Why is recovery percent larger than the drawdown percent?

A fall of D percent leaves (100−D) percent of the peak. Returning to the peak means gaining D on that smaller base, which is D÷(100−D), always larger than D.

Can this calculator tell me when I will recover?

It does not predict future recovery. An optional scenario calculates periods under your own constant effective return assumption; it is not an estimated market return. Historical mode reports the first recovery observed in the dated, cashflow-adjusted values you provide, with separate calendar-day durations from the peak and trough. Missing observations can hide intervening extrema or an earlier recovery. An unfinished episode remains unrecovered as of the last observation.

Is this investment advice?

No. Required gain is arithmetic; historical results describe supplied observations. The optional strategy simulator models separate user-supplied assumptions. No output recommends a trade or promises an outcome.

Calculators

Drawdown recovery calculator

A 20% loss needs a 25% gain to return to the starting value. Measure the gain required after a drawdown; this is arithmetic, not a forecast.

DEMO · 20% drawdown example

25.00%

Gain needed from the lower value to regain the prior peak. It does not estimate whether or when recovery will happen.

Measure observed drawdown and recovery from dated NAV

Enter strictly increasing dates and positive NAV values that you have already adjusted for deposits and withdrawals. Missing dates are not filled and no between-observation extrema or recoveries are inferred.

Historical results describe only the entered observation dates. They do not predict future returns or recovery.

The mechanism

A loss of D percent leaves (100 − D) percent of the peak. The required gain is D ÷ (100 − D), expressed as a percentage. At a complete loss there is no finite percentage gain from zero that regains the peak.

A time scenario requires your own effective return per month or year. It assumes that same return compounds every period, with no added deposits or withdrawals. It reports fractional compounding periods and the first whole period; neither is a market forecast. A zero or negative return cannot recover a loss under that assumption.

Historical mode uses only your dated observations. Each episode starts below its preceding high and ends at the first later observation at or above that high. Equal highs use the latest date before the decline; equal troughs use the earliest date; equally deep episodes keep the earliest episode. Calendar days from peak and from trough are reported separately. An unfinished episode has no completed recovery duration.

If equity falls by D percent from a peak, the percent gain required to return to that peak is D ÷ (100 − D). A 10% fall needs 11.11% back — not 10%.

Drawdown from peak	Gain from trough to return to peak
5%	5.26%
10%	11.11%
15%	17.65%
20%	25%
25%	33.33%
30%	42.86%

Optional: simulate strategy survival

This optional strategy simulator draws win/loss sequences against a stated floor. It is separate from the recovery calculation above: its inputs do not transfer, and its survival share is not a recovery date or a forecast.

Max Drawdown in this widget is a static floor from starting balance (v1) — a fixed floor measured from your starting balance, not a floor that ratchets upward with a new equity peak. The recovery table is peak-to-trough arithmetic; the widget still applies this static floor when it counts paths.

The floor field is Max drawdown you allow. Recovery percent in the table below is independent of the simulator — it is peak-to-trough arithmetic.

Open the full tool — free

Same engine at the same free accuracy — save a rule set, add a stop, or import a history. The stamped file is written after that run, not from this typed-average result.

Recovery math, observed history and simulation

Required gain is arithmetic, measured history is a record of supplied observations, and the optional widget is a separate simulation. Historical input must already be adjusted for external cash flows; deposits and withdrawals are not treated as investment returns. Values between observations remain unknown. The optional simulator needs win rate, average R, risk per trade, and a floor. The free personal-rule engine currently models a stated Max Drawdown allowance as a fixed floor measured from your starting balance, not a floor that ratchets upward with a new equity peak.

Method: Research & methodology. Related: risk of ruin calculator.

For position size, survival or another risk question, browse the trading risk calculators.

FAQ

Why is recovery percent larger than the drawdown percent?: A fall of D percent leaves (100−D) percent of the peak. Returning to the peak means gaining D on that smaller base, which is D÷(100−D), always larger than D.
Can this calculator tell me when I will recover?: It does not predict future recovery. An optional scenario calculates periods under your own constant effective return assumption; it is not an estimated market return. Historical mode reports the first recovery observed in the dated, cashflow-adjusted values you provide, with separate calendar-day durations from the peak and trough. Missing observations can hide intervening extrema or an earlier recovery. An unfinished episode remains unrecovered as of the last observation.
Is this investment advice?: No. Required gain is arithmetic; historical results describe supplied observations. The optional strategy simulator models separate user-supplied assumptions. No output recommends a trade or promises an outcome.

The embed below contains the optional strategy simulator. The recovery-gain, constant-return and dated-history calculators above are not included in that embed.

Embed this

<iframe
  src="https://propsurvival.com/embed/personal-rules?src=embed-drawdown-recovery-time"
  width="100%"
  height="700"
  style="border:0"
  loading="lazy"
  title="Optional static-floor strategy simulator — PropSurvival">
</iframe>
<p class="ps-attribution" style="margin:6px 0 0;font:11px system-ui,-apple-system,sans-serif;color:#82857F">Data: <a href="https://propsurvival.com/research/prop-firm-rules-census-2026?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=atif" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PropSurvival prop-firm rules census</a> · CC BY 4.0</p>

All embeddable widgets

Paste on your own page — the pasted block includes a crawlable attribution link to the CC BY 4.0 PropSurvival firm-rules census (the license's attribution condition, not a courtesy — keep it visible), plus the in-widget via PropSurvival link. Loads are counted as first-party /e/ beacons only — no third-party analytics.

Run it against your own numbers

For a separate strategy simulation, open the personal rule editor. Recovery-calculator values are not transferred to the app. Historical measurements and required gain are not the simulator’s probability output.

Open the personal rule editor — free, full accuracy →

Rules and outcomes vary by firm and by trader; nothing on this page is investment or trading advice, and PropSurvival is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any prop trading firm. The recovery calculator uses your stated inputs and does not predict market outcomes. The optional simulator models a stated rule set.