This paper is concerned with the nonlinear buckling behavior of pre-stressed ring-stiffened thin circular cylindrical shells under external pressure. According to the geometrical nonlinearity, governing equations are derived by incorporating initial stresses based on Donnell-type shell theory. The “smeared stiffeners” approach is used for ring stiffeners. The numerical analyses are conducted by Gelerkin’s method to obtain critical buckling loads of shells. This study shows effects of initial stresses on stability of shells. Moreover, effects of initial stresses on buckling modes of shells are discussed. © 2016, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.