Drawdown Recovery Calculator
Drawdown recovery is the gain it takes to get an account back to its peak after a drop. It is always bigger than the drop, because it is earned on the smaller balance that is left: gain needed = drawdown ÷ (100 - drawdown) × 100%. A 20% drawdown needs a 25% gain, and a 50% drawdown needs 100%.
Enter your drawdown as a percent, or your peak balance and current balance. You get the gain it takes to get back to the peak, the dollars lost and the dollars needed back, and, if you add an average gain per period, roughly how many periods that takes at a steady compounded rate. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type, so it never sees your chart, your account, or your trade history.
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Drawdown Recovery Calculator
The gain it takes to get back to your peak, and roughly how long
The drawdown is how far the account is below its highest balance, as a percent of that high.
A period is whatever your average is measured over: a trade, a day, a month. Use your average after costs, as a percent of the account.
Enter your drawdown as a percent to see the gain it takes to get back.
The formula
How the gain to recover from a drawdown is calculated
Gain needed = Drawdown ÷ (100 - Drawdown) × 100%
Drawdown = (Peak - Current) ÷ Peak × 100%
Gain needed = (Peak - Current) ÷ Current × 100%
Periods to get back = ln(Peak ÷ Current) ÷ ln(1 + R)
A drawdown of d percent leaves 100 - d percent of the peak, and the way back is a gain on that smaller balance. With balances, the dollars are the same both ways, peak minus current, but the drawdown divides them by the peak and the gain divides them by the current balance. The required recovery rate formula on Exceljet writes the same thing as 1 ÷ (1 - loss) - 1, and Greg Morris, in a drawdown analysis article on StockCharts, puts the headline case plainly: lose 50% and it takes a 100% gain to get back to even.
The last line answers how long. R is a steady average gain per period as a decimal, and a period is whatever that average is measured over: a trade, a day, a month. Compounding at R, the balance after n periods is current × (1 + R)^n, and solving for the n that reaches the peak gives the logarithm. The calculator rounds it up, since a part period still has to be traded.
Worked examples
| Line | A 20% drawdown | From balances | A 50% drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entered | 20% drawdown | $25,000 peak, $21,000 now | 50% drawdown |
| Drawdown | 20% | 16% | 50% |
| Left of the peak | 80% | 84% | 50% |
| Gain needed to get back | 25% | 19.05% | 100% |
| Dollars lost, and needed back | Needs balances | $4,000 | Needs balances |
| Average gain per period | +1% | +1% | +2% |
| Periods to get back | 23 | 18 | 36 |
In the first column, a 20% drawdown leaves 80% of the peak, and 20 ÷ 80 is a 25% gain. At +1% a period the formula gives 22.4, so 23 periods. In the second, $25,000 down to $21,000 is $4,000 lost, a 16% drawdown, and $4,000 on $21,000 is a 19.05% gain: the formula gives 17.5 periods at +1%, rounded up to 18. In the third, half the account is gone and doubling what is left takes 100%, or 36 periods at +2%.
Recovery by the numbers
Drawdown vs the gain needed to get back
Each row runs one drawdown through the calculator: what is left of the peak, the gain it takes to get back, and the periods that takes at a steady average gain of +1% and +2% a period, compounded.
| Drawdown | Left of the peak | Gain needed | Periods at +1% | Periods at +2% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 95% | 5.26% | 6 | 3 |
| 10% | 90% | 11.11% | 11 | 6 |
| 20% | 80% | 25% | 23 | 12 |
| 25% | 75% | 33.33% | 29 | 15 |
| 30% | 70% | 42.86% | 36 | 19 |
| 40% | 60% | 66.67% | 52 | 26 |
| 50% | 50% | 100% | 70 | 36 |
| 60% | 40% | 150% | 93 | 47 |
| 75% | 25% | 300% | 140 | 71 |
| 90% | 10% | 900% | 232 | 117 |
Periods are rounded up, at a steady average gain after costs. An average, not a forecast.
