Delete a CSV Column in Python

Last Updated : 23 May, 2024

The comma-separated values (CSV) file is a delimited text file that uses commas for individual values. Each line of the file is a data record in CSV. This format used for tabular data, rows, and columns, exactly like a spreadsheet. The CSV file stores data in rows and the values in each row are separated with a comma(separator), also known as a delimiter.

There are 2 ways to remove a column entirely from a CSV in python. Let us now focus on the techniques :

With pandas library — drop() or pop()
Without pandas library

Here, a simple CSV file is used i.e;input.csv

id	day	month	year	item_quantity	Name
1	12	3	2020	12	Oliver
2	13	3	2020	45	Henry
3	14	3	2020	8	Benjamin
4	15	3	2020	23	John
5	16	3	2020	31	Camili
6	17	3	2020	40	Rheana
7	18	3	2020	55	Joseph
8	19	3	2020	13	Raj
9	20	3	2020	29	Elias
10	21	3	2020	19	Emily

Method 1: Using pandas library

Python is a great language for doing data analysis, primarily because of the fantastic ecosystem of data-centric python packages. Pandas is one of those packages and makes importing and analyzing data much easier. Pandas consist of a drop function that is used in removing rows or columns from the CSV files. Pandas Pop() method is common in most of the data structures but the pop() method is a little different from the rest. In a stack, pop doesn’t require any parameters, it pops the last element every time. But the pandas pop method can take input of a column from a data frame and pop that directly.

Example 1: Using drop()

data.drop( labels=None, axis=0, index=None, columns=None, level=None, inplace=False,errors='raise')

Import Pandas
Read CSV File
Use drop() function for removing or deleting rows or columns from the CSV files
Print Data

Python3

# import pandas with shortcut 'pd' 
import pandas as pd   
  
# read_csv function which is used to read the required CSV file 
data = pd.read_csv('input.csv') 
  
# display  
print("Original 'input.csv' CSV Data: \n") 
print(data) 
  
# drop function which is used in removing or deleting rows or columns from the CSV files 
data.drop('year', inplace=True, axis=1) 
  
# display  
print("\nCSV Data after deleting the column 'year':\n") 
print(data)

Output:

Example 2: Using pop()

We can use the panda pop () method to remove columns from CSV by naming the column as an argument.

[Tex]data.pop('column-name')[/Tex]

Import Pandas
Read CSV File
Use pop() function for removing or deleting rows or columns from the CSV files
Print Data

Python3

# import pandas with shortcut 'pd' 
import pandas as pd 
  
# read_csv function which is used to read the required CSV file 
data = pd.read_csv('input.csv') 
  
# display 
print("Original 'input.csv' CSV Data: \n") 
print(data) 
  
# pop function which is used in removing or deleting columns from the CSV files 
data.pop('year') 
  
# display 
print("\nCSV Data after deleting the column 'year':\n") 
print(data) 

Output:

Method 2: Using CSV library

Example 3: Using CSV read and write

Open Input CSV file as source
Read Source CSV File
Open Output CSV File as a result
Put source CSV data in result CSV using indexes

Python3

# import csv 
import csv 
  
# open input CSV file as source 
# open output CSV file as result 
with open("input.csv", "r") as source: 
    reader = csv.reader(source) 
      
    with open("output.csv", "w") as result: 
        writer = csv.writer(result) 
        for r in reader: 
            
            # Use CSV Index to remove a column from CSV 
            #r[3] = r['year'] 
            writer.writerow((r[0], r[1], r[2], r[4], r[5]))

Output:

Add a Column to Existing CSV File in Python

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Delete a CSV Column in Python

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