You can find a short collection of useful list functions here.
list.pop(index)
>>> l = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
>>> l.pop(0)
'a'
>>> l
['b', 'c', 'd']
>>>
del list[index]
>>> l = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
>>> del l[0]
>>> l
['b', 'c', 'd']
>>>
These both modify your original list.
Others have suggested using slicing:
- Copies the list
- Can return a subset
Also, if you are performing many pop(0), you should look at collections.deque
from collections import deque
>>> l = deque(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'])
>>> l.popleft()
'a'
>>> l
deque(['b', 'c', 'd'])
- Provides higher performance popping from left end of the list
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-removing-first-element-of-list
Remove first element from list in Python - GeeksforGeeks
Explanation: del a[0] removes the first element, shifting the remaining elements left and updating the list in place. ... pop(0) method removes and returns the first element of the list.
Published July 11, 2025
Top answer 1 of 14
1700
You can find a short collection of useful list functions here.
list.pop(index)
>>> l = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
>>> l.pop(0)
'a'
>>> l
['b', 'c', 'd']
>>>
del list[index]
>>> l = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
>>> del l[0]
>>> l
['b', 'c', 'd']
>>>
These both modify your original list.
Others have suggested using slicing:
- Copies the list
- Can return a subset
Also, if you are performing many pop(0), you should look at collections.deque
from collections import deque
>>> l = deque(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'])
>>> l.popleft()
'a'
>>> l
deque(['b', 'c', 'd'])
- Provides higher performance popping from left end of the list
2 of 14
274
Slicing:
x = [0,1,2,3,4]
x = x[1:]
Which would actually return a subset of the original but not modify it.
Removing the first element in a file list
mylist.pop(0) or mylist = mylist[1:] will achieve this. More on reddit.com
12
55
November 6, 2021What ways can we use to remove elements from a list in Python?
Question In the context of this exercise, what ways can we use to remove elements from a list in Python? Answer In Python, there are several methods available that allow you to remove elements from a list. The remove() … More on discuss.codecademy.com
0
14
November 3, 2018Why does remove() work slower for last elements of a list than for the first element?
The remove method must search the list for the index of the element to remove. It does this probably by iterating from the beginning. This part is much more expensive than the actual removal. If you want to benchmark the actual removal use the pop method instead, which takes an index to remove and not the element to remove. More on reddit.com
13
8
March 11, 2024I was surprised at how slow list.pop() is! And list.remove() is even many times slower
This is simply how lists work, nothing surprising here. Removing the first element requires moving all the elements after it one step to the left to fill that gap, which makes this operation run in linear time. It means that clearing the list this way is O(n2), so it unsurprisingly takes a long time, as bubble sorting the (shuffled) list could even be faster. This is why we think of alternatives when solving problems, such as using collections.deque, reversing the list (O(n) instead of O(n2)) or just using pop() from the end if it works. More on reddit.com
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August 22, 202107:39
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Code.mu
code.mu › en › python › manual › set › pop
The pop method - Remove First Element from Set in Python
The pop method removes the first element from a set. Since there is no ordered placement of elements in the set, it is impossible to say exactly which element will be removed.
Spark By {Examples}
sparkbyexamples.com › home › python › remove first element from list in python
Remove First Element from List in Python - Spark By {Examples}
May 31, 2024 - How to remove the first element/item from a list in Python? To remove the first element from the list, you can use the del keyword or the pop() method
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › removing the first element in a file list
r/learnpython on Reddit: Removing the first element in a file list
November 6, 2021 -
I have a file with a list inside and I want to remove the first option of that list whenever I use the command. When you open the file, it'll have something like ['a', 'b', 'c']. However I want to remove the first element of this list, in this case 'a' and I know that to print the first element I either can do print(list(file[0])) or print(a[1:]). But since I want to remove the first element in the list of the file I am absolutely clueless on what to do. Do I have to use a .replace, .remove or something else in order to remove the first option every time I run the command?
PythonForBeginners.com
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Remove the first element from a list in Python - PythonForBeginners.com
August 10, 2021 - To delete the first element of the list using the pop() method, we will invoke the pop() method on the list and will pass an index of the first element, i.e.
