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An isolated position holds a fixed allocation of collateral. Adding to it moves the liquidation price further away; removing from it frees capital for use elsewhere. This applies to isolated positions only. Cross positions already draw on the whole account balance, so there is nothing to add — depositing to the account is the equivalent operation. See Margin modes.

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Why you would

Adding buys distance. A position moving against you consumes its allocation, and as the margin ratio rises, liquidation approaches. Adding collateral lowers the effective leverage on the position and pushes the liquidation price away — a 10× position at an uncomfortable ratio becomes a 5× position with room to breathe, without changing the size of the position or realizing anything. Removing releases capital. A position that has moved in your favor has unrealized profit sitting inside its allocation, doing nothing. Pulling part of it out returns effective leverage toward where you started and frees the capital for other positions or withdrawal. Both are instant, and neither changes your position size or entry price.

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Limits

Add — buys distance
Remove — releases capital
Bounded by your account’s withdrawable balance
The account must still meet its own requirements afterwards
So you cannot rescue an isolated position with collateral your cross positions are relying on.
Bounded by what the position can give up and stay safe
removable = M − max(IM, position value × r_w)
The max() is a floor. Without it a profitable position could be stripped to bare maintenance, then liquidated on the next tick.
Both are ordinary withdrawal and transfer operations — the checks that stop an account from withdrawing itself into liquidation apply here unchanged.
How much you can add is bounded by your account’s withdrawable balance, and the account must still satisfy its own requirements afterwards — you cannot rescue an isolated position by pulling collateral your cross positions are relying on. How much you can remove is bounded by what the position can give up while staying safe: removable=Mcurrent−max⁡ ⁣(IM,  position value×rw)\text{removable} = M_{\text{current}} - \max\!\left(\text{IM},\; \text{position value} \times r_w\right) The max⁡(⋅)\max(\cdot) is what prevents the obvious failure. Without it, a profitable position could be stripped down to its bare maintenance requirement and then liquidated on the next tick. The floor keeps a buffer proportional to the position’s current value, not just its original requirement.
The same withdrawal rules govern both operations. Removing margin from a position is treated as a withdrawal from it, and adding is treated as a transfer into it — so the checks that protect an account from withdrawing itself into liquidation apply here unchanged.

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The closing-fee reserve

An isolated position’s allocation is not entirely margin. Part of it is held back to pay the taker fee that closing the position will cost — so that a position always has enough left to be closed. That reserve depends on the bankruptcy price, and the bankruptcy price depends on how much margin the position holds. Changing the margin changes both, so both are recomputed together whenever you add or remove: Mredistribute=Mcurrent+fee reserve+Δadd−ΔremoveM_{\text{redistribute}} = M_{\text{current}} + \text{fee reserve} + \Delta_{\text{add}} - \Delta_{\text{remove}} That total is then split between new margin and a new fee reserve, sized against the bankruptcy price the new margin implies. The practical effect: the amount your position margin changes by is slightly less than the amount you moved, because part of the difference goes to or comes from the fee reserve. This is not a charge — the reserve is still yours, and it is released when the position closes.

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What changes and what does not

Adjusting margin is not a trade. Nothing is realized, no fee is charged for the adjustment itself, and the position’s economics are untouched — only the buffer behind it.
Removing margin from a profitable position moves its liquidation price closer. Profit that felt like a cushion stops being one once you have withdrawn it. In a fast reversal, a position stripped to its floor can be liquidated at a price that would have been comfortably survivable before.

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Where to go next

Margin modes

Why this applies to isolated positions and not cross.

Leverage

The other way to change a position’s margin requirement.

Liquidations

The threshold this operation moves you away from.

Fees

The taker fee the closing reserve is sized against.