Use the built-in function enumerate():

for idx, x in enumerate(xs):
    print(idx, x)

It is non-Pythonic to manually index via for i in range(len(xs)): x = xs[i] or manually manage an additional state variable.

Check out PEP 279 for more.

Answer from Mike Hordecki on Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 16
9270

Use the built-in function enumerate():

for idx, x in enumerate(xs):
    print(idx, x)

It is non-Pythonic to manually index via for i in range(len(xs)): x = xs[i] or manually manage an additional state variable.

Check out PEP 279 for more.

2 of 16
1372

Using a for loop, how do I access the loop index, from 1 to 5 in this case?

Use enumerate to get the index with the element as you iterate:

for index, item in enumerate(items):
    print(index, item)

And note that Python's indexes start at zero, so you would get 0 to 4 with the above. If you want the count, 1 to 5, do this:

count = 0 # in case items is empty and you need it after the loop
for count, item in enumerate(items, start=1):
    print(count, item)

Unidiomatic control flow

What you are asking for is the Pythonic equivalent of the following, which is the algorithm most programmers of lower-level languages would use:

index = 0            # Python's indexing starts at zero
for item in items:   # Python's for loops are a "for each" loop 
    print(index, item)
    index += 1

Or in languages that do not have a for-each loop:

index = 0
while index < len(items):
    print(index, items[index])
    index += 1

or sometimes more commonly (but unidiomatically) found in Python:

for index in range(len(items)):
    print(index, items[index])

Use the Enumerate Function

Python's enumerate function reduces the visual clutter by hiding the accounting for the indexes, and encapsulating the iterable into another iterable (an enumerate object) that yields a two-item tuple of the index and the item that the original iterable would provide. That looks like this:

for index, item in enumerate(items, start=0):   # default is zero
    print(index, item)

This code sample is fairly well the canonical example of the difference between code that is idiomatic of Python and code that is not. Idiomatic code is sophisticated (but not complicated) Python, written in the way that it was intended to be used. Idiomatic code is expected by the designers of the language, which means that usually this code is not just more readable, but also more efficient.

Getting a count

Even if you don't need indexes as you go, but you need a count of the iterations (sometimes desirable) you can start with 1 and the final number will be your count.

count = 0 # in case items is empty
for count, item in enumerate(items, start=1):   # default is zero
    print(item)

print('there were {0} items printed'.format(count))

The count seems to be more what you intend to ask for (as opposed to index) when you said you wanted from 1 to 5.


Breaking it down - a step by step explanation

To break these examples down, say we have a list of items that we want to iterate over with an index:

items = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']

Now we pass this iterable to enumerate, creating an enumerate object:

enumerate_object = enumerate(items) # the enumerate object

We can pull the first item out of this iterable that we would get in a loop with the next function:

iteration = next(enumerate_object) # first iteration from enumerate
print(iteration)

And we see we get a tuple of 0, the first index, and 'a', the first item:

(0, 'a')

we can use what is referred to as "sequence unpacking" to extract the elements from this two-tuple:

index, item = iteration
#   0,  'a' = (0, 'a') # essentially this.

and when we inspect index, we find it refers to the first index, 0, and item refers to the first item, 'a'.

>>> print(index)
0
>>> print(item)
a

Conclusion

  • Python indexes start at zero
  • To get these indexes from an iterable as you iterate over it, use the enumerate function
  • Using enumerate in the idiomatic way (along with tuple unpacking) creates code that is more readable and maintainable:

So do this:

for index, item in enumerate(items, start=0):   # Python indexes start at zero
    print(index, item)
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Python Guides
pythonguides.com › python-for-loop-index
How to Use Python For Loop with Index
October 14, 2025 - The easiest and most Pythonic way to loop through items with their index is by using the enumerate() function. When you use enumerate(), Python automatically keeps track of the index for you, so you don’t have to manually manage it.
Discussions