Small drawdowns barely notice the gap: 10% needs 11.11%. Then it opens. 30% needs 42.86%, 50% needs 100%, and 75% needs 300%. Time follows the same curve. At +1% a period, a 10% hole takes 11 periods to fill, a 20% one takes 23, and a 50% one takes 70. That is why the cheapest drawdown to recover from is the one you keep small.
The asymmetry
Why the gain is bigger than the loss
Same dollars, different base. An account at $10,000 that falls to $8,000 has lost $2,000. That is 20% of $10,000, but getting the $2,000 back from $8,000 is a 25% gain. A 20% gain from $8,000 only gets to $9,600, still $400 short.
The percent going down is measured on the big number and the percent coming back on the small one, so the climb is always the steeper side. That is also why a drawdown percent and a gain percent can't be added or netted against each other. For the definition, the running-peak method, and max drawdown, see what drawdown is and why getting back costs more.
How long
How long it takes to recover from a drawdown
The period count needs one number you have to bring: your average gain per period, after costs. For a trader that is roughly the expectancy per trade times the risk per trade. An expectancy of +0.25R risking 1% of the account a trade is about +0.25% a trade, and at that average a 20% drawdown takes 90 trades to win back. The trading expectancy calculator works out the expectancy from your win rate and average win and loss.
Three things keep that number honest. It is an average, so the real climb has losing periods in it and usually lands a bit later than the count, sometimes much later. It needs a positive average: at 0% or less there is no count, and the calculator says so instead of printing an infinite number. And it assumes the risk per trade stays the same. Raising it to get back faster makes the next losing streak deeper too, which is how a drawdown turns into a bigger one; see revenge trading and overtrading.
Where the hole comes from
How risk per trade sets the size of the drawdown
Usually a drawdown is a run of ordinary losses, not one big one. Risk the same percent of the account on each trade and 10 losses in a row leave a drawdown of 1 - (1 - risk)^10:
| Risk per trade | Drawdown after 10 losses | Gain needed to get back |
|---|---|---|
| 1% | 9.56% | 10.57% |
| 2% | 18.29% | 22.39% |
| 5% | 40.13% | 67.02% |
Each loss is the full risk on the balance at the time, so the drawdown is less than the risk times the number of losses.
At 1% a trade the same streak is a 9.56% dip that takes 10.57% to undo. At 5% it is a 40.13% hole that takes 67.02%. The recovery math is decided before the streak starts, by the size of each trade. The position size calculator turns a fixed risk percent into a share count, and position sizing from risk per trade covers why a fixed share count quietly changes that risk. For the rules that cap a bad day before it becomes a bad month, see day trading risk management rules.
Funded accounts
Drawdown recovery vs a prop firm drawdown limit
On a funded account the firm sets a maximum loss, and hitting it fails the account. So the first question there is not the gain to get back, it is how much room is left before the limit, and that depends on whether the limit is static or trails your peak. The prop firm drawdown calculator works out the liquidation level, the room left, and how many losses at your risk per trade it takes to fail. Use this one for the climb back once you know the account survives, and see the prop firm daily loss limit strategy for keeping one bad day inside the firm's rules.
Common mistakes
Common drawdown recovery mistakes
- Thinking a gain the size of the loss gets you back. It doesn't. From $10,000 down to $8,000, a 20% gain only reaches $9,600.
- Measuring from the deposit instead of the peak. Drawdown runs from the highest balance the account reached, so an account that is up on the year can still be deep in one.
- Sizing up to get back faster. A bigger risk per trade makes the next losing streak dig a deeper hole, and a deeper hole needs a bigger gain still.
- Plugging in a best-month return as the average. The period count is only as honest as the average you type. Use the average after costs over a long record, not the good stretch.
- Reading the period count as a forecast. It assumes the same gain every period. Real results come in streaks, so the climb back has losing periods in it too.
- Leaving out what a losing average does. At an average of 0% or less a period, there is no number of periods that gets back to the peak.
Grade the setup before you size it
The recovery math says how big the hole is. It can't tell whether the next trade is worth taking. Upload a chart screenshot and SnapPChart grades the setup A+ to F in seconds, then size the ones you take with the position size calculator.
