Abstract: The current study used the horizontal slices method to develop a new formulation to calculate active pressure on retaining walls. In this method, the failure wedge is assumed to be circular in cohesive-frictional soil. In addition to the formula, graphs are provided to determine the center and radius of failure without need for calculation to determine the pressure exerted on the retaining wall. A comparison of the results of the proposed method with previous methods shows that the active pressure calculated using a circular failure wedge was higher than when using a plate failure wedge; confirming the importance of the circular failure wedge. The proposed method can calculate the shear force between the slices while previous methods often ignored the shear force between slices and cohesion. The proposed method can be used to calculate the pressure distribution along the height of the wall and determine the resultant forces.