How To Remove Newline From a String in Python?

Learn all the possible ways to remove a new line (\n) from a string in Python, including strip(), rstrip(), lstrp(), replace(), split() & join(), splitlines() and regular expressions.

What is a Newline in Python?

The ‘\n’ is called a newline character and it is used for a newline in Python. It ends the previous line and starts a new line. Consider the following code with too many new lines.

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
print(multi_line_string)

Output

 How to 
 remove 
 new line 

 from string 
 in Python 

Clearly, anyone looking at the output of this code will be frustrated.

Remove Newlines in Python – A Real-World Analogy

Removing newlines in Python is like cleaning up a text message where you accidentally hit “enter” too many times, making everything neat and easy to read again. Imagine you are sending a message to your friend about weekend plans but you press “enter” after every few words. It will not only look bad, but will be annoying to read. To make your text messages better and readable, you will need to press “enter” only when you have completely typed your message.

Similarly in Python, the unnecessary newlines make your output messy and unorganized. Just like the text messages, if we remove unnecessary newlines, our output will be readable, clear, and professional.

How To Remove a New Line From a String in Python?

In Python, there are several ways to remove new lines ‘\n’ from a string. Let’s discuss all of the methods in detail with example codes and visual analogies.

Use the rstrip() Method

One of the easiest ways to remove new lines from a string in Python is by using the rstrip() method, which is a pre-defined function. It stands for right strip, that’s why it removes (strips) the newlines and spaces from the right i-e the end of the string. This function can be very useful if we want to clean the end of a string from newlines and spaces. Keep in mind that the rstrip() method only removes new lines from the end of a string. The rstrip() function cannot remove new lines and spaces from the start or the middle of the string.

To use rstrip(), you simply call the method on the string from which you want to remove new lines, placing a dot after the string. The method will return a new string with no spaces or new lines at the end. We can store the returned string in a new variable and can use it as needed.

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
cleaned_string=multi_line_string.rstrip()
print(cleaned_string)

Output

 How to 
 remove 
 new line 

 from string
 in Python

Apply the lstrip() Method

The lstrip() method stands for left-strip that removes the leading spaces i-e spaces and new lines from the left (start) of the string while rstrip() removes it from the end of the string.

When we call it on a string that has random unnecessary new lines at the start, the function returns us a new string with removed new lines and spaces from the start.

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
cleaned_string=multi_line_string.lstrip()
print(cleaned_string)

Output

How to 
 remove
 new line

 from string
 in Python

Use the strip() Method

The strip() method has no left of right prefix. It removes the newlines and spaces from both the beginning and the end of the string. It works like the combination of lstrip() and rstrip(). This makes strip() useful when we want to eliminate newlines and spaces from both ends of a string.

The usage of the strip() method is similar to that of rstrip() and lstrip(). You simply call the method on the string from which you want to remove newlines, placing a dot after the string. The method returns a new string with no spaces or newlines at the beginning or end. You can store the returned string in a new variable and use it as needed.

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
cleaned_string=multi_line_string.strip()
print(cleaned_string)

Output

How to 
 remove
 new line

 from string
 in Python

Real-World Example

Imagine your car got dirty after a long trip, and now you want to clean it. If you clean only the front, it’s like using lstrip(). If you clean only the back, it’s like using rstrip(). But if you clean both the front and the back, while leaving the middle dirty, it’s like using strip().

Remove Newline Using the Replace() Method

In Python, the replace() method is used to replace a part of a string (substring) with another string. The replace() method can be utilized to replace all newline characters (\n) with a space or an empty string. This method will remove all the unnecessary and unwanted newlines. The best part about this method is that, unlike the previous methods we talked about, which only remove newlines from the start or end of the string, this method removes new lines from anywhere in the string. It is like replacing something with nothing to make the text cleaner and readable.

To use the replace() method, we need to call the method on the string from which we want to remove the newlines. The first parameter will be the substring we want to replace (in this case, the newline character), and the second parameter will be the new string (which, in this case, will be an empty string to replace the new lines).

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
cleaned_string=multi_line_string.replace("\n","")
print(cleaned_string)

Output

 How to  remove  new line  from string  in Python

split() and join() Method

Imagine you have a chain made of a mix of steel and copper links. You want to get rid of the copper links, so you start by breaking the chain apart, separating the steel and copper. After you’ve done that, you set the copper links aside and reattach the steel parts, creating a chain that’s entirely made of steel, just like you wanted.

