To study the seismic characteristics of reinforced concrete (RC) short columns strengthened with prestressed steel strands, 7 specimens were subjected to low cycle repeated loading tests. The experimental study investigated the effects of axial compression ratio, characteristic values of steel strand configuration, and prestress level on the seismic performance of reinforced short columns. The results show that prestressed steel strands can effectively improve the seismic performance of RC short columns, significantly improving their ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Compared with the unreinforced specimen PC1, the displacement ductility coefficient and cumulative energy dissipation capacity of the reinforced short column with prestressed steel strands are increased by 1.87 times and 6.78 times, respectively. The amount of steel strands and the level of prestressing have a significant impact on the hysteresis curve of the reinforced column. When other conditions are the same, The hysteresis curve of specimens with a large amount of steel strands or a high level of prestress is fuller; For specimens with low axial compression ratio (n ≤ 0.30), good seismic performance can be achieved when the characteristic value of the steel strand configuration reaches 0.119 and the pre-stressed water is not less than 0.40. On the basis of experiments, a formula for calculating the shear bearing capacity of RC circular short columns reinforced with prestressed steel strands was proposed, and the calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental values. The results provide reference data and design calculation methods for strengthening RC short columns with prestressed steel strands