Enter where the account started and where it is now. You get the percentage gain needed to get back, and how many winners that takes at your risk per trade.
How it works
Why the gain is bigger than the loss. The gain is made on a smaller balance. Lose 20% of $10,000 and you have $8,000, so getting back the $2,000 is a 25% gain.
Winners needed. Each win adds your risk percent times your reward in R, on the balance at that moment. A 1% risk with 2R winners adds 2% a win. The count assumes no losses in between, so a real recovery takes longer.
Why it matters for risk. Small losses are cheap to fix and big ones aren't: a 10% loss needs about 11%, but a 50% loss needs 100%. That is the reason to keep the risk on each trade small.
Example
A $50,000 account falls to $45,000: down 10%, but it takes 11.1% from there to get back. At 1% risk and 2R winners, that is 6 wins with no losses in between. Lose half the account and the climb doubles it: 100% to get back.
Gain needed to recover from a loss
The percentage gain on what is left that brings the account back to where it started.
Loss
Gain needed
5%
5.3%
10%
11.1%
15%
17.6%
20%
25%
25%
33.3%
30%
42.9%
40%
66.7%
50%
100%
60%
150%
75%
300%
90%
900%
Questions
How much do I need to make after a 50% loss?
100%. Half of the account is gone, so what is left has to double to get back to the start.
What is the formula for drawdown recovery?
Gain needed = loss / (1 - loss). A 20% loss is 0.20 / 0.80 = 25%.
How long does it take to recover from a drawdown?
It depends on your risk, your reward and your win rate. The winners shown here assume no losses in between. Divide by your win rate for a rougher picture: at a 40% win rate, 12 wins take about 30 trades.
Should I raise my risk to recover faster?
It is usually a mistake. Bigger size raises the chance of a deeper loss just when the account is smallest, and that is how a drawdown turns into a blown account. Many traders cut size during a drawdown instead.
How does this work with a prop firm drawdown?
A prop firm's limit is usually a dollar amount, and its level can trail your balance. The trailing drawdown calculator on this site shows where that level sits.