How to remove an element from a list by index in Python?

Better Stack Team
Updated on February 3, 2023

To remove an element from a list by index in Python, you can use the del statement. Here is an example:

 
a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
del a[2]
print(a) # [1, 2, 4, 5]

The del statement removes the element at the specified index, 2 in this case, from the list.

Keep in mind that this operation modifies the list in place and does not return a new list. If you want to remove an element from a list and get a new list with the element removed, you can use the pop() method instead.

For example:

 
a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
b = a.pop(2)
print(a) # [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
print(b) # 3

The pop() method removes the element at the specified index and returns the element. It also modifies the list in place. If you don't specify an index, it removes and returns the last element of the list by default.