One of approaches from Remove element from list when using enumerate() in python - a loop over a copy of the list referred as [:] - works too:

for a in myData['myArray'][:]:
  if (a['name'] == u'bad'):
     myData['myArray'].remove(a)

Thanks everyone!

Answer from Dmytro on Stack Overflow
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › how-to-remove-key-value-pair-from-a-json-file-in-python
How to Remove Key-Value Pair from a JSON File in Python - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - The script checks if the key exists in the JSON data before removal, and if found, it prints the removed key and its corresponding value. The updated JSON data is then saved to a new file, 'output.json', preserving the modifications made during the removal process.
Discussions

python - Delete an element in a JSON object - Stack Overflow
I am trying to loop through a list of objects deleting an element from each object. Each object is a new line. I am trying to then save the new file as is without the element contained within the o... More on stackoverflow.com
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how to delete json object using python? - Stack Overflow
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Removing JSON key from file in python - Stack Overflow
if 'idb_metric' in element["fields"]: ... print(element) ... Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments. ... Thanks, that worked but then next question is how to find/delete multiple keys. Updated question accordingly. 2018-10-24T23:50:37.813Z+00:00 ... Find the answer to your question by ... More on stackoverflow.com
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Like Geeks
likegeeks.com › home › python › remove elements from json arrays in python
Remove Elements from JSON arrays in Python
January 22, 2024 - The .remove() method allows you to remove a JSON element based on its value rather than its index · Suppose you want to remove a specific package by its value.
Top answer
1 of 2
95

Let's assume you want to overwrite the same file:

import json

with open('data.json', 'r') as data_file:
    data = json.load(data_file)

for element in data:
    element.pop('hours', None)

with open('data.json', 'w') as data_file:
    data = json.dump(data, data_file)

dict.pop(<key>, not_found=None) is probably what you where looking for, if I understood your requirements. Because it will remove the hours key if present and will not fail if not present.

However I am not sure I understand why it makes a difference to you whether the hours key contains some days or not, because you just want to get rid of the whole key / value pair, right?

Now, if you really want to use del instead of pop, here is how you could make your code work:

import json

with open('data.json') as data_file:
    data = json.load(data_file)

for element in data:
    if 'hours' in element:
        del element['hours']

with open('data.json', 'w') as data_file:
    data = json.dump(data, data_file)

EDIT So, as you can see, I added the code to write the data back to the file. If you want to write it to another file, just change the filename in the second open statement.

I had to change the indentation, as you might have noticed, so that the file has been closed during the data cleanup phase and can be overwritten at the end.

with is what is called a context manager, whatever it provides (here the data_file file descriptor) is available ONLY within that context. It means that as soon as the indentation of the with block ends, the file gets closed and the context ends, along with the file descriptor which becomes invalid / obsolete.

Without doing this, you wouldn't be able to open the file in write mode and get a new file descriptor to write into.

I hope it's clear enough...

SECOND EDIT

This time, it seems clear that you need to do this:

with open('dest_file.json', 'w') as dest_file:
    with open('source_file.json', 'r') as source_file:
        for line in source_file:
            element = json.loads(line.strip())
            if 'hours' in element:
                del element['hours']
            dest_file.write(json.dumps(element))
2 of 2
2
with open('writing_file.json', 'w') as w:
    with open('reading_file.json', 'r') as r:
        for line in r:
            element = json.loads(line.strip())
            if 'hours' in element:
                del element['hours']
            w.write(json.dumps(element))

this is the method i use..

