os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(local_file), exist_ok=True)
     try: