Grazing intensity is a critical driver of ecosystem recovery in degraded grasslands, while initial conditions profoundly shape recovery trajectories. However, the interactive effects of historical grazing legacies and natural recovery processes remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a four-year natural recovery experiment in a desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, systematically assessing the recovery dynamics of plant communities and soil properties under four historical grazing intensities (no grazing, light, moderate, and heavy grazing). Our results revealed that different grazing intensities established an ecosystem gradient ranging from near-natural states to severe degradation. Heavy grazing caused substantial degradation in both vegetation and soil, moderate grazing led to intermediate ecosystem alterations, while light grazing maintained near-natural conditions. Despite having the most degraded initial conditions, heavily grazed areas exhibited the fastest recovery rates in soil properties (e.g., soil moisture and nutrient), suggesting a consistent negative correlation between initial degradation levels and subsequent recovery rates. Moreover, vegetation and soil recovery processes were temporally asynchronous across all grazing intensities. This study shows that historical grazing intensity governs recovery pathways and rates by shaping initial ecosystem states. Our fingdings may inform differentiated restoration strategies based on initial degradation levels: excluding grazing in severely degraded areas to maximize recovery, implementing moderate measures in intermediate zones, and maintaining light grazing in mildly degraded grasslands to sustain both ecosystem functions and local livelihoods. These findings provide a theoretical basis and practical framework for precise restoration and management of dryland grasslands.