How to delete column(s) of Pandas DataFrame? - 4 Python Examples
Pandas DataFrame - Delete Column(s)
You can delete one or multiple columns of a DataFrame.
To delete or remove only one column from Pandas DataFrame, you can use either del
keyword, pop()
function, or drop()
function on the dataframe.
To delete multiple columns from Pandas Dataframe, use drop()
function on the DataFrame.
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to delete one or more columns in a DataFrame, with the help of example programs.
Examples
1. Delete a column using del keyword
In this example, we will create a DataFrame and then delete a specified column using del keyword. The column is selected for deletion, using the column label.
Python Program
import pandas as pd
mydictionary = {'names': ['Somu', 'Kiku', 'Amol', 'Lini'],
'physics': [68, 74, 77, 78],
'chemistry': [84, 56, 73, 69],
'algebra': [78, 88, 82, 87]}
#create dataframe
df_marks = pd.DataFrame(mydictionary)
print('Original DataFrame\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
#delete a column
del df_marks['chemistry']
print('\n\nDataFrame after deleting column\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
Output
Original DataFrame
--------------
names physics chemistry algebra
0 Somu 68 84 78
1 Kiku 74 56 88
2 Amol 77 73 82
3 Lini 78 69 87
DataFrame after deleting column
--------------
names physics algebra
0 Somu 68 78
1 Kiku 74 88
2 Amol 77 82
3 Lini 78 87
We have deleted chemistry column from the dataframe.
2. Delete a column using pop() function
In this example, we will create a DataFrame and then use pop() function on the dataframe to delete a specific column. The column is selected for deletion, using the column label.
Python Program
import pandas as pd
mydictionary = {'names': ['Somu', 'Kiku', 'Amol', 'Lini'],
'physics': [68, 74, 77, 78],
'chemistry': [84, 56, 73, 69],
'algebra': [78, 88, 82, 87]}
#create dataframe
df_marks = pd.DataFrame(mydictionary)
print('Original DataFrame\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
#delete column
df_marks.pop('chemistry')
print('\n\nDataFrame after deleting column\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
Output
Original DataFrame
--------------
names physics chemistry algebra
0 Somu 68 84 78
1 Kiku 74 56 88
2 Amol 77 73 82
3 Lini 78 69 87
DataFrame after deleting column
--------------
names physics algebra
0 Somu 68 78
1 Kiku 74 88
2 Amol 77 82
3 Lini 78 87
We have deleted chemistry column from the dataframe.
3. Delete a column using drop() function
In this example, we will use drop() function on the dataframe to delete a specific column. We use column label to select a column for deletion.
Python Program
import pandas as pd
mydictionary = {'names': ['Somu', 'Kiku', 'Amol', 'Lini'],
'physics': [68, 74, 77, 78],
'chemistry': [84, 56, 73, 69],
'algebra': [78, 88, 82, 87]}
#create dataframe
df_marks = pd.DataFrame(mydictionary)
print('Original DataFrame\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
#delete column
df_marks = df_marks.drop(['chemistry'], axis=1)
print('\n\nDataFrame after deleting column\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
Output
4. Delete multiple columns using drop() function
In this example, we will use drop() function on the dataframe to delete multiple columns. We use array of column labels to select columns for deletion.
Python Program
import pandas as pd
mydictionary = {'names': ['Somu', 'Kiku', 'Amol', 'Lini'],
'physics': [68, 74, 77, 78],
'chemistry': [84, 56, 73, 69],
'algebra': [78, 88, 82, 87]}
#create dataframe
df_marks = pd.DataFrame(mydictionary)
print('Original DataFrame\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
#delete columns
df_marks = df_marks.drop(['algebra', 'chemistry'], axis=1)
print('\n\nDataFrame after deleting column\n--------------')
print(df_marks)
Output
Summary
In this Pandas Tutorial, we learned how to delete a column from Pandas DataFrame using del keyword, pop() method and drop() method, with the help of well detailed Python Examples.