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Raspberry Pi Forums
forums.raspberrypi.com › board index › programming › python
Trying to remove some elements from JSON data - Raspberry Pi Forums
import json response = """ {"ignoreMe": "404", "data" : [ {"name": "Bob", "language": "English"}, {"name": "Sally", "language": "German"}, [ { "language" : "deep nested" } ] ] } """ response_object = json.loads(response) print(response_object) # # recursive scanning # def scan_for_element( o, name): res = [] if isinstance(o, dict): for k in o: if k == name: res.append(o[k]) r = scan_for_element( o[k], name) res.extend( r) if isinstance(o, list): for k in o: r = scan_for_element( k, name) res.extend( r) return res result = scan_for_element(response_object, 'language') print("scan result", result)
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Medium
mae-morano-64788.medium.com › editing-deleting-and-adding-elements-to-a-json-file-using-python-5615ea6a0ace
Editing, Deleting and Adding Elements to a JSON file using Python | by Mae Morano | Medium
September 29, 2020 - This function handles just the selection of a particular question in the JSON string. I had created this function because I realize for my edit and delete function I needed to select a question. Instead of repeating the code inside the edit and delete function, I could just made one function to be reused by the two functions.
Find elsewhere
Top answer
1 of 5
29

Here's a complete example that loads the JSON file, removes the target object, and then outputs the updated JSON object to file.

#!/usr/bin/python                                                               

# Load the JSON module and use it to load your JSON file.                       
# I'm assuming that the JSON file contains a list of objects.                   
import json
obj  = json.load(open("file.json"))

# Iterate through the objects in the JSON and pop (remove)                      
# the obj once we find it.                                                      
for i in xrange(len(obj)):
    if obj[i]["ename"] == "mark":
        obj.pop(i)
        break

# Output the updated file with pretty JSON                                      
open("updated-file.json", "w").write(
    json.dumps(obj, sort_keys=True, indent=4, separators=(',', ': '))
)

The main point is that we find the object by iterating through the objects in the loaded list, and then pop the object off the list once we find it. If you need to remove more than one object in the list, then you should store the indices of the objects you want to remove, and then remove them all at once after you've reached the end of the for loop (you don't want to modify the list while you iterate through it).

2 of 5
12

The proper way to json is to deserialize it, modify the created objects, and then, if needed, serialize them back to json. To do so, use the json module. In short, use <deserialized object> = json.loads(<some json string>) for reading json and <json output> = json.dumps(<your object>) to create json strings. In your example this would be:

import json
o = json.loads("""[
    {
        "ename": "mark",
        "url": "Lennon.com"
    },
    {
        "ename": "egg",
        "url": "Lennon.com"
    }
]""")
# kick out the unwanted item from the list
o = filter(lambda x: x['ename']!="mark", o)
output_string = json.dumps(o)
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w3resource
w3resource.com › python-exercises › dictionary › python-data-type-dictionary-exercise-12.php
Python: Remove a key from a dictionary - w3resource
June 28, 2025 - # Create a dictionary 'myDict' ... print(myDict) ... Write a Python program to remove a specified key from a dictionary using the del statement....
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Processing
processing.org › reference › JSONArray_remove_.html
remove() / Reference / Processing.org
January 1, 2021 - // // [ // { // "id": 0, // "species": "Capra hircus", // "name": "Goat" // }, // { // "id": 1, // "species": "Panthera pardus", // "name": "Leopard" // }, // { // "id": 2, // "species": "Equus zebra", // "name": "Zebra" // } // ] JSONArray values; void setup() { values = loadJSONArray("data.json"); values.remove(0); // Remove the array's first element for (int i = 0; i < values.size(); i++) { JSONObject animal = values.getJSONObject(i); int id = animal.getInt("id"); String species = animal.getString("species"); String name = animal.getString("name"); println(id + ", " + species + ", " + name); } } // Sketch prints: // 1, Panthera pardus, Leopard // 2, Equus zebra, Zebra
Top answer
1 of 3
3

First question

However, whenever there's more than two elements and I enter anything higher than two, it doesn't delete anything. Even worse, when I enter the number one, it deletes everything but the zero index(whenever the array has more than two elements in it).

Inside delete_data() you have two lines reading i = + 1, which just assignes +1 (i.e., 1) to i. Thus, you're never increasing your index. You probably meant to write either i = i+1 or i += 1.

def delete_data():    # Deletes an element from the array
    view_data()
    new_data = []
    with open(filename, "r") as f:
        data = json.load(f)
        data_length = len(data) - 1
    print("Which index number would you like to delete?")
    delete_option = input(f"Select a number 0-{data_length}: ")
    i = 0
    for entry in data:
        if i == int(delete_option):
            i += 1  # <-- here
        else:
            new_data.append(entry)
            i += 1  # <-- and here

    with open(filename, "w") as f:
        json.dump(new_data, f, indent=4)

Second question: further improvements

Is there a better way to implement that in my Python script?

