---
title: "Elements of Lists"
language: "en"
type: "Guide"
summary: "The Wolfram Language provides a carefully chosen set of functions for accessing elements of lists using either indices or positions, or using patterns or criteria for their values."
sections: 
  - 
    title: "Finding Sublists"
    link: "null"
  - 
    title: "Finding Subsets"
    link: "null"
keywords: 
- absent from list
- appending
- append to
- array depth
- array dimensions
- array rules
- arrays
- array shape
- array size
- array subscript
- array subscripting
- beginning of list
- block matrices
- categorizing data
- cdr
- changing parts
- choose elements
- compress in APL
- concatenation of lists
- delete cases
- deleting elements
- discard elements
- discard list elements
- drop first element
- drop last
- element of a list
- element positions
- elements
- expressions ordering
- extraction of sublists
- filtering lists
- full arrays
- insert element in list
- join lists
- length of list
- length while
- levels
- list append
- list as matrix
- list member
- lists
- lists as vectors
- map at
- matrices
- matrix dimensions
- membership test
- multiple parts
- number of elements
- number of occurrences
- number of terms
- numerical matrices
- order in lists
- order statistics
- parts
- patterns
- pick elements
- picking elements of lists
- picking out sequences of elements in lists
- prepend elements to lists
- prepending to list
- prepend to
- present in list
- ranking
- remove fist element in list
- removing elements from lists
- removing elements that match a pattern
- replacements
- replace part
- rows
- segments of lists
- sequence of elements
- shortening lists
- size of array
- slice
- smallest element
- sorting
- specify elements in sparse array
- stride
- submatrices
- subscript range
- tail of list
- take while
- tensors
- test for elements in lists
- test if vector
- testing for matrices
- testing for numerical vectors
- testing for presence
- testing for vectors
- truncate list
canonical_url: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/ElementsOfLists.html"
source: "Wolfram Language Documentation"
related_guides: 
  - 
    title: "Parts of Matrices"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/PartsOfMatrices.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Parts of Expressions"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/PartsOfExpressions.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Rearranging & Restructuring Lists"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/RearrangingAndRestructuringLists.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Constructing Lists"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/ConstructingLists.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Handling Arrays of Data"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/HandlingArraysOfData.en.md"
related_functions: 
  - 
    title: "AllTrue"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AllTrue.en.md"
  - 
    title: "AnyTrue"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnyTrue.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Append"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Append.en.md"
  - 
    title: "AppendTo"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AppendTo.en.md"
  - 
    title: "ArrayDepth"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ArrayDepth.en.md"
  - 
    title: "ArrayQ"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ArrayQ.en.md"
  - 
    title: "ArrayRules"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ArrayRules.en.md"
  - 
    title: "BinLists"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinLists.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Cases"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Cases.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Count"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Count.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Delete"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Delete.en.md"
  - 
    title: "DeleteAdjacentDuplicates"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteAdjacentDuplicates.en.md"
  - 
    title: "DeleteCases"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteCases.en.md"
  - 
    title: "DeleteDuplicates"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteDuplicates.en.md"
  - 
    title: "DeleteElements"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Dimensions"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Dimensions.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Drop"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Drop.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Extract"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Extract.en.md"
  - 
    title: "First"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/First.en.md"
  - 
    title: "FirstCase"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FirstCase.en.md"
  - 
    title: "FirstPosition"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FirstPosition.en.md"
  - 
    title: "FreeQ"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FreeQ.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Gather"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Gather.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Insert"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Insert.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Last"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Last.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Length"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Length.en.md"
  - 
    title: "LengthWhile"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LengthWhile.en.md"
  - 
    title: "MapAt"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MapAt.en.md"
  - 
    title: "MatrixQ"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MatrixQ.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Max"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Max.en.md"
  - 
    title: "MaximalBy"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MaximalBy.en.md"
  - 
    title: "MemberQ"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MemberQ.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Min"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Min.en.md"
  - 
    title: "MinimalBy"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimalBy.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Most"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Most.en.md"
  - 
    title: "NoneTrue"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NoneTrue.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Nothing"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Nothing.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Ordering"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Ordering.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Part"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Part.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Pick"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pick.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Position"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Position.en.md"
  - 
    title: "PositionLargest"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/PositionLargest.en.md"
  - 
    title: "PositionSmallest"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/PositionSmallest.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Prepend"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Prepend.en.md"
  - 
    title: "PrependTo"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/PrependTo.en.md"
  - 
    title: "ReplacePart"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ReplacePart.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Rest"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Rest.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Select"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Select.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SelectFirst"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SelectFirst.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SequenceCases"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SequenceCases.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SequenceCount"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SequenceCount.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SequencePosition"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SequencePosition.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Span"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Span.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SubsetCases"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SubsetCases.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SubsetCount"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SubsetCount.en.md"
  - 
    title: "SubsetPosition"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SubsetPosition.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Take"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.en.md"
  - 
    title: "TakeDrop"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TakeDrop.en.md"
  - 
    title: "TakeList"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TakeList.en.md"
  - 
    title: "TakeWhile"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TakeWhile.en.md"
  - 
    title: "Tally"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Tally.en.md"
  - 
    title: "UpTo"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/UpTo.en.md"
  - 
    title: "VectorQ"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VectorQ.en.md"
related_tutorials: 
  - 
    title: "Manipulating Elements of Lists"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#12464"
  - 
    title: "Adding, Removing, and Modifying List Elements"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#288"
  - 
    title: "Getting Pieces of Lists"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#30946"
  - 
    title: "Testing and Searching List Elements"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#20084"
  - 
    title: "Manipulating Lists by Their Indices"
    link: "https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/ManipulatingLists.en.md#32425"
---
# Elements of Lists

The Wolfram Language provides a carefully chosen set of functions for accessing elements of lists using either indices or positions, or using patterns or criteria for their values.