In Python, the split() and join() methods work in a similar way. The split() method takes a parameter and breaks the string wherever it finds the word or character passed in the parameter. When the split() method is called, it divides the string into smaller substrings and returns a list. Each substring is an element of the string.

On the other hand, the join() method takes a list of strings and combines them into a single string. We will use the list created by the split() method. To do this, we need to call the join() function with a specified separator. Python places the separator between each substring when joining them. In our case, since we don’t want to add anything between the substrings, we will use an empty string as a separator. The list will be passed as a parameter to the join function and will return a string

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
strings_list=multi_line_string.split("\n")
cleaned_string="".join(strings_list)
print(cleaned_string)

Output

 How to  remove  new line  from string  in Python

The splitlines() Method

The splitlines() method works similarly to the split() method. The main difference is that in Python, when we use the split() method, we pass a parameter to the split() function and the string is trimmed into substrings, wherever that parameter is found. If no parameter is provided, it splits the string at every blank space by default.

On the other hand, if the splitlines() method is called without parameters, it breaks the string into smaller pieces based on line breaks (e.g., \n, \r). Just like the split() method, when the splitlines() method is called on a string, it breaks the string into smaller chunks and returns a list, with each substring as an element of that list. We can then combine the elements of that list back into a single string using the join() method just like we did in the split() and join() method.

Code

multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
strings_list=multi_line_string.splitlines()
cleaned_string="".join(strings_list)
print(cleaned_string)

Output

 How to  remove  new line  from string  in Python

Regular Expressions to Remove Newlines

A regular expression is a special pattern of characters which can be used to manipulate strings. It is a very powerful and useful tool when it comes to string manipulation.

Regular expressions can be used to remove all unnecessary lines from a string using the sub() method. In the sub() method we will have to pass three parameters. The first parameter is the element that we want to replace, second is the element that we want to replace it with and third is the string from which we want to manipulate. Basically, it works like the replace() method which we have discussed earlier. Before using regular expressions, we have to make sure that the ‘re’ module is imported use ‘import re‘ statement.

Once the re module is imported, we can use the sub() method by placing a dot after re. It will return a string which we will be storing in a string variable. The following statement can be used to call the sub() method ‘re.sub(r'\n','',multi_line_string)‘. The ‘r’ stands for ‘raw string’ which is used to ignore escape sequences. It treats ‘\’ as a normal character rather than treating it as an escape character. Hence by utilizing regular expressions in this way, we can remove all the new line characters from string in Python.

Code

import re 
multi_line_string="\n\n\n How to \n remove \n new line \n\n from string \n in Python \n\n\n"
cleaned_string=re.sub(r'\n','',multi_line_string)
print(cleaned_string)

Output

 How to  remove  new line  from string  in Python

Comparison Table for strip(), lstrip(), strip(), replace(), sub(), split and join(), and splitlines() and join()

Why Remove New Lines from a String?

Removing newlines from a string in Python is often necessary for various reasons. Here are some common scenarios:

• Data Cleaning: When processing input data (like user input or file reading), newlines can interfere with further analysis or processing. Removing them ensures clean data.
• Formatting Output: When displaying text, extra newlines can create unwanted gaps or formatting issues. Stripping newlines helps maintain a neat presentation.
• String Comparison: When comparing strings, newlines can cause unexpected results. Removing them ensures accurate comparisons.
• Parsing and Tokenization: In tasks like parsing CSV files or other structured data, newlines may separate rows or entries. Stripping them can help in correctly splitting and processing data.
• Logging and Debugging: When logging messages, newlines may lead to confusing outputs. Removing them helps create concise log entries.
• Joining Strings: When concatenating strings, newlines can result in unintended breaks. Stripping them allows for smooth concatenation.
• User Input Validation: In user interfaces, stripping newlines can help enforce input rules (e.g., preventing empty lines in forms).

Conclusion

Unnecessary new lines are a problem in Python which can be solved using different methods. The rstrip() removes the spaces and new lines from the end of the string, the lstrip() removes from the beginning of the string, while the strip() method removes both, from beginning and ending of the string. Similarly, the replace() and sub() method(from regular expressions) can be used to replace the new line character with empty space. The split() and splitlines() can be used to split the string into substring whenever the new line character is read and then rejoin the substrings to form a string using join() method.