When using for loops are we iterating through the index or the actual values?
A "pure" for loop requires an index because you're just executing the same piece of code for whatever the range of that index is. What you're probably looking for is a foreach loop, which is really just syntactic sugar over a for loop that allows you to specify iterating over every member of a collection without defining an index. In Python it's a little different than a lot of other languages as there's no explicit foreach keyword. You just define your loop like: for season in seasons: More on reddit.com
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14
0
March 8, 2023
For loop in Python with indices - Stack Overflow
Copyfor idx,data in enumerate(... access the list using the index. both this and data will print the same thing · If you want to do a for loop with a set range, do this, Copyfor i in range(1,12+1): #need to do plus 1 because python is upper bound exclusive ... More on stackoverflow.com
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In a for in loop, i want to jump my index when 'x' happens. How can I do that?
For loops in python are more like forEach loops in most languages. You can use a while loop to archive what you want. Like java equivalent of python for loop would be: int[] nums = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }; for (int num : nums) { System.out.println(num); num = 300; } } Which will run 5 times, no matter how hard you try to increment num. The i in your example isn't an index or anything, but a value from the list. More on reddit.com
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24
12
September 15, 2022
Why iterate over an array using the index?
You do it if there is something in your loop that will use an index rather than the elements of the array. For instance, sometimes you want to sample something from another array that is not your loop array A cleaner way to do it is by using enumerate function for i, item in enumerate(array): The index gets assigned to i and whatever element of the array gets assigned to item. This may also be a bad habit from Matlab, people that come from Matlab are more used to looping over indexes. More on reddit.com
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57
46
April 22, 2023
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StrataScratch
stratascratch.com › blog › mastering-loop-iterations-python-for-loop-index-explained
Mastering Loop Iterations: Python For Loop Index Explained - StrataScratch
October 17, 2024 - Python's for loops are user-friendly but can drag with large datasets. Alternatives like vectorized operations in pandas often run faster. Using iloc[] or at[] inside loops can be costly because pandas shine with vectorized tasks, not explicit looping. If you must use it for loops, try enumerate(). It automatically tracks the index as you iterate, cutting out manual handling.
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_lists_loop.asp
Python - Loop Lists
Print all items, using a while loop to go through all the index numbers · thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"] i = 0 while i < len(thislist): print(thislist[i]) i = i + 1 Try it Yourself » · Learn more about while loops in our Python While Loops Chapter. List Comprehension offers the shortest syntax for looping through lists:
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › when using for loops are we iterating through the index or the actual values?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: When using for loops are we iterating through the index or the actual values?
March 8, 2023 -
for i in range(10,20):
    print(i)

I understand that i is going through the values 10 to 20. I know there can be an index attached but why do we have to explicitly associate an index to a value to change the value we want?

seasons = ['fall','winter','spring','summer'] # works like the enurate function
    for i in range(len(seasons)):
        if seasons[i] == 'summer':
            seasons[i] = 'New season'
        print(i , seasons[i])

Why do we have to associate the index to change the actual value? What exactly are we looping through

