diff --git a/internal/core/local_service.go b/internal/core/local_service.go
index 16b0a1bc..77711fcf 100644
--- a/internal/core/local_service.go
+++ b/internal/core/local_service.go
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ func (s *LocalDownloadService) reportProgressLoop() {
 				Speed:             currentSpeed,
 				Elapsed:           totalElapsed,
 				ActiveConnections: int(connections),
+				RateLimited:       cfg.State.RateLimited.Load(),
 			}
 
 			// Chunk snapshots are expensive due to bitmap/progress copies.
diff --git a/internal/engine/events/events.go b/internal/engine/events/events.go
index 13a4168e..ff1ec257 100644
--- a/internal/engine/events/events.go
+++ b/internal/engine/events/events.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ type ProgressMsg struct {
 	BitmapWidth       int
 	ActualChunkSize   int64
 	ChunkProgress     []int64
+	RateLimited       bool
 }
 
 // DownloadCompleteMsg signals that the download finished successfully
diff --git a/internal/engine/single/downloader.go b/internal/engine/single/downloader.go
index e8399a2a..6aed5592 100644
--- a/internal/engine/single/downloader.go
+++ b/internal/engine/single/downloader.go
@@ -141,11 +141,17 @@ func (d *SingleDownloader) Download(ctx context.Context, rawurl, destPath string
 				ra = 5 * time.Second
 			}
 			utils.Debug("Single downloader: rate limited (%d), waiting %v (retry %d/%d)", resp.StatusCode, ra, rlRetries, maxRlRetries)
+			if d.State != nil {
+				d.State.RateLimited.Store(true)
+			}
 			select {
 			case <-dlCtx.Done():
 				return dlCtx.Err()
 			case <-time.After(ra):
 			}
+			if d.State != nil {
+				d.State.RateLimited.Store(false)
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/internal/engine/types/progress.go b/internal/engine/types/progress.go
index f130e458..6e4ae01a 100644
--- a/internal/engine/types/progress.go
+++ b/internal/engine/types/progress.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type ProgressState struct {
 	Error         atomic.Pointer[error]
 	Paused        atomic.Bool
 	Pausing       atomic.Bool // Intermediate state: Pause requested but workers not yet exited
+	RateLimited   atomic.Bool // Set when the downloader is backing off due to HTTP 429/rate-limit
 	cancelFunc    context.CancelFunc
 
 	VerifiedProgress  atomic.Int64  // Verified bytes written to disk (for UI progress)
@@ -251,6 +252,7 @@ func (ps *ProgressState) SessionReset() {
 	ps.Done.Store(false)
 	ps.Paused.Store(false)
 	ps.Pausing.Store(false)
+	ps.RateLimited.Store(false)
 	ps.Error.Store(nil)
 
 	// Clear mirrors error status
diff --git a/internal/tui/model.go b/internal/tui/model.go
index 03f0e262..8b589c99 100644
--- a/internal/tui/model.go
+++ b/internal/tui/model.go
@@ -109,9 +109,10 @@ type DownloadModel struct {
 	done     bool
 	started  bool // Engine has confirmed start
 	err      error
-	paused   bool
-	pausing  bool // UI state: transitioning to pause
-	resuming bool // UI state: waiting for async resume
+	paused      bool
+	pausing     bool // UI state: transitioning to pause
+	resuming    bool // UI state: waiting for async resume
+	rateLimited bool
 }
 
 type RootModel struct {
diff --git a/internal/tui/process.go b/internal/tui/process.go
index b291c060..9453c57e 100644
--- a/internal/tui/process.go
+++ b/internal/tui/process.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ func (m *RootModel) processProgressMsg(msg events.ProgressMsg) tea.Cmd {
 	d.Speed = msg.Speed
 	d.Elapsed = msg.Elapsed
 	d.Connections = msg.ActiveConnections
+	d.rateLimited = msg.RateLimited
 
 	// Keep "Resuming..." visible until we observe actual transfer.
 	if d.resuming && (d.Speed > 0 || d.Downloaded > prevDownloaded) {
diff --git a/internal/tui/view.go b/internal/tui/view.go
index dd3428bd..91e30af2 100644
--- a/internal/tui/view.go
+++ b/internal/tui/view.go
@@ -673,6 +673,9 @@ func renderFocusedDetails(d *DownloadModel, w int, spinnerView string) string {
 	} else if d.resuming {
 		speedStr = "Resuming..."
 		etaStr = "..."
+	} else if d.rateLimited {
+		speedStr = "Rate limited, retrying..."
+		etaStr = "..."
 	} else if d.paused || d.Speed == 0 {
 		speedStr = "Paused"
 		if d.RateLimitSet && d.RateLimit > 0 {