diff --git a/src/huggingface_hub/cli/_output.py b/src/huggingface_hub/cli/_output.py
index e1ac21c57c..46cedd4212 100644
--- a/src/huggingface_hub/cli/_output.py
+++ b/src/huggingface_hub/cli/_output.py
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@
 
 import click
 
+from huggingface_hub import constants
 from huggingface_hub.errors import ConfirmationError
-from huggingface_hub.utils import ANSI, StatusLine, disable_progress_bars, is_agent, tabulate
+from huggingface_hub.utils import ANSI, StatusLine, disable_progress_bars, enable_progress_bars, is_agent, tabulate
 
 
 class OutputFormat(str, Enum):
@@ -65,8 +66,13 @@ def set_mode(self, mode: OutputFormat = OutputFormat.auto) -> None:
         if mode == OutputFormat.auto:
             mode = OutputFormat.agent if is_agent() else OutputFormat.human
         self.mode = mode
-        if mode != OutputFormat.human:
-            disable_progress_bars()
+        is_human = mode == OutputFormat.human
+        ANSI.set_enabled(is_human)
+        if constants.HF_HUB_DISABLE_PROGRESS_BARS is None:  # env var has priority
+            if is_human:
+                enable_progress_bars()
+            else:
+                disable_progress_bars()
 
     def set_no_truncate(self, no_truncate: bool) -> None:
         """Toggle off cell truncation for human table output."""
diff --git a/src/huggingface_hub/utils/_terminal.py b/src/huggingface_hub/utils/_terminal.py
index 051713fb8b..c12285489a 100644
--- a/src/huggingface_hub/utils/_terminal.py
+++ b/src/huggingface_hub/utils/_terminal.py
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ class ANSI:
     _reset = "\u001b[0m"
     _underline = "\u001b[4m"
     _yellow = "\u001b[33m"
+    _enabled: bool | None = None  # None: fall back to agent detection (callers outside the `hf` CLI)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def set_enabled(cls, enabled: bool) -> None:
+        cls._enabled = enabled
 
     @classmethod
     def blue(cls, s: str) -> str:
@@ -99,10 +104,11 @@ def yellow(cls, s: str) -> str:
 
     @classmethod
     def _format(cls, s: str, code: str) -> str:
-        if os.environ.get("NO_COLOR") or is_agent():
+        if os.environ.get("NO_COLOR"):
             # See https://no-color.org/
             return s
-        return f"{code}{s}{cls._reset}"
+        enabled = cls._enabled if cls._enabled is not None else not is_agent()
+        return f"{code}{s}{cls._reset}" if enabled else s
 
 
 def select_choice(prompt: str, choices: list[str]) -> int: