Pandas: Drop last N columns of dataframe

In this article, we will discuss different ways to delete last N columns of a dataframe in python.

Use iloc to drop last N columns of pandas dataframe

In Pandas, the Dataframe provides an attribute iloc to select a portion of the dataframe using position based indexing. This selected portion can be a few columns or rows . We can use this attribute to select all the columns except last N columns of the dataframe and then assign back that to the original variable. It will give an effect that we have deleted the last N columns from the dataframe. For example,

N = 3
# Drop last N columns of dataframe
df = df.iloc[: , :-N]

We selected a portion of dataframe, that included all rows, but it selected only first N-1 columns. Then assigned this back to the same variable. So, basically it removed the last N columns of dataframe.

How did it work?

The syntax of dataframe.iloc[] is like,

df.iloc[row_start:row_end , col_start, col_end]

• row_start: The row index/position from where it should start selection. Default is 0.
• row_end: The row index/position from where it should end the selection i.e. select till row_end-1. Default is till the first row of the dataframe.
• col_start: The column index/position from where it should start selection. Default is 0.
• col_end: The column index/position from where it should end the selection i.e. select till col_end-1. Default is till the first column of the dataframe.

It returns a portion of dataframe that includes rows from row_start to row_end-1 and columns from col_start to col_end-1.

To delete the last N columns of the dataframe, just select the columns from column number 0 till -N (i.e. N less from last) and select all rows. To select all the rows use default values i.e. (:) i.e. Drop last N columns of dataframe

df = df.iloc[: , :-N]

Checkout complete example to delete the last 3 columns of dataframe,

import pandas as pd

# List of Tuples
empoyees = [('Jack',    34, 'Sydney',   5) ,
            ('Riti',    31, 'Delhi' ,   7) ,
            ('Aadi',    16, 'London',   11) ,
            ('Mark',    41, 'Delhi' ,   12)]

# Create a DataFrame object
df = pd.DataFrame(  empoyees, 
                    columns=['Name', 'Age', 'City', 'Experience'])

print("Contents of the Dataframe : ")
print(df)

N = 3
# Drop last N columns of dataframe
df = df.iloc[: , :-N]

print("Modified Dataframe : ")
print(df)

Output:

Contents of the Dataframe :
   Name  Age    City  Experience
0  Jack   34  Sydney           5
1  Riti   31   Delhi           7
2  Aadi   16  London          11
3  Mark   41   Delhi          12
Modified Dataframe :
   Name
0  Jack
1  Riti
2  Aadi
3  Mark

Use drop() to remove last N columns of pandas dataframe

In pandas, the dataframe’s drop() function accepts a sequence of column names that it needs to delete from the dataframe. To make sure that it removes the columns only, use argument axis=1 and to make changes in place i.e. in calling dataframe object, pass argument inplace=True.

Checkout complete example to delete the last 3 columns of dataframe,

import pandas as pd

# List of Tuples
empoyees = [('Jack',    34, 'Sydney',   5) ,
            ('Riti',    31, 'Delhi' ,   7) ,
            ('Aadi',    16, 'London',   11) ,
            ('Mark',    41, 'Delhi' ,   12)]


# Create a DataFrame object
df = pd.DataFrame(  empoyees, 
                    columns=['Name', 'Age', 'City', 'Experience'])

print("Contents of the Dataframe : ")
print(df)

N = 3
# Drop last N columns of dataframe
df.drop(columns=df.columns[-N:], 
        axis=1, 
        inplace=True)

print("Modified Dataframe : ")
print(df)

Output:

Contents of the Dataframe :
   Name  Age    City  Experience
0  Jack   34  Sydney           5
1  Riti   31   Delhi           7
2  Aadi   16  London          11
3  Mark   41   Delhi          12
Modified Dataframe :
   Name
0  Jack
1  Riti
2  Aadi
3  Mark

We fetched the column names of dataframe as a sequence and passed the last N column names ( df.columns[-N:] ) as the columns argument in drop() function, therefore it deleted the last N columns (3 columns) of dataframe.

Use pop() to remove last N columns of pandas dataframe

In Pandas, dataframe provides a function pop(column_name). It expects a column name as an argument and deletes that column from the calling dataframe object. It also returns the deleted column as a series. We can use this to delete last N column of dataframe, for that we need to iterate over column names of dataframe in reverse and for first N columns call pop() function one by one. For example,

import pandas as pd

# List of Tuples
empoyees = [('Jack',    34, 'Sydney',   5) ,
            ('Riti',    31, 'Delhi' ,   7) ,
            ('Aadi',    16, 'London',   11) ,
            ('Mark',    41, 'Delhi' ,   12)]


# Create a DataFrame object
df = pd.DataFrame(  empoyees, 
                    columns=['Name', 'Age', 'City', 'Experience'])

print("Contents of the Dataframe : ")
print(df)

N = 3
# Drop last N columns of dataframe
for i in range(N):
        df.pop(df.columns.values[-1])

print("Modified Dataframe : ")
print(df)

Output:

Contents of the Dataframe :
   Name  Age    City  Experience
0  Jack   34  Sydney           5
1  Riti   31   Delhi           7
2  Aadi   16  London          11
3  Mark   41   Delhi          12
Modified Dataframe :
   Name
0  Jack
1  Riti
2  Aadi
3  Mark

It removed the last 3 columns of dataframe in place.

Use del keyword to remove last N columns of pandas dataframe

Iterate over last N column names of dataframe and for each of them select the column by passing column name in subscript operator i.e. df[df.columns[-1]]. Then call del keyword on that selected column.

Checkout complete example to remove the last 3 columns of dataframe,

import pandas as pd

# List of Tuples
empoyees = [('Jack',    34, 'Sydney',   5) ,
            ('Riti',    31, 'Delhi' ,   7) ,
            ('Aadi',    16, 'London',   11) ,
            ('Mark',    41, 'Delhi' ,   12)]


# Create a DataFrame object
df = pd.DataFrame(  empoyees, 
                    columns=['Name', 'Age', 'City', 'Experience'])

print("Contents of the Dataframe : ")
print(df)

N = 3
# Drop last N columns of dataframe
for i in range(N):
        del df[df.columns.values[-1]]

print("Modified Dataframe : ")
print(df)

Output:

Contents of the Dataframe :
   Name  Age    City  Experience
0  Jack   34  Sydney           5
1  Riti   31   Delhi           7
2  Aadi   16  London          11
3  Mark   41   Delhi          12
Modified Dataframe :
   Name
0  Jack
1  Riti
2  Aadi
3  Mark

It deleted the last 3 columns of dataframe in place.

Summary:

We learned about four different ways to delete last N columns of a dataframe.