How to Remove an Item From a List in Python (remove, pop, clear, del)

In Python, we use list methods remove(), pop(), and clear() to remove an items (elements) from a list. Moreover, you can delete items using del statements by specifying a position or range with an index or slice. Python remove(), pop(), and clear() methods are used to remove items from a list. All these methods are discussed in this article. So let’s get started.

1. Remove an item by value: remove()
2. Remove all items: clear()
3. Remove an item by index and get its value: pop()
4. Remove items by index: del statement

1. Remove an item by value: remove()

The remove() method removes the first matching element, which is the specified value as an argument from the list.

The syntax of the remove() method is:

list.remove(element)

The remove() method accepts a single element as an argument and removes it from the list. If the element doesn’t exist in a list, it will throw ValueError: list.remove(x): x not in list exception.

Example: Remove element from the list – remove()

If the list contains more than one matching elements, the remove() method only removes the first matching element.

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

l.remove('Penguin')
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

Example: Deleting a nonexistent element raises an error

l.remove('Rabbit')
# ValueError: list.remove(x): x not in list

2. Remove all items: clear()

The clear() method removes all elements from the list.

The syntax of the clear() method is:

list.clear()

The clear() method doesn’t take any parameters.

Example: Remove all items from the list – clear()

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

l.clear()
print(l)
# []

3. Remove an item by index and get its value: pop()

The pop() method removes the item at the given position (index) from the list and returns the removed item.

The syntax of the pop() method is:

list.pop(index)

The pop() method accepts a single argument (item index). If not passed, the default index -1 is passed as an argument (last item of the list). If the index passed to the method is not in the list range, it will throw IndexError: pop index out of range exception.

Example: Remove an item by index and get it value – pop()

An index in Python starts from 0, not 1. So if you have to pop the 3rd item, you need to pass 2 to the pop() method.

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

print(l.pop(2))
# Gopher
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

print(l.pop(3))
# Panda
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Penguin']

Example 2: pop() with a negative index

You can use negative values to specify the position from the end of the list.

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

print(l.pop(-2))
# Penguin

print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Panda']

Example 3: pop() without an index

If the argument is not passed, the last item is removed.

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

print(l.pop())
# Panda

print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin']

4. Remove items by index: del statement

You can remove elements from a list with del statements. Specify the item to be deleted by index. The first index is 0, and the last index is -1.

The syntax of the del() statement is:

del name

Here, del is a Python keyword. And, a name can be lists or dictionaries.

Example: Remove items by index: del statement

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

del l[2]
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

Example: Remove items, slices from a list

You can delete multiple elements with a slice.

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

del l[2:4]
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

Example: Remove all items with a slices

You can delete all items by specifying the entire range.

l = ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']
print(l)
# ['Anteater', 'Penguin', 'Gopher', 'Penguin', 'Panda']

del l[:]
print(l)
# []

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