Pandas – Drop First Three Rows From DataFrame

You can delete/drop the first two/three rows from the pandas DataFrame using either drop(), iloc[] and tail() methods. In this article, I will explain how to delete/drop the first three rows from Pandas DataFrame with examples.

• drop() method is used to remove columns or rows from DataFrame.
• Use axis param to specify what axis you would like to remove. By default axis = 0 meaning to remove rows. Use axis=1 or columns param to remove columns.
• Use inplace=True to remove row/column in place meaning on existing DataFrame with out creating copy.

1. Quick Examples of Drop First Three Rows From DataFrame

If you are in a hurry, below are some quick examples of how to drop/delete the first two/three rows from pandas DataFrame.

# Below are quick example

# Use DataFrame.iloc[] to drop first three rows 
df2 = df.iloc[3:]

# Use DataFrame.iloc[]
n = 3
df2 = df.iloc[n:]

# Use DataFrame.drop() function to delete first three rows
df.drop(df.head(3).index, inplace=True)

# Use DataFrame.drop() function
df.drop(df.index[:3], inplace=True)

# Use DataFrame.tail() method to drop first three rows
df2 = df.tail(-3)

Now, let’s create a DataFrame with a few rows and columns and execute some examples and validate results. Our DataFrame contains column names Courses, Fee, Duration, and Discount.

import pandas as pd
technologies = {
    'Courses':["Spark","PySpark","Python","pandas","Hadoop"],
    'Fee' :[20000,25000,22000,24000,30000],
    'Duration':['30day','40days','35days','60days','55days'],
    'Discount':[1000,2300,2500,2000,3000]
              }
index_labels=['r1','r2','r3','r4','r5']
df = pd.DataFrame(technologies,index=index_labels)
print(df)

Yields below output.

    Courses    Fee Duration  Discount
r1    Spark  20000    30day      1000
r2  PySpark  25000   40days      2300
r3   Python  22000   35days      2500
r4   pandas  24000   60days      2000
r5   Hadoop  30000   55days      3000

2. Use DataFrame.iloc[] to Drop First Three Rows

By using DataFrame.iloc[] you can drop the rows from DataFrame and use 3: to drop the first three rows. For example, use DataFrame.iloc[3:] to select all rows except the first three rows and then assign it back to the original variable which ideally drops the first three rows from DataFrame.

# Use DataFrame.iloc[] to drop first three rows 
df2 = df.iloc[3:]
print(df2) 

# Use DataFrame.iloc[]
n = 3
df2 = df.iloc[n:]
print(df2)

Yields below output.

   Courses    Fee Duration  Discount
r4  pandas  24000   60days      2000
r5  Hadoop  30000   55days      3000

3. Use DataFrame.drop() to Delete First Three Rows

Alternatively, you can also use DataFrame.drop() method to remove the first three rows. Use index param to specify the first index and inplace=True to apply the change on the existing DataFrame. For instance, df.drop(df.head(3).index, inplace=True) method.

# Use DataFrame.drop() function to delete first three rows
df.drop(df.head(3).index, inplace=True)
print(df) 

# Use DataFrame.drop() function
df.drop(df.index[:3], inplace=True)
print(df) 

Yields same output as above.

4. Use DataFrame.tail() Method to Drop First Three Rows

You can also use DataFrame.tail(-3) to remove the first three rows of pandas DataFrame.

# Use DataFrame.tail() method to drop first three rows
df2 = df.tail(-3)
print(df2) 

Yields same output as above.

5. Complete Example For Drop First Three Rows From DataFrame

import pandas as pd
technologies = {
    'Courses':["Spark","PySpark","Python","pandas","Hadoop"],
    'Fee' :[20000,25000,22000,24000,30000],
    'Duration':['30day','40days','35days','60days','55days'],
    'Discount':[1000,2300,2500,2000,3000]
              }
index_labels=['r1','r2','r3','r4','r5']
df = pd.DataFrame(technologies,index=index_labels)
print(df)

# Use DataFrame.iloc[] to drop first three rows 
df2 = df.iloc[3:]
print(df2) 

# Use DataFrame.iloc[]
n = 3
df2 = df.iloc[n:]
print(df2)

# Use DataFrame.drop() function to delete first three rows
df.drop(df.head(3).index, inplace=True)
print(df) 

# Use DataFrame.drop() function
df.drop(df.index[:3], inplace=True)
print(df) 

# Use DataFrame.tail() method to drop first three rows
df2 = df.tail(-3)
print(df2) 

Conclusion

In this article, you have learned how to drop the first three rows from Pandas DataFrame using DataFrame.iloc[], DataFrame.drop(), and DataFrame.tail() function with examples.

Happy Learning !!

Related Articles

• Drop First/Last N Columns From Pandas DataFrame
• Pandas Drop Last N Rows From DataFrame
• Delete/Drop First N Rows From Pandas DataFrame
• Sort Pandas DataFrame by Single Column
• Find Unique Values From Columns in Pandas
• Pandas get Last row From DataFrame
• Get First row From Pandas DataFrame

References

• https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/reference/api/pandas.DataFrame.drop.html