WOLFRAM

Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center

DeleteElements[list,{e1,e2,…}]

removes all instances of elements ei from list.

DeleteElements[list,n{e1,e2,…}]

removes up to n instances of each ei from list.

DeleteElements[list,{n1,n2,…}{e1,e2,…}]

removes up to ni instances of ei from list.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Properties & Relations  
See Also
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page

DeleteElements

DeleteElements[list,{e1,e2,…}]

removes all instances of elements ei from list.

DeleteElements[list,n{e1,e2,…}]

removes up to n instances of each ei from list.

DeleteElements[list,{n1,n2,…}{e1,e2,…}]

removes up to ni instances of ei from list.

Details

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (3)

Delete all instances of x and y from a list:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{2, x, 1, x, a, y, x}, {x, y}]

Remove up to two instances of x:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{2, x, 1, x, a, y, x}, 2 -> {x}]

Remove up to one instance of x and up to two instances of y:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{2, x, 1, x, a, y, x}, {1, 2} -> {x, y}]

Properties & Relations  (5)

DeleteElements[list,elems] is equivalent to DeleteElements[list,Infinityelems]:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4}, {2, 3}]
Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4}, Infinity -> {2, 3}]

Remove one instance of b and then remove two other instances of b:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{a, b, a, b, b, b, c}, {1, 2} -> {b, b}]

DeleteElements[list,elems] is equivalent to DeleteCases[list,Alternatives@@elems]:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{b, a, 2, a, 1, 2}, {1, 2, 3}]
Wolfram Language code: DeleteCases[{b, a, 2, a, 1, 2}, Alternatives@@{1, 2, 3}]

DeleteElements[list,elems] removes elements from list, preserving the order and multiplicity of the other elements:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{b, a, 2, a, 1, 2}, {1, 2, 3}]

Complement[list,elems] does not preserve the order and multiplicity of the other elements:

Wolfram Language code: Complement[{b, a, 2, a, 1, 2}, {1, 2, 3}]

SubsetReplace provides an alternative way of deleting a number of copies of an element from a list:

Wolfram Language code: SubsetReplace[{a, b, c, b, d, c, b}, {Repeated[b, {2}]} -> Nothing]
Wolfram Language code: DeleteElements[{a, b, c, b, d, c, b}, 2 -> {b}]
Wolfram Research (2022), DeleteElements, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2022), DeleteElements, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2022. "DeleteElements." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2022). DeleteElements. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_deleteelements, author="Wolfram Research", title="{DeleteElements}", year="2022", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.html}", note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_deleteelements, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={DeleteElements}, year={2022}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.html}, note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}