some_list[-1] is the shortest and most Pythonic.
In fact, you can do much more with this syntax. The some_list[-n] syntax gets the nth-to-last element. So some_list[-1] gets the last element, some_list[-2] gets the second to last, etc, all the way down to some_list[-len(some_list)], which gives you the first element.
You can also set list elements in this way. For instance:
>>> some_list = [1, 2, 3]
>>> some_list[-1] = 5 # Set the last element
>>> some_list[-2] = 3 # Set the second to last element
>>> some_list
[1, 3, 5]
Note that getting a list item by index will raise an IndexError if the expected item doesn't exist. This means that some_list[-1] will raise an exception if some_list is empty, because an empty list can't have a last element.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-how-to-get-the-last-element-of-list
Get the Last Element of List in Python - GeeksforGeeks
July 11, 2025 - The simplest and most efficient method uses negative indexing with a[-1]. In Python, we can use -1 as an index to access the last element directly.
Top answer 1 of 16
4020
some_list[-1] is the shortest and most Pythonic.
In fact, you can do much more with this syntax. The some_list[-n] syntax gets the nth-to-last element. So some_list[-1] gets the last element, some_list[-2] gets the second to last, etc, all the way down to some_list[-len(some_list)], which gives you the first element.
You can also set list elements in this way. For instance:
>>> some_list = [1, 2, 3]
>>> some_list[-1] = 5 # Set the last element
>>> some_list[-2] = 3 # Set the second to last element
>>> some_list
[1, 3, 5]
Note that getting a list item by index will raise an IndexError if the expected item doesn't exist. This means that some_list[-1] will raise an exception if some_list is empty, because an empty list can't have a last element.
2 of 16
336
If your str() or list() objects might end up being empty as so: astr = '' or alist = [], then you might want to use alist[-1:] instead of alist[-1] for object "sameness".
The significance of this is:
alist = []
alist[-1] # will generate an IndexError exception whereas
alist[-1:] # will return an empty list
astr = ''
astr[-1] # will generate an IndexError exception whereas
astr[-1:] # will return an empty str
Where the distinction being made is that returning an empty list object or empty str object is more "last element"-like then an exception object.
Finding last index of some value in a list in Python
v[-1] is the last element of a list or tuple. v[-2] is the second last. The syntax where you're doing v[a:b:c], is known as slice notation. a is the start position, b is the end position, and c is the increment. a and b default to the start and end. c defaults to 1, so... v[::] refers to all elements from start to end. Useful for copying whole content somewhere, as distinct from assigning the list to a new variable. v[::2] refers to every second element v[::-1] is all the element in reverse. v[::-2] is every second element in reverse. v[5:] is all elements from 5 to the end. v[:5] is all elements from the start to < 5, so v[:5] and v[5:] do not overlap. More on reddit.com
6
5
August 5, 2024Is there a way to call the last element of an array (not a list)? I can't find anything on the numpy website. TIA
1M subscribers in the learnpython community. Subreddit for posting questions and asking for general advice about all topics related to learning… More on reddit.com
2
6
June 25, 2019Is it possible to grab the last element of a numpy array with a negative slice?
You can't loop from negative to postive slice values as they don't "wrap". a[-2:2] would also give an empty array. More on reddit.com
8
1
December 15, 2021Last element in an array
Length[0] to mean the last element, IMHO, sounds like a foot-gun for experienced developers. It will make the language "sound like" one that has an array[0], but it really doesn't. Worse: algorithms that are copied without adjusting for the array length will almost but not quite work More on reddit.com
89
13
April 22, 202403:29
Python Tutorial: Access Last Element of a List - YouTube
01:39
4 Ways to Get the Last Element of a List in Python
05:43
How to Get the Last Element of a Python List? - YouTube
10:08
4 Ways to Get the Last Element of a List in Python - YouTube
How To Get Last Element In List Python - YouTube
00:15
Retrieve the Last Element of a Python List! - YouTube
Stack Abuse
stackabuse.com › bytes › python-get-last-n-elements-from-list-array
Python: Get Last N Elements from List/Array
July 17, 2022 - One common use case is to retrieve N elements from the end of a list/array, which we'll show how to do here. In Python, you can retrieve elements using similar syntax as in many other languages, using brackets ([]) and an index. However, this syntax can be extended to optionally specify both ...
Vultr
docs.vultr.com › python › examples › get the last element of the list
Python Program to Get the Last Element of the List
December 11, 2024 - Recognize that Python lists support negative indexing, where -1 refers to the last element.
TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com › article › python-program-to-get-the-last-item-from-the-array
Python Program to get the last item from the array
March 27, 2026 - The simplest way to get the last element is using negative indexing with [-1] ? # creating array numbers = [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19] print("The original array is:", numbers) # get last element using negative indexing result = numbers[-1] ...
Python Shiksha
python.shiksha › home › tips › 7 ways to get the last element of a list in python
7 ways to Get the last element of a list in Python - Python Shiksha
August 1, 2022 - As I have mentioned at he starting that we can simply get the last element by doing list[len-1], but if you are familiar with coding practices, you might me knowing that from the end of a list or array the concept of negative index is used.
Better Stack
betterstack.com › community › questions › how-to-get-last-element-in-list-in-python
How do I get the last element of a list in Python? | Better Stack Community
January 26, 2023 - To get the last element of a list in Python, you can use the negative indexing feature of the list data type.