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Trey Hunner
treyhunner.com › 2016 › 04 › how-to-loop-with-indexes-in-python
How to loop with indexes in Python
This first creates a range corresponding to the indexes in our list (0 to len(colors) - 1). We can loop over this range using Python’s for-in loop (really a foreach). This provides us with the index of each item in our colors list, which is the same way that C-style for loops work.
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › access-the-index-and-value-using-python-for-loop
Access the Index and Value using Python 'For' Loop - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - Python programming language supports the different types of loops, the loops can be executed in different ways. Below are some of the examples by which we can access the index value in Python: ... In this method, we are using the range() function to generate indices and access values in a list by their position. ... # create a list of fruits fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'] print(&quot;Indices and Index value :&quot;) # Iterate over the indices of the list and access elements using indices for i in range(len(fruits)): print(f&quot;Index: {i}, Value: {fruits[i]}&quot;)
Find elsewhere
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iO Flood
ioflood.com › blog › python-for-loop-with-index
Learn Python: For Loops With Index (With Examples)
June 7, 2024 - When you’re using a for loop with an index in Python, you’re essentially combining these two concepts: you’re iterating over a sequence with a for loop, and you’re keeping track of the index of each item. This can be incredibly useful in many scenarios, as we’ve seen in the previous sections.
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Sentry
sentry.io › sentry answers › python › accessing the index in a `for` loop in python
Accessing the Index in a `for` Loop in Python | Sentry
November 22, 2022 - So rather than saying “do this n times”, a foreach loop essentially says “do this to everything in the sequence”. For scenarios where we actually need the index or counter variable, we can use Python’s built-in enumerate function. The enumerate function returns an iterable.
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Codingem
codingem.com › home › python for loop with index: access the index in a for loop
Python For Loop with Index: Access the Index in a For Loop - codingem.com
March 14, 2024 - To access the for loop index in Python, use the enumerate() function. It couples each element with an index.
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TutorialKart
tutorialkart.com › python › python-for-loop › python-for-loop-with-index
Python For Loop with Index - Examples
November 30, 2020 - To access index in Python For Loop, you can use enumerate() function or range() function. In this tutorial, we will go through example programs that demonstrate how to iterate over an iterable and access index as well in the loop. enumerate() ...
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › how-to-access-index-in-for-loop-python
How to Access Index using for Loop - Python - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - data = ["java", "python", "HTML", "PHP"] print("Indices:", [i for i in range(len(data))]) print("Elements:", [data[i] for i in range(len(data))]) ... Explanation: [i for i in range(len(data))] creates a list of indices.
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Milddev
milddev.com › python-for-loops-with-index
Python for Loop with Index
August 6, 2025 - Python's for loop is one of the language’s most readable and powerful constructs. We use it every day to iterate over lists, tuples, strings, and more. Yet, when you need the loop index alongside items, beginners often resort to manual counters or awkward patterns. The neatest solution is Python’s built-in enumerate function, which pairs each element with its index.
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Programiz
programiz.com › python-programming › examples › index-for-loop
Python Program to Access Index of a List Using for Loop
Print the required variables inside the for loop block. The function of enumerate() is to add a counter (i.e. index) to the iterate and return it. my_list = [21, 44, 35, 11] for index, val in enumerate(my_list, start=1): print(index, val) ... The value of the parameter start provides the starting ...
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Python Morsels
pythonmorsels.com › looping-with-indexes
Looping with indexes - Python Morsels
October 8, 2020 - If you don't need a counter, just use a for loop without any frills. But if you do need to count upward while looping, you can use Python's built-in enumerate function to help you do that counting.
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Stack Abuse
stackabuse.com › how-to-access-index-in-pythons-for-loop
How to Access Index in Python's for Loop
January 6, 2021 - We iterate from 0..len(my_list) with the index. Then, we use this index variable to access the elements of the list in order of 0..n, where n is the end of the list. ... enumerate() is a built-in Python function which is very useful when we want to access both the values and the indices of a list.
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Vultr
docs.vultr.com › python › examples › access-index-of-a-list-using-for-loop
Python Program to Access Index of a List Using for Loop | Vultr Docs
November 25, 2024 - You'll explore the use of enumerate(), loop iteration with the range() function, and how to implement these in practical examples. Utilize enumerate() to get both the index and value of items in a list.
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TechGeekBuzz
techgeekbuzz.com › blog › how-to-loop-with-indexes-in-python
How to Loop with Indexes in Python? [Definitive Guide]
Python for loop work along with the Python in operator and an iterable object. The for loop iterate through every single element of the iterable object till the end. The working of for loop in Python is different because we can traverse through a Python list or array without requiring the index value.
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Toppr
toppr.com › guides › python-guide › examples › python-examples › native-datatypes › index-for-loop › python-program-to-access-index-of-a-list-using-for-loop
Python Program to Access Index of a List Using for Loop: Examples
October 11, 2021 - Furthermore, if we want the indexing to begin with another number, we can adjust the indexing by using the start parameter. It is currently 0-based. Let’s alter it such that it starts at 2. ... my_list = ['Zero', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four'] print ('Indices and values in the list:') for index, val in enumerate(my_list, start = 2): print((index, val)) ... The most straightforward and often used approach for accessing the index of elements in a for loop is to iterate through the list’s length, increasing the index.