Almost every trader has experienced an order only partially filled. The core principle is simple: Do not treat the partially filled order as a new, separate trade. Instead, manage it as part of your original position plan, maintaining a unified approach.
Whether you need to recalculate your stop-loss and position depends on the order type you selected. Here's what to do in three specific scenarios.
Step 1: Identify Why the Partial Fill Occurred
First, determine why the partial fill happened; this guides your next actions.
What to do: Check your order history and system messages to identify the cause.
How to do it:
Case A (insufficient liquidity): The order book lacks depth, and your order size exceeds the available volume at the current price level. This is the most common reason.
Case B (insufficient funds): Your account balance was just enough to open the position but not enough to cover the fees. Some platforms like Kraken allow the order to be 'almost fully executed', using a portion of the trade to cover fees (source: Kraken Help Center, 2026-07-08).
Case C (order type restriction): You used a FAK (Fill and Kill) order, which cancels any unfilled portion immediately (source: CITIC Futures, 2026-07-06).
What constitutes completion: Confirm the filled quantity, average fill price, and the reason for any unfilled portion in your platform's order history or trade log.
Step 2: Decide Next Steps Based on Your Order Type
The path you take after a partial fill depends entirely on the order type.
What to do: Identify whether your stop-loss and take-profit are set at the individual order level or at the whole position level, then act accordingly.
How to do it:
Case A: You are using stop-loss/take-profit in 'per order' or 'partial position' mode
This means your SL/TP only applies to the quantity from this order. After a partial fill, the SL/TP orders will be adjusted proportionally to the filled quantity.
What to do: The system handles it automatically; no manual recalculation is needed. The filled portion has its own stop-loss, and the unfilled portion remains as a pending order. Just verify that the automatically generated SL/TP quantities are correct.
Case B: You are using 'whole position' mode for SL/TP
In this case, the SL/TP applies to the entire position. After a partial fill, the SL/TP orders will be placed and will close out based on the total position size at the time of exit.
What to do: Again, no manual recalculation is needed. But be aware that if you add to the position later, the total quantity changes, and the SL/TP may be overwritten by new settings.
Case C: You used a FOK (Fill or Kill) or AON (All or None) order
FOK requires the entire order to be filled immediately, otherwise the whole order (including any partially matched portions) is canceled. AON allows the order to remain until it can be filled in full.
What to do: If you see 'canceled' with no partial fill record, the order was entirely canceled, and no action is needed.
What constitutes completion: You know which mode your order used, and you have confirmed that the corresponding SL/TP orders have been created by the system.
Step 3: Manage Filled and Unfilled Portions as One
This is the most commonly overlooked step. Many traders treat the filled portion as an independent position, forgetting the pending unfilled order.
What to do: Treat both the filled position and the unfilled pending order as components of the same trade plan.
How to do it:
Check your 'Current Orders' list to confirm the status of the unfilled portion.
Check your 'Positions' page to verify the average entry price of the filled portion.
Update your risk calculation:
Actual total position value = filled quantity × average fill price + unfilled quantity × order price
Your stop-loss should be based on the profit/loss ratio of the total position value, not just the filled portion.
What constitutes completion: Your stop-loss and take-profit trigger prices have been recalculated based on the total position and updated in the system.
A common mistake: After a partial fill, seeing the price move against you and immediately adjusting the stop-loss. The right approach is to have determined the maximum loss for this trade before placing the order. The partial fill does not change that loss limit; what does change is the stop-loss price, because your average cost has changed.
How to Confirm Your Actions Are Correct
Open your position details page and verify two things:
Does the system's 'average entry price' include both the cost of the filled portion and the pending portion? If it only shows the filled part, you need to manually note the total cost.
Do the currently active stop-loss and take-profit prices correspond to the total loss/profit amount you planned before the trade? If not, adjust them immediately.
If the order later fills completely, the system will automatically update the average entry price and SL/TP settings. If the order is eventually canceled (e.g., a FAK order), you only need to manage the filled position.
