Python List remove()

# create a list
prime_numbers = [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11]

# remove 9 from the list
prime_numbers.remove(9)

# Updated prime_numbers List
print('Updated List: ', prime_numbers)

# Output: Updated List:  [2, 3, 5, 7, 11]

Syntax of List remove()

The syntax of the remove() method is:

list.remove(element)

remove() Parameters

• The remove() method takes a single element as an argument and removes it from the list.
• If the element doesn't exist, it throws ValueError: list.remove(x): x not in list exception.

Return Value from remove()

The remove() doesn't return any value (returns None).

Example 1: Remove element from the list

# animals list
animals = ['cat', 'dog', 'rabbit', 'guinea pig']

# 'rabbit' is removed
animals.remove('rabbit')

# Updated animals List
print('Updated animals list: ', animals)

Output

Updated animals list:  ['cat', 'dog', 'guinea pig']

Example 2: remove() method on a list having duplicate elements

If a list contains duplicate elements, the remove() method only removes the first matching element.

# animals list
animals = ['cat', 'dog', 'dog', 'guinea pig', 'dog']

# 'dog' is removed
animals.remove('dog')

# Updated animals list
print('Updated animals list: ', animals)

Output

Updated animals list:  ['cat', 'dog', 'guinea pig', 'dog']

Here, only the first occurrence of element 'dog' is removed from the list.

Example 3: Deleting element that doesn't exist

# animals list
animals = ['cat', 'dog', 'rabbit', 'guinea pig']

# Deleting 'fish' element
animals.remove('fish')

# Updated animals List
print('Updated animals list: ', animals)

Output

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File ".. .. ..", line 5, in <module>
    animal.remove('fish')
ValueError: list.remove(x): x not in list

Here, we are getting an error because the animals list doesn't contain 'fish'.

Also Read:

• Python pop() Method
• Python del statement
• Python List clear()