Educative
educative.io › answers › how-to-remove-the-first-element-from-an-array-in-python
How to remove the first element from an array in Python
The del method: This is a simple ... requires shifting all the remaining elements. The pop() method: This method removes and returns the first element of a list and is efficient for small lists....
Pierian Training
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How to Remove the First Element from an Array in Python - Pierian Training
June 18, 2023 - As you can see, calling `pop(0)` on an array removes and returns its first element. You can also use this method to remove elements from other positions in an array by passing a different index argument.
DataCamp
datacamp.com › tutorial › python-remove-item-from-list
How to Remove an Item from a List in Python: A Full Guide | DataCamp
August 1, 2024 - You can use list comprehension ... from a list and returns the new list, while the pop() function removes an item from a list and returns the new list with the removed item....
W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_lists_remove.asp
Python - Remove List Items
... thislist = ["apple", "banana", ... "kiwi"] thislist.remove("banana") print(thislist) Try it Yourself » · The pop() method removes the specified index....
FavTutor
favtutor.com › blogs › remove-first-element-from-list-python
Remove First Element from List in Python (with code)
August 24, 2023 - In this method, we convert the list into the deque and then use the popleft() method which helps to return the first element from the front of the list. Remember that to implement this method, you have to import the Python deque at the beginning ...
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-list-pop-method
Python List pop() Method - GeeksforGeeks
1 week ago - Return Value: Returns the removed element and raises IndexError if the specified index is out of range. Example 1: In this example, an index is provided to pop() so that an element can be removed from a particular position in the list.
Codecademy Forums
discuss.codecademy.com › frequently asked questions › python faq
What ways can we use to remove elements from a list in Python? - Python FAQ - Codecademy Forums
November 3, 2018 - The remove() method will remove the first instance of a value in a list. list = [1, 2, 3, 1] list.remove(1) # [2, 3, 1] The pop() method removes an element at a given index, and will also return the removed item. numbers = [10, 20, 30, 40] ten ...
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › python-pop-how-to-pop-from-a-list-or-an-array-in-python
Python .pop() – How to Pop from a List or an Array in Python
March 1, 2022 - So, to remove the first item in a list, you specify an index of 0 as the parameter to the pop() method. And remember, pop() returns the item that has been removed. This enables you to store it in a variable, like you saw in the previous section.
Medium
thinklikeacto.medium.com › time-complexity-of-popping-elements-from-list-in-python-215ad3d9c048
Time complexity of popping elements from list in Python! | by Naresh Thakur | Medium
January 23, 2020 - If you are learning python after JavaScript as your first language. You will probably be socked by the inbuilt functions we have in python. While removing any element from the list we should take care about the complexity and we have function pop() which pop the element from the list on provided index.
Data Science Parichay
datascienceparichay.com › home › blog › python – remove first element from list
Python - Remove First Element From List - Data Science Parichay
January 8, 2022 - Pass the index of the element you want to remove as the argument. It modifies the list in place and returns the element removed (or “popped”). To remove the first element from a list, pass 0 as an argument to the list pop() function.
Finxter
blog.finxter.com › home › learn python blog › python slice remove first and last element from a list
Python Slice Remove First and Last Element from a List - Be on the Right Side of Change
October 8, 2022 - To remove the first and last elements from a Python list, use the expression lst = lst[1:-1] that uses a Python feature called slicing with the syntax variable[start:stop] to iterate over a sequence starting from the start index (included) and ending in the element at stop index (excluded).
ItSolutionstuff
itsolutionstuff.com › post › how-to-remove-first-element-from-array-in-pythonexample.html
How to Remove First Element from List in Python? - ItSolutionstuff.com
October 30, 2023 - You can use these examples with python3 (Python 3) version. ... myArray = ['one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five'] # Remove First Element myArray.pop(0) print(myArray)
W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › ref_list_remove.asp
Python List remove() Method
The remove() method removes the first occurrence of the element with the specified value. list.remove(elmnt) Tutorial: Python Lists · Tutorial: Remove List Items · Method: pop() Method: clear() Method: insert() Keyword: del · ❮ List Methods ...
Python Help
pythonhelp.org › python-lists › how-to-pop-first-element-in-list-python
How to Pop First Element in List Python
October 2, 2023 - This article will show you how to use the pop() function to remove and retrieve the first item in a list in Python, which can be extremely useful when working with various types of data structures like deque, stacks, etc.