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DeleteMissing[list]

drops elements with head Missing from a list.

DeleteMissing[assoc]

drops elements whose values have head Missing from the association assoc.

DeleteMissing[expr,n]

applies DeleteMissing to any lists or associations that occur within the first n levels of expr.

DeleteMissing[expr,n,d]

considers an element at level n to be missing if Missing occurs within the first d levels of the element.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Properties & Relations  
Possible Issues  
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DeleteMissing

DeleteMissing[list]

drops elements with head Missing from a list.

DeleteMissing[assoc]

drops elements whose values have head Missing from the association assoc.

DeleteMissing[expr,n]

applies DeleteMissing to any lists or associations that occur within the first n levels of expr.

DeleteMissing[expr,n,d]

considers an element at level n to be missing if Missing occurs within the first d levels of the element.

Details

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)

Delete missing elements in a list:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[{a, b, Missing[], c, d, Missing[]}]

Delete missing values from an association:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[<|a -> x, b -> y, c -> Missing[]|>]

Scope  (3)

Delete elements with head Missing up to level 2:

Wolfram Language code: data = {{a, b, c}, {d, Missing[], {e, Missing[]}}}; DeleteMissing[data, 2]

Delete missing elements at all levels:

Wolfram Language code: data = {{a, b, c}, {d, Missing[], {e, Missing[]}}}; DeleteMissing[data, Infinity]

Delete elements at level 1 if they contain an element with head Missing:

Wolfram Language code: data = {{a, 1}, {b, 2}, {c, Missing[]}, {d, {Missing[]}}}; DeleteMissing[data, 1, 1]

Delete elements at level 1 if they contain a missing expression anywhere inside:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[data, 1, Infinity]

DeleteMissing deletes complete rules when the right-hand side is Missing:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[{a -> 1, b -> Missing[], c -> 3, d -> Missing[]}]

Properties & Relations  (2)

DeleteMissing[expr] deletes missing elements at the top level only:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[{a, Missing[], {d, Missing[], e}}]

DeleteMissing[list] is effectively equivalent to DeleteCases[list,_Missing]:

Wolfram Language code: data = {a, Missing[], b, {Missing[]}};
Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[data] == DeleteCases[data, _Missing]

Possible Issues  (1)

DeleteMissing does not enter heads other than List or Association:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[{a -> {x, Missing[]}, y}, Infinity]
Wolfram Language code: DeleteMissing[{f[x, Missing[], y]}, Infinity]
Wolfram Research (2014), DeleteMissing, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteMissing.html (updated 2015).

Text

Wolfram Research (2014), DeleteMissing, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteMissing.html (updated 2015).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2014. "DeleteMissing." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2015. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteMissing.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2014). DeleteMissing. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteMissing.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_deletemissing, author="Wolfram Research", title="{DeleteMissing}", year="2015", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteMissing.html}", note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_deletemissing, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={DeleteMissing}, year={2015}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteMissing.html}, note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}