This post will discuss how to remove the first item from a list in Python.

1. Using list.pop() function

The simplest approach is to use the list’s pop([i]) function, which removes and returns an item present at the specified position in the list.

Download  Run Code

 
The pop([i]) function raises an IndexError if the list is empty as it tries to pop from an empty list.

2. Using list.remove() function

Another approach is to use the list’s remove(x) function, which removes the first item from the list, which matches the specified value. The idea is to pass the value of the list’s first item to it, as shown below:

Download  Run Code

 
The remove() function raises an IndexError if the list is empty since it tries to access the list’s index, which is out of range.

3. Using Slicing

We know that we can slice lists in Python. We can use slicing to remove the first item from a list. The idea is to obtain a sublist containing all items of the list except the first one. Since slice operation returns a new list, we have to assign the new list to the original list. This can be done using the expression l = l[1:], where l is your list.

Download  Run Code

 
Note that this function doesn’t raise any error on an empty list but constructs a copy of the list, which is not recommended.

4. Using del statement

Another way to remove an item from a list using its index is the del statement. It differs from the pop() function as it does not return the removed item. Unlike the slicing function, this doesn’t create a new list but modifies your original list.

Download  Run Code

 
The above code raises an IndexError if the list is empty since it tries to access index 0 of the list, which is out of range.

That’s all about removing the first item from a list in Python.