T he shear str eng th r educt ion finite element metho d was used to analy ze the stability of cantilever r etaining wall. Due to the str uctural cha racteristics o f cantilever retaining wall, a second slide sur face can be found in the filling behind the retaining wall, which is essentially different from the seco nd slide surface of the planar r etaining wa ll. The st abilit y of cantilever retaining wall increases with the incr easing width o f heelplate and toe boar d. When the filing sur face is inclined, the pr incipa l str ess de2 flect s and the r et aining wall receives more compression f rom the soil bo dy , w hich can decr ease the stability of the retaining w all. With the same length of t enon, the stability of the retaining w all is the hig hest w hen the teno n is lo cated at the below and back of heelplate, and the low est w hen the tenon is located at the below and back o f toe board. T he stability o f the retaining w all in2 cr eases with the incr easing height o f teno n. In pr act ice, it is sug gested to fill the retaining w all using the soil w ith low weight, high cohesive str eng th, and hig h internal fr ictio n ang le.