Python Pandas – Remove numbers from string in a DataFrame column

To remove numbers from strings in a DataFrame column, we can use the str.replace() method with regular expressions. This is useful for cleaning data where numbers need to be stripped from text fields.

Basic Setup

First, let's import pandas and create a sample DataFrame with student records ?

import pandas as pd

# Create DataFrame with student records
dataFrame = pd.DataFrame({
    "Id": ['S01', 'S02', 'S03', 'S04', 'S05', 'S06', 'S07'],
    "Name": ['Jack', 'Robin', 'Ted', 'Robin', 'Scarlett', 'Kat', 'Ted'],
    "Result": ['Pass', 'Fail', 'Pass', 'Fail', 'Pass', 'Pass', 'Pass']
})

print("Original DataFrame:")
print(dataFrame)

Original DataFrame:
    Id      Name Result
0  S01      Jack   Pass
1  S02     Robin   Fail
2  S03       Ted   Pass
3  S04     Robin   Fail
4  S05  Scarlett   Pass
5  S06       Kat   Pass
6  S07       Ted   Pass

Removing Numbers from a Specific Column

Use str.replace() with the regular expression \d+ to remove all digits from the "Id" column ?

import pandas as pd

# Create DataFrame
dataFrame = pd.DataFrame({
    "Id": ['S01', 'S02', 'S03', 'S04', 'S05', 'S06', 'S07'],
    "Name": ['Jack', 'Robin', 'Ted', 'Robin', 'Scarlett', 'Kat', 'Ted'],
    "Result": ['Pass', 'Fail', 'Pass', 'Fail', 'Pass', 'Pass', 'Pass']
})

# Remove numbers from the Id column
dataFrame['Id'] = dataFrame['Id'].str.replace('\d+', '', regex=True)

print("Updated DataFrame:")
print(dataFrame)

Updated DataFrame:
  Id      Name Result
0  S      Jack   Pass
1  S     Robin   Fail
2  S       Ted   Pass
3  S     Robin   Fail
4  S  Scarlett   Pass
5  S       Kat   Pass
6  S       Ted   Pass

Alternative Methods

Using regex=False for Simple Replacements

For removing specific characters without regex patterns ?

import pandas as pd

# Create DataFrame with mixed content
dataFrame = pd.DataFrame({
    "Code": ['A123B', 'C456D', 'E789F'],
    "Value": [100, 200, 300]
})

# Remove specific numbers (e.g., only '123')
dataFrame['Code'] = dataFrame['Code'].str.replace('123', '', regex=False)

print(dataFrame)

   Code  Value
0    AB    100
1  C456D    200
2  E789F    300

Key Points

Conclusion

Use str.replace('\d+', '', regex=True) to remove all numbers from DataFrame string columns. The \d+ pattern matches one or more consecutive digits, providing an efficient way to clean textual data.