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Python String lstrip() Function

The String lstrip() method removes any whitespace from the beginning (the leading) of the string by default.

note

You can also specify the characters you want to strip by specifying the chars parameter of the lstrip() method.

Syntax​

my_string.lstrip(chars)

lstrip() Parameters​

Python String lstrip() function parameters:

ParameterConditionDescription
charsoptionalA string of characters to be removed from the string
note

If chars argument is not provided, all leading whitespaces are removed from the string.

lstrip() Return Value​

Python String lstrip() function returns a copy of the string with leading characters stripped.

All combinations of characters in the chars parameter are removed from the beginning of the string until the first mismatch.

Examples​

Example 1: Strip Whitespaces from Left with lstrip()​

The lstrip() method allows to remove spaces from the left side of a string, returning a new string.

my_str = "   Hello   "
result = my_str.lstrip()
print(f"'{result}'") # Output: 'Hello   '

output

'Hello   '

Note that newline \n, tab \t and carriage return \r are also considered whitespace characters!

my_str = " \t\n\r  Hello   "
result = my_str.lstrip()
print(f"'{result}'") # Output: 'Hello   '

output

'Hello   '

Example 2: Strip Characters from Left with lstrip()​

By specifying the chars parameter, you can also specify the character you want to strip.

my_str = "aaabbbaaa"
result = my_str.lstrip('a')
print(result) # Output: bbbaaa

output

bbbaaa
note

Characters are removed from the beginning to the end until reaching a string character that is not contained in the set of characters in chars parameter.

For example:

my_str = 'xxxxAxxxxAxxxx'
result = my_str.lstrip('x')
print(result) # Output: AxxxxAxxxx

output

AxxxxAxxxx

Example 3: Strip Multiple Characters from Left with lstrip()​

The chars parameter is not a prefix! All combinations of its values are stripped, until reaching a character of the string that is not d in the set of characters in chars parameter.

For example, let's strip all the characters provided in the argument:

my_str = 'http://www.example.com'
result = my_str.lstrip('hwtp:/.')
print(result) # Output: example.com

output

example.com

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