While working in Python, programmers deal with problems requiring them to exclude the first character of each string by utilizing its built-in functions, methods, or operators. These strings contain alphabets, integers, delimiters, or others. More specifically, when the string characters may have been generated mistakenly, and you want to remove the single string or the entire list.

This guide will provide multiple ways to erase the first character of the Python string.

How to Remove First Character From String in Python?

To remove the first character from any Python string, multiple built-in functions are used, which are listed below:

• slicing()
• Istrip()
• join() and spilt()
• re.sub()
• replace()

Method 1: Remove First Character From String in Python by Utilizing “slicing()” Method

To eliminate the first character from any Python string, the “slicing()” method can be used. The “slice()” is the built-in method of Python that first erase the character and then return the modified resultant string excluding the first character.

Example

Create a variable string and initialize it with a string as “original_string”:

Define a desired format that will remove the string’s first character:

Use the “print()” function to display the specified string excluding its first character:

As you can see, the first character of the specified string is removed successfully:

Method 2: Remove First Character From String in Python by Utilizing “Istrip()” Method

The “Istrip()” method can be utilized for erasing the first character from the provided string. It gets input characters, then removes them from the start of the specified input string. After that, the new modified string excluding the first character will be returned resultantly. If the provided character exists multiple times in the string, it will be deleted.

Example

We have used the string created and initialized in the previous example. Then, provide the first character index and pass it to the “first_character” string variable:

Call the “Istrip()” method that takes the recently created variable as an argument and stores it in the “resultant_string” variable:

Use the “print()” function to get the desired output:

Output

Method 3: Remove First Character From String in Python Utilizing join() and “spilt() Method

To erase the first character from the Python string, the “join()” and “split()” built-in functions are used. The “join()” function joins a string with the specified iterable elements, such as list, tuple, string, and many more. In contrast, the “split()” method will split the provided element from the string.

Example

Provide the desired character index which needs to remove and save the string into the “f_character” variable:

Call the “split()” function with the required two arguments as variable and the position of the eliminating character. Then, use the “join()” function and passes to the “resultant_string” variable:

Use the “print()” statement:

It can be observed that the first character has been removed:

Method 4: Remove First Character From String in Python Utilizing “re.sub()” Function

The “re.sub()” built-in function is the module of the regex library in Python that is used to erase the first character of the provided string. It replaces all the characters that match the provided regular expression format with the specified argument.

Example

First, import the “re” library:

Create a new string variable and pass a string:

Call the “re.sub()” function along with the required arguments, such as the value to which you want to replace, variable string, and count that denotes the substitution will be done only for the first occurrence of the matching string:

Display the desired string through the “print()” function:

Output

Method 5: Remove First Character From String in Python Utilizing “replace()” Method

The Python built-in “replace()” method is utilized to erase the first character from any Python string. This method can return a duplicate string where a substring’s presence is exchanged with another.

Example

Use the “replace()” method and pass the value which needs to be replaced with input string and character count:

Call the “print()” statement to get the output:

Output

You have learned about the different techniques to erase the first character of the Python string.

Conclusion

To remove the first character of the Python string, the “slicing()” method, the “Istrip()” method, the “join()” and “split()” methods, the “re.sub()” method and “replace()” method are used. All discussed methods are Python built-in functions that can erase the character and replace them with the specified value. This guide described about several methods to erase the first character of the Python string.