The effects of the three different methods to remove an element from a list:

remove removes the first matching value, not a specific index:

>>> a = [0, 2, 3, 2]
>>> a.remove(2)
>>> a
[0, 3, 2]

del removes the item at a specific index:

>>> a = [9, 8, 7, 6]
>>> del a[1]
>>> a
[9, 7, 6]

and pop removes the item at a specific index and returns it.

>>> a = [4, 3, 5]
>>> a.pop(1)
3
>>> a
[4, 5]

Their error modes are different too:

>>> a = [4, 5, 6]
>>> a.remove(7)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ValueError: list.remove(x): x not in list
>>> del a[7]
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
IndexError: list assignment index out of range
>>> a.pop(7)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
IndexError: pop index out of range
Answer from Martijn Pieters on Stack Overflow
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › what-is-difference-between-del-remove-and-pop-on-python-lists
Difference Between Del, Remove and Pop in Python Lists - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - The remove() method removes the first matching value from the list. It requires the value we want to remove from list as its argument. ... pop() method removes and returns an element from the list.
Discussions

How to disable the annoying box that opens up on VS code, which explains the details of the function, in the middle of typing?
You can disable it via the settings.json file. See the documentation for how to More on reddit.com
🌐 r/learnpython
16
134
September 26, 2022
How to delete from a deque in constant time without "pointers"?

There's a technique which I call 'lazy popping' which can help here.

The idea is that you don't delete immediately from the queue. Rather, you leave deleted items in the queue, but mark them as deleted in another data structure -- usually a set. Whenever you have to pop an item to execute, keep popping until you reach an item that hasn't yet been deleted.

This gives you constant-time push, amortized constant-time pop (although you may pop multiple deleted items off the queue each time you pop an item to execute, each item only gets popped exactly once) , and constant-time deletion, which is better than what you can get by maintaining a list and deleting from start or middle.

In this case, you'd save the IDs of deleted items in the set. It looks like this (untested code):

import collections

class DeletableQueue:
    def __init__(self):
        self.deleted = set()
        self.queue = collections.deque()
    def push(self, item):
        self.queue.append(item)
    def pop(self):
        # Precondition: there is at least one non-deleted item on the queue.
        while id(q[0]) in deleted:
            q[0].pop_left()  # Discard an already-deleted item.
        return q.pop_left()  # Return the actual item to pop
    def delete(self, item_to_delete):
        self.deleted.add(id(item_to_delete))
More on reddit.com
🌐 r/learnpython
15
6
October 20, 2014
Difference between pop and remove
Also, pop returns that value that was removed, remove doesn’t. More on reddit.com
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4
June 29, 2022
Hevy - Workout Tracker & Planner
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iCert Global
icertglobal.com › home › community › what is the actual difference between pop and remove methods in python list manipulation?
Python pop vs remove Method Differences Explained | iCertGlobal Community
November 14, 2025 - The .pop() method is index-based; it removes and returns the element at a specific position (defaulting to the last item). In contrast, .remove() is value-based; it searches for the first occurrence of a specific value and deletes it without ...
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The Teclado Blog
blog.teclado.com › python-lists-remove-vs-pop
Python lists: remove() vs pop() - The Teclado Blog
June 25, 2026 - The pop() method is used to remove an item from the list and return it. Removing items from the list one by one and retrieving their value can be useful. You might want to process the removed data, save it somewhere else, etc.
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Sentry
sentry.io › sentry answers › python › removing items from python lists: `del` vs `pop` vs `remove`
Removing items from Python lists: `del` vs `pop` vs `remove` | Sentry
July 3, 2026 - mylist = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'c', 'd'] ... found in list.') The list.pop() method called without any arguments allows us to use a Python list as a stack, removing and returning the last item in the list....
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PythonForBeginners.com
pythonforbeginners.com › home › difference between pop and remove in python
Difference Between Pop and Remove in Python - PythonForBeginners.com
August 26, 2022 - The pop() method returns the value of the element that is deleted. Whereas, the remove() method doesn’t return any value.
Find elsewhere
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Codecademy
codecademy.com › forum_questions › 50856c70e033eb0200006b08
1.4 Use remove not pop. (Just feed back and better hint alternative) | Codecademy
As I understand it “remove” deletes the item you refer to, and “pop” deletes the index you refer to.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/pythonlearnersformlai › understanding the difference between pop() and remove() in python
r/PythonLearnersforMLAI on Reddit: Understanding the Difference Between pop() and remove() in Python
October 2, 2024 - Returns the removed element. Raises an IndexError if the index is out of range. Use pop() when you need to remove an element based on its position or when you want to get and use the removed element elsewhere in your code.
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
Difference between pop() and remove() in Python | List pop() Vs remove() in Python | CBSE | Examples - YouTube
In this Python tutorial, we will learn: difference between pop() and remove() method in Python. How is the pop() method in Python used in a list? The pop() m...
Published: November 16, 2025
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-difference-between-pop-and-remove-in-a-list-in-Python
What is the difference between pop() and remove() in a list in Python? - Quora
Answer (1 of 5): [code ]pop()[/code] takes an index as its argument and will remove the element at that index. If no argument is specified, [code ]pop()[/code] will remove the last element. [code ]pop() [/code]also returns the element it removed. [code ]remove()[/code] takes an element as its ar...
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Stack Abuse
stackabuse.com › bytes › difference-between-del-remove-and-pop-in-python-lists
Difference Between del, remove, and pop in Python Lists
September 2, 2023 - In this Byte, we've explored the differences between del, remove, and pop in Python. We've seen that del and remove are used for removing items from a list, while pop can also return the removed item.
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Medium
medium.com › @mrbean0228 › what-are-the-differences-between-remove-pop-and-del-in-python-f20dca97006b
What Are the Differences Between remove(), pop(), and del in Python? | by Sebastian Blue | Medium | Medium
May 24, 2022 - So they will show you None when you try the same as above · letters = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'] removed_item = letters.remove('b') print(removed_item)-> None · pop method removes the last item in a list if no index is specified
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Just Academy
justacademy.co › blog-detail › difference-between-pop-and-remove-in-python
Difference Between Pop And Remove In Python by Roshan Chaturvedi | JustAcademy
So, `pop()` is used when you want to remove an element by its index position, while `remove()` is used when you want to delete an element by its value. To Download Our Brochure: https://www.justacademy.co/download-brochure-for-free ...
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Medium
allwin-raju.medium.com › understanding-pop-remove-and-del-in-python-abb9e0223706
Understanding pop, remove, and del in Python | by Allwin Raju | Medium
December 1, 2024 - If you’re working with lists, pop() can remove an element at a specific position (default is the last element). # Removing the last element lst = [10, 20, 30, 40] last_item = lst.pop() # Removes 40 print(lst) # Output: [10, 20, 30] print(last_item) # Output: 40 # Removing an element at a…
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Medium
medium.com › @coffee_and_notes › python-remove-and-pop-772326fe310d
Python: remove() and pop()
October 6, 2023 - In a queue, “pop” usually refers to removing the front (oldest) element from the queue. This follows the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle. In Python, you can use the pop() method on a list to remove and return the last element by default, ...
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Educative
educative.io › answers › what-is-difference-between-del-remove-and-pop-on-python-lists
What is difference between del, remove and pop on Python lists?
The pop method is used to delete and return a specified index item. If no index is specified, it defaults to removing and returning the last item. It modifies the list as it is. ... This table summarises the important differences between Python ...