How to Drop Multiple Columns in Python

In this article, let’s discuss how to drop multiple columns in Python. We are using Pandas Dataframe for demonstrating this.

First lets create a dummy dataframe.

import pandas as pd 
data = { 'A':['a1', 'a2', 'a3', 'a4', 'a5'], 
     'B':['b1', 'b2', 'b3', 'b4', 'b5'], 
     'C':['c1', 'c2', 'c3', 'c4', 'c5'], 
     'D':['d1', 'd2', 'd3', 'd4', 'd5'], 
     'E':['e1', 'e2', 'e3', 'e4', 'e5']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
df

Output:

    A   B   C   D   E
0  a1  b1  c1  d1  e1
1  a2  b2  c2  d2  e2
2  a3  b3  c3  d3  e3
3  a4  b4  c4  d4  e4
4  a5  b5  c5  d5  e5

So now we’ve got the dataframe. We can use Pandas drop() function to drop multiple columns from a dataframe.

import pandas as pd 
data = { 'A':['a1', 'a2', 'a3', 'a4', 'a5'], 
'B':['b1', 'b2', 'b3', 'b4', 'b5'], 
'C':['c1', 'c2', 'c3', 'c4', 'c5'], 
'D':['d1', 'd2', 'd3', 'd4', 'd5'], 
'E':['e1', 'e2', 'e3', 'e4', 'e5']}

df = pd.DataFrame(data)

#remove columns with name 'A' and 'C'
print(df.drop(['A', 'C'], axis = 1))

Output:

    B   D   E
0  b1  d1  e1
1  b2  d2  e2
2  b3  d3  e3
3  b4  d4  e4
4  b5  d5  e5

We can also use Pandas drop() function without using axis=1 argument. However, we need to specify the argument “columns” with the list of column names to be dropped.

import pandas as pd 
data = { 'A':['a1', 'a2', 'a3', 'a4', 'a5'], 
'B':['b1', 'b2', 'b3', 'b4', 'b5'], 
'C':['c1', 'c2', 'c3', 'c4', 'c5'], 
'D':['d1', 'd2', 'd3', 'd4', 'd5'], 
'E':['e1', 'e2', 'e3', 'e4', 'e5']}

df = pd.DataFrame(data)

print(df.drop(columns = ['A', 'E']))

Output:

    B   C   D
0  b1  c1  d1
1  b2  c2  d2
2  b3  c3  d3
3  b4  c4  d4
4  b5  c5  d5