diff --git a/src/client/src/controllers/fileExplorerController.ts b/src/client/src/controllers/fileExplorerController.ts
index 9574db4..6633147 100644
--- a/src/client/src/controllers/fileExplorerController.ts
+++ b/src/client/src/controllers/fileExplorerController.ts
@@ -50,13 +50,26 @@ export class FileExplorerController {
     if (project === undefined || workspace === undefined) return;
     this.setState({ selectedFilePath: path, selectedFileContent: undefined });
     try {
-      this.setState({ selectedFileContent: await api.workspaceFile(project.id, workspace.id, path), error: "" });
+      const content = await api.workspaceFile(project.id, workspace.id, path);
+      if (this.getState().selectedFilePath === path) this.setState({ selectedFileContent: content, error: "" });
     } catch (error) {
+      if (this.getState().selectedFilePath !== path) return;
+      if (isUnavailableFileError(error)) {
+        this.setState({ selectedFilePath: undefined, selectedFileContent: undefined, error: "" });
+        setNamespacedQueryKey(FILES_ROUTE_NAMESPACE, "file", undefined, { replace: true });
+        this.updateUrl({ replace: true });
+        return;
+      }
       this.setState({ error: String(error) });
     }
   }
 }
 
+function isUnavailableFileError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  const message = String(error);
+  return message.includes("Path does not exist") || message.includes("ENOENT") || message.includes("no such file or directory");
+}
+
 function omitKey<T>(record: Record<string, T>, keyToOmit: string): Record<string, T> {
   return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(record).filter(([key]) => key !== keyToOmit));
 }
diff --git a/src/server/workspaces/fileContentService.test.ts b/src/server/workspaces/fileContentService.test.ts
index db313b4..9aa236c 100644
--- a/src/server/workspaces/fileContentService.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/workspaces/fileContentService.test.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ describe("readWorkspaceFile", () => {
 
     await expect(readWorkspaceFile(root, undefined)).rejects.toThrow("path query parameter is required");
     await expect(readWorkspaceFile(root, "dir")).rejects.toThrow("Path is not a file");
+    await expect(readWorkspaceFile(root, "missing.txt")).rejects.toThrow("Path does not exist");
     await expect(readWorkspaceFile(root, "../secret.txt")).rejects.toThrow("Path traversal is not allowed");
     await expect(readWorkspaceFile(root, "/etc/passwd")).rejects.toThrow("Absolute paths are not allowed");
   });
diff --git a/src/server/workspaces/fileTreeService.test.ts b/src/server/workspaces/fileTreeService.test.ts
index 2a7a82f..f5d9f18 100644
--- a/src/server/workspaces/fileTreeService.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/workspaces/fileTreeService.test.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ describe("listWorkspaceTree", () => {
     await writeFile(join(root, "file.txt"), "content");
 
     await expect(listWorkspaceTree(root, "file.txt")).rejects.toThrow("Path is not a directory");
+    await expect(listWorkspaceTree(root, "missing-dir")).rejects.toThrow("Path does not exist");
     await expect(listWorkspaceTree(root, "../outside")).rejects.toThrow("Path traversal is not allowed");
     await expect(listWorkspaceTree(root, "/tmp")).rejects.toThrow("Absolute paths are not allowed");
   });
diff --git a/src/server/workspaces/pathSafety.ts b/src/server/workspaces/pathSafety.ts
index c6820a2..36d2cbd 100644
--- a/src/server/workspaces/pathSafety.ts
+++ b/src/server/workspaces/pathSafety.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@ export async function resolveInsideWorkspace(rootPath: string, relativePath: str
   const requested = normalizeRelativePath(relativePath);
   const root = await realpath(rootPath);
   const joined = join(root, requested);
-  const target = await realpath(joined);
+  const target = await realpath(joined).catch((error: unknown) => {
+    if (isNodeErrorWithCode(error, "ENOENT")) throw new Error("Path does not exist");
+    throw error;
+  });
   ensureInside(root, target);
   return { root, target, relativePath: requested };
 }
@@ -27,6 +30,10 @@ export function normalizeRelativePath(input: string | undefined): string {
   return parts.join("/");
 }
 
+function isNodeErrorWithCode(error: unknown, code: string): error is NodeJS.ErrnoException {
+  return typeof error === "object" && error !== null && "code" in error && error.code === code;
+}
+
 function ensureInside(root: string, target: string): void {
   const rel = relative(root, target);
   if (rel === "") return;