Spark By {Examples}
sparkbyexamples.com › home › python › python get the last element of a list
Python Get the Last Element of a List - Spark By {Examples}
May 31, 2024 - Have you ever needed to get the last element of a list in Python, but weren't sure of the best way to do it? There are several different methods you can
Sentry
sentry.io › sentry answers › python › get the last element of a list in python
Python Last Element in List Using Negative Indexing | Sentry
July 3, 2026 - Access the last element of a Python list using negative index notation with [-1], which counts positions from the end of the list instead of the start
Jessica Temporal
jtemporal.com › the-last-of-a-list-in-python
Getting the last element of a list in Python | Jessica Temporal
June 20, 2026 - How to get the last item of a list in Python using negative indexing, the clean way instead of len(my_list) minus one.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › finding last index of some value in a list in python
r/learnpython on Reddit: Finding last index of some value in a list in Python
August 5, 2024 -
Let's say v is a list or a tuple.
To find the last occurrence of value in v we would need to compute len(v) - 1 - v[::-1].index(value)
Why is this? Why must we subtract the last term from len(v) - 1? Why does simply writing v[::-1].index(value) give the wrong result?
In fact, what does v[::-1] actually do? Doesn't it reverse the list/tuple? If it does reverse it, then v[::-1].index(value) should give the last occurrence of value in v, but for some reason it does not work like that.
Top answer 1 of 4
14
v[-1] is the last element of a list or tuple. v[-2] is the second last. The syntax where you're doing v[a:b:c], is known as slice notation. a is the start position, b is the end position, and c is the increment. a and b default to the start and end. c defaults to 1, so... v[::] refers to all elements from start to end. Useful for copying whole content somewhere, as distinct from assigning the list to a new variable. v[::2] refers to every second element v[::-1] is all the element in reverse. v[::-2] is every second element in reverse. v[5:] is all elements from 5 to the end. v[:5] is all elements from the start to < 5, so v[:5] and v[5:] do not overlap.
2 of 4
11
In fact, what does v[::-1] actually do? Doesn't it reverse the list/tuple? If it does reverse it, then v[::-1].index(value) should give the last occurrence of value in v, Yeah that reverses it, but then you're getting the index within the reversed list, not the original list. The subtractions are to convert from index in reversed list to index in original list.
TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com › How-to-get-the-last-element-of-a-list-in-Python
How to get the last element of a list in Python?
August 23, 2023 - Use list[-1] for getting the last element as it's the most pythonic and efficient approach.
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › python-get-last-element-in-list-how-to-select-the-last-item
Python Get Last Element in List – How to Select the Last Item
March 15, 2022 - Just like we established in the last section, each item in a list has an index number which starts at zero. In Python, we can also use negative values for these indexes. While the positive indexes start from 0 (which denotes the position of the first element), negative indexes start from -1, and this denotes the position of the last element.
PyTutorial
pytutorial.com › last-element-of-array-python
PyTutorial | 3 Methods to Get Last Element of Array in Python
June 13, 2023 - You can get the last element of an array by setting a negative index without an explicit end index.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › is there a way to call the last element of an array (not a list)? i can't find anything on the numpy website. tia
r/learnpython on Reddit: Is there a way to call the last element of an array (not a list)? I can't find anything on the numpy website. TIA
June 25, 2019 - spent two hours debugging three lines of python because i didn't know strings and bytes are different things ... Creating a small game a beginner. ... Reddit, Inc.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › is it possible to grab the last element of a numpy array with a negative slice?
r/learnpython on Reddit: Is it possible to grab the last element of a numpy array with a negative slice?
December 15, 2021 -
I have an array, a, which can be thought of as symmetric (the beginning holds some vectors, and the end holds their complements).
In order to make my code more tidy, I would like to just use negative indexing to get the original vectors and their complements. However, I can't figure out how to grab the last element of the array with negative indexing. Is this possible?
import numpy as np start = 1 stop = 3 a = np.array([1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]) a[start:stop] a[-stop:-start]
This setup works for all situations except where I need to grab the first/last element of the array. When start = 0, it returns an empty array.
Top answer 1 of 3
1
You can't loop from negative to postive slice values as they don't "wrap". a[-2:2] would also give an empty array.
2 of 3
1
Yes. Took me a while to figure that out, but one trick is to omit the second argument. >> a = np.array([1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]) >> a[-2:] array([7, 8]) Also I just checked, you can use any stop position that's >= the end value and that will work. >> a[-2:8] array([7, 8]) >> a[-2:10] array([7, 8] I just checked whether this is specific to np.array or whether ordinary lists will work this way too. The answer is, it works just fine with an ordinary list.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-get-first-and-last-elements-of-a-list
Get first and last elements of a list in Python - GeeksforGeeks
Unpacking allows us to extract the first and last elements while ignoring the rest. Using first, *_, last = a gives the first and last elements directly.
Published: July 11, 2025
Quora
quora.com › How-do-I-find-the-last-element-of-a-list-in-Python
How to find the last element of a list in Python - Quora
Answer (1 of 3): > lets say we have a list of words [code]words = [‘One’, ‘Hello’, ‘Welcome’] [/code] * One Way to do this, is by counting the negative way. [code]print(words[-1]) # will print 'Welcome' (the answer you want) print(words[-2]) # will print 'Hello' print(words[-3]) ...
How to Use Linux
howtouselinux.com › home › 3 ways to get last element of a list in python
3 Ways to Get Last Element of a List In Python - howtouselinux
October 9, 2025 - The most effective way to get the last element of a list in Python is using the list[-1]. Python allows you to use negative indices, which count from the end of the list instead of the beginning. So list[-1] gets the last element, list[-2] gets the second to last.
PythonForBeginners.com
pythonforbeginners.com › home › get the last element of a list in python
Get the last element of a list in Python - PythonForBeginners.com
August 11, 2021 - We can create an itemgetter object to access the last element of a list. The itemgetter() method is defined in the operator module in python. The itemgetter() method takes the index as input which creates a callable object.