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StringDrop["string",n]

gives "string" with its first n characters dropped.

StringDrop["string",-n]

gives "string" with its last n characters dropped.

StringDrop["string",{n}]

gives "string" with its n^(th) character dropped.

StringDrop["string",{m,n}]

gives "string" with characters m through n dropped.

StringDrop[{s1,s2,…},spec]

gives the list of results for each of the si.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Properties & Relations  
Possible Issues  
See Also
Tech Notes
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StringDrop

StringDrop["string",n]

gives "string" with its first n characters dropped.

StringDrop["string",-n]

gives "string" with its last n characters dropped.

StringDrop["string",{n}]

gives "string" with its n^(th) character dropped.

StringDrop["string",{m,n}]

gives "string" with characters m through n dropped.

StringDrop[{s1,s2,…},spec]

gives the list of results for each of the si.

Details

  • StringDrop["string",UpTo[n]] removes n characters, or as many as are available.
  • StringDrop["string",{m,n,s}] drops characters m through n in steps of s.
  • StringDrop uses the standard Wolfram Language sequence specification.
  • StringDrop[BioSequence["type","seq"],spec] applies the operation to the string "seq", yielding a biomolecular sequence.
  • Given a circular BioSequence and a starting position greater than the ending position, i.e. m>n, then StringDrop[bioseq,{m,n}] drops the wrapped-around sequence starting at m and ending at n.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (3)

Drop the first 4 characters from a string:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijklm", 4]

Use InputForm to show quotes:

Wolfram Language code: InputForm[%]

Drop from the end of the string:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijklm", -4]

Drop characters 5 through 10:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijklm", {5, 10}]

Scope  (7)

Drop character 3 from a string:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijklm", {3}]

Drop every other character:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijklm", {1, -1, 2}]

Drop the last 2 characters from several strings:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop[{"abcdef", "xyzw", "stuv"}, -2]

StringDrop works with special characters:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["◆αβγ⟷𝒜ℬ𝒞↵", -4]

Drop the first 4 characters if possible, else as many as are available:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abc", UpTo[4]]

Drop a codon from a bio sequence:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop[BioSequence["DNA", "GTCTCGCGTAGC"], {4, 6}]

Perform a wraparound drop on a bio sequence:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop[BioSequence["CircularDNA", "ACGT"], {4, 1}]

Properties & Relations  (3)

Newline (\n) counts as a single character:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abc def", 4]

StringDrop works like applying Drop to the list of characters:

Wolfram Language code: Drop[Characters["abcdefghijklm"], {5, -4}]
Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijklm", {5, -4}]

StringReplacePart with an empty string can be used like StringDrop:

Wolfram Language code: StringReplacePart["abcdefghijk", "", {2, 5}]
Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["abcdefghijk", {2, 5}]

StringReplacePart can drop several sequences of characters at a time:

Wolfram Language code: StringReplacePart["abcdefghijk", "", {{2, 5}, {7, 8}, {-1, -1}}]

Possible Issues  (1)

StringDrop operates on the raw characters in a string:

Wolfram Language code: StringDrop["red", 10]
Wolfram Language code: FullForm["red"]
Wolfram Research (1991), StringDrop, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/StringDrop.html (updated 2020).

Text

Wolfram Research (1991), StringDrop, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/StringDrop.html (updated 2020).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1991. "StringDrop." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2020. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/StringDrop.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1991). StringDrop. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/StringDrop.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_stringdrop, author="Wolfram Research", title="{StringDrop}", year="2020", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/StringDrop.html}", note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_stringdrop, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={StringDrop}, year={2020}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/StringDrop.html}, note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}