First, you can get rid of manually increasing i by using the builtin enumerate generator. Second, you could make your functions reusable by giving them parameters - where does the filename in your code example come from?

# view_data() should probably receive `filename` as a parameter
def view_data(filename: str):   # Prints JSON Array to screen
    with open(filename, "r") as f:
        data = json.load(f)
        # iterate over i and data simultaneously
        # alternatively, you could just remove i
        for i, item in enumerate(data):
            name = item["name"]
            chromebook = item["chromebook"]
            check_out = item["time&date"]
            print(f"Index Number: {i}")
            print(f"Name : {name}")
            print(f"Chromebook : {chromebook}")
            print(f"Time Of Checkout: {check_out} ")
            print("\n\n")
            # not needed anymore: i = i + 1

# view_data() should probably receive `filename` as a parameter
def delete_data(filename: str):    # Deletes an element from the array
    view_data()
    new_data = []
    with open(filename, "r") as f:
        data = json.load(f)
        data_length = len(data) - 1
    print("Which index number would you like to delete?")
    delete_option = input(f"Select a number 0-{data_length}: ")
    # iterate over i and data simultaneously
    for i, entry in enumerate(data):
        if i != int(delete_option):
            new_data.append(entry)

    with open(filename, "w") as f:
        json.dump(new_data, f, indent=4)

Furthermore, you could replace that for-loop by a list comprehension, which some may deem more "pythonic":

new_data = [entry for i, entry in enumerate(data) if i != int(delete_option)]
2 of 3
3

There are easier ways to delete an element by index from a Python list.

Given li = ["a", "b", "c"], you can delete element 1 ("b") by index in (at least) the following ways:

li.pop(1) # pop takes an index (defaults to last) and removes and returns the element at that index

del li[1] # the del keyword will also remove an element from a list

So, here's some updated code:

def view_data():   # Prints JSON Array to screen
    with open(filename, "r") as f:
        data = json.load(f)
        i = 0
        for item in data:
            name = item["name"]
            chromebook = item["chromebook"]
            check_out = item["time&date"]
            print(f"Index Number: {i}")
            print(f"Name : {name}")
            print(f"Chromebook : {chromebook}")
            print(f"Time Of Checkout: {check_out} ")
            print("\n\n")
            i = i + 1

def delete_data():    # Deletes an element from the array
    view_data()
    with open(filename, "r") as f:
        data = json.load(f)
        data_length = len(data) - 1
    print("Which index number would you like to delete?")
    delete_option = input(f"Select a number 0-{data_length}: ")
    del data[int(delete_option)] # or data.pop(int(delete_option))

    with open(filename, "w") as f:
        json.dump(data, f, indent=4)
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › how-to-delete-an-index-from-json-object
How to delete an index from JSON Object ? | GeeksforGeeks
September 13, 2024 - we have given a value we need to search for that value with its key in the given JSON object and print the result in the console. These are the following approaches: Table of Content Using the Array.find() met ... The task is to delete the item from the list when the button is clicked. This all should be done by using ng-click.
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ArduinoJson
arduinojson.org › version 6 › api › jsonobject › remove()
JsonObject::remove() | ArduinoJson 6
JsonObject::remove() removes a key-value pair from the object pointed by the JsonObject.
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GitHub
gist.github.com › usmansbk › 3d44c7228fa8cfe8097daa2f7e2b476c
Recursively remove json keys in an array · GitHub
Recursively remove json keys in an array. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › gloss_python_remove_dictionary_items.asp
Python Removing Items from a Dictionary
Python Examples Python Compiler ... 1964 } thisdict.popitem() print(thisdict) Try it Yourself » · The del keyword removes the item with the specified key name:...