Python - Remove First N Characters From String

In this tutorial, we will look at how to remove the first n characters from a string in Python with the help of some examples.

How to remove the first n characters?

Python strings are immutable which means that they cannot be modified. However, you can create a copy of the string with the first n characters removed and assign it to the original string variable.

To remove the first n characters from a string, slice the string from the nth index to the end of the string. Note that characters in a string are indexed starting from zero, so slicing the string from the nth index to the end would remove the first n characters of the string. The following is the syntax –

# remove first n characters from a string
s = s[n:]

It returns a copy of the original string with the first n characters removed.

Let’s look at some examples -.

Remove the first 2 characters from a string

In this case n = 2, hence we slice the string from index 2 to the end of the string.

# create a string
s = "Hufflepuff"
# remove first 2 characcters
print(s[2:])

Output:

fflepuff

You can see that the resulting string does not have the first two characters from the original string.

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Remove the first 3 characters from a string

We can similarly use the above syntax to remove the first three characters from a string.

# create a string
s = "Hufflepuff"
# remove first 3 characcters
print(s[3:])

Output:

flepuff

The resulting string has the first three characters removed.

Author

Piyush Raj

Piyush is a data professional passionate about using data to understand things better and make informed decisions. He has experience working as a Data Scientist in the consulting domain and holds an engineering degree from IIT Roorkee. His hobbies include watching cricket, reading, and working on side projects.

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