Upload a Chart ScreenshotYour first grade is free and shows the setup's grade and the general read. Entry, stop, targets and the trade plan come with a paid plan.
Keep going
Related free tools and guides
- GuideWhat is drawdown in trading?The drop from your account's peak to a later low, how to measure it with a running peak, max drawdown, and why getting back costs more than the fall.
- Free toolPosition Size CalculatorFree position size calculator: enter account size, risk percent, entry, and stop loss to get your share size instantly. No signup, no AI, pure risk math.
- Free toolBreakeven Win Rate CalculatorFree breakeven win rate calculator: enter your reward:risk ratio (or entry, stop, target) to see the minimum win rate to break even, plus expectancy.
- Free toolFutures Position Size CalculatorFree futures position size calculator: pick ES, NQ, MES, MNQ, CL or GC, enter your risk and stop, and get the contract count with tick and point values.
- Free toolProp Firm Drawdown CalculatorFree prop firm drawdown calculator: enter your balance, peak, and max loss limit to see your liquidation level, buffer left, and losses until you fail.
- Free toolRisk Reward Ratio CalculatorFree risk reward ratio calculator: enter entry, stop and target for a long or short trade to get the R:R as 1 : X, the R-multiple, and your breakeven win rate.
- Free toolKelly Criterion CalculatorFree Kelly criterion calculator for trading: enter your win rate and payoff ratio to get the full, half, or quarter Kelly risk per trade, plus your expectancy.
- Free toolTrading Expectancy CalculatorFree trading expectancy calculator: enter your win rate, average win and loss, and costs to see your expectancy per trade in dollars and R, plus profit factor.
FAQ
Drawdown recovery questions
How do you calculate the gain needed to recover from a drawdown?
Divide the drawdown by what is left, then multiply by 100: gain needed = d ÷ (100 - d) × 100%. A 20% drawdown leaves 80%, and 20 ÷ 80 × 100 = 25, so it takes a 25% gain to get back to the peak. With balances, it is (peak - current) ÷ current × 100%.
Why does a 50% loss need a 100% gain to get back?
Because the gain is earned on what is left. Lose half of $10,000 and you have $5,000. Getting back to $10,000 means making another $5,000 on $5,000, which is a 100% gain: the account has to double.
How do I work out my drawdown percentage?
Take the highest balance the account reached, subtract the current balance, and divide by that high: (peak - current) ÷ peak × 100%. From $25,000 down to $21,000 is $4,000 lost, a 16% drawdown. The peak is the running high, not your deposit.
How long does it take to recover from a drawdown?
There is no fixed answer, because it depends on how much your trades make on average. At a steady average gain of R a period, compounded, it takes ln(peak ÷ current) ÷ ln(1 + R) periods. A 20% drawdown at +1% a period takes 23 periods. Real returns are not steady, so treat that as an average, not a forecast.
Can you recover from a 100% drawdown?
Not with a gain. A 100% drawdown means the balance is zero, and any percentage of zero is zero. The calculator shows a message instead of a number there, because getting back would take a new deposit, not a return.
What if my average return is zero or negative?
Then the account never gets back to the peak, whatever the drawdown. The calculator says so in plain words instead of showing an infinite number. The fix is the trades themselves: a positive average after costs comes before any recovery plan.
Is this the same as a prop firm drawdown limit?
No. A prop firm limit is a dollar level the account cannot fall below, and the question there is how much room is left before it fails. This calculator answers a different one: the gain it takes to get back to the peak. The prop firm drawdown calculator handles the limit.
Does this calculator read my account or my trades?
No. It does arithmetic on the numbers you type and nothing else. It does not see your chart, your broker account, or your trade history.
Benjamin Loh
Founder & Developer at SnapPChart
I build AI-powered tools for traders. I created SnapPChart to help day traders analyze chart patterns faster using computer vision and machine learning. Learn more · Follow on X
This calculator is for planning purposes only and is not financial advice. It works out the gain and the periods from the numbers you enter. The period count assumes a steady average gain, which real trading never delivers, and it does not know your broker's fees or slippage unless your average already counts them. Trading involves risk of loss.