Python Tutorial
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File Handling
Python Remove Items from a List
Once a list is created, you might want to remove something from it — maybe the last item, a specific item, or even clear everything. Python offers different ways to handle all of that smoothly.
Let’s look at the methods to remove items from a list.
pop() – Remove by Index or Remove Last
The pop() method removes elements using their index. If you don’t pass any index, it removes the last item by default.
Example: Remove the last item
fruits = ["Apple", "Banana", "Cherry", "Mango"]
fruits.pop()
print(fruits)
Output:
['Apple', 'Banana', 'Cherry']
Example: Remove a specific index
fruits = ["Apple", "Banana", "Cherry", "Mango"]
fruits.pop(1)
print(fruits)
Output:
['Apple', 'Cherry', 'Mango']
remove() – Delete by Value
If you don’t care about indexes and just want to remove a specific value, use remove().
colors = ["Pink", "Cyan", "Blue", "Cyan", "Purple"]
colors.remove("Cyan")
print(colors)
Output:
['Pink', 'Blue', 'Cyan', 'Purple']
Note: It removes only the first match.
del – Remove by Index or Delete Entire List
The del keyword can:
delete an item at a specific index
delete a range of items
or delete the list entirely
Example: Delete one item
cities = ["Lahore", "Karachi", "Islamabad", "Multan"]
del cities[2]
print(cities)
Output:
['Lahore', 'Karachi', 'Multan']
Example: Delete the entire list
students = ["Ali", "Zara", "Hamza"]
del students
print(students)
Output:
NameError: name 'students' is not defined
Once deleted, the list variable doesn’t exist anymore.
clear() – Empty the List, Keep the Variable
If you want to keep the list but remove all its items, use clear().
marks = [89, 74, 91, 65]
marks.clear()
print(marks)
Output:
[]
This gives you an empty list that you can reuse later.
Summary
| Method | Removes… |
|---|---|
pop() | Item at given index or last one |
remove() | First occurrence of given value |
del | Index, slice, or whole list |
clear() | All items, keeps empty list |