---

[`list[[...]]`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Part.en.md) ([`Part`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Part.en.md)) — parts of lists, resettable with  =

[`Span`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Span.en.md) ([`;;`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Span.en.md)) — general specification for spans or blocks of elements

---

* [`First`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/First.en.md)
* [`Last`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Last.en.md)
* [`Rest`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Rest.en.md)
* [`Most`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Most.en.md)
* [`Take`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.en.md)
* [`Drop`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Drop.en.md)
* [`TakeDrop`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TakeDrop.en.md)
* [`TakeList`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TakeList.en.md)
* [`TakeWhile`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TakeWhile.en.md)

[`UpTo`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/UpTo.en.md) — a certain number of elements, or as many as are available

---

* [`Append`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Append.en.md)
* [`Prepend`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Prepend.en.md)
* [`Insert`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Insert.en.md)
* [`Delete`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Delete.en.md)
* [`AppendTo`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AppendTo.en.md)
* [`PrependTo`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/PrependTo.en.md)

---

[`Position`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Position.en.md) — find positions of elements matching a pattern

[`PositionSmallest`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/PositionSmallest.en.md), [`PositionLargest`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/PositionLargest.en.md) — find positions of the smallest or largest elements

* [`FirstPosition`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FirstPosition.en.md)
* [`Extract`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Extract.en.md)
* [`ReplacePart`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ReplacePart.en.md)
* [`MapAt`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MapAt.en.md)
* [`ArrayRules`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ArrayRules.en.md)
* [`Ordering`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Ordering.en.md)

---

* [`Length`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Length.en.md)
* [`Dimensions`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Dimensions.en.md)
* [`ArrayDepth`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ArrayDepth.en.md)
* [`LengthWhile`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LengthWhile.en.md)

---

[`Select`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Select.en.md), [`SelectFirst`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SelectFirst.en.md) — select elements that satisfy a criterion

[`Cases`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Cases.en.md), [`FirstCase`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FirstCase.en.md) — give elements that match a pattern

* [`Pick`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pick.en.md)
* [`BinLists`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinLists.en.md)
* [`Count`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Count.en.md)
* [`Gather`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Gather.en.md)
* [`Tally`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Tally.en.md)

* [`DeleteCases`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteCases.en.md)
* [`DeleteElements`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteElements.en.md)
* [`DeleteDuplicates`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteDuplicates.en.md)
* [`DeleteAdjacentDuplicates`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DeleteAdjacentDuplicates.en.md)

[`Nothing`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Nothing.en.md) — an element automatically removed from lists

---

[`MemberQ`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MemberQ.en.md) — test whether an element is a member of a list

* [`FreeQ`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FreeQ.en.md)
* [`ArrayQ`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ArrayQ.en.md)
* [`VectorQ`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VectorQ.en.md)
* [`MatrixQ`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MatrixQ.en.md)

* [`AllTrue`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AllTrue.en.md)
* [`AnyTrue`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnyTrue.en.md)
* [`NoneTrue`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NoneTrue.en.md)

---

* [`Max`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Max.en.md)
* [`Min`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Min.en.md)
* [`MaximalBy`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MaximalBy.en.md)
* [`MinimalBy`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimalBy.en.md)

---

### Finding Sublists

* [`SequencePosition`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SequencePosition.en.md)
* [`SequenceCases`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SequenceCases.en.md)
* [`SequenceCount`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SequenceCount.en.md)

### Finding Subsets

* [`SubsetPosition`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SubsetPosition.en.md)
* [`SubsetCases`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SubsetCases.en.md)
* [`SubsetCount`](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SubsetCount.en.md)

## Tech Notes

* [Manipulating Elements of Lists](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#12464)
* [Adding, Removing, and Modifying List Elements](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#288)
* [Getting Pieces of Lists](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#30946)
* [Testing and Searching List Elements](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/Lists.en.md#20084)
* [Manipulating Lists by Their Indices](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/ManipulatingLists.en.md#32425)

## Related Guides

* [Parts of Matrices](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/PartsOfMatrices.en.md)
* [Parts of Expressions](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/PartsOfExpressions.en.md)
* [Rearranging & Restructuring Lists](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/RearrangingAndRestructuringLists.en.md)
* [Constructing Lists](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/ConstructingLists.en.md)
* [Handling Arrays of Data](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/HandlingArraysOfData.en.md)

## |     |
| --- |
|  Related Links |
| [Demonstrations related to Elements of Lists](http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/search.html?query= ... e+OR+TakeWhile+OR+VectorQ) ([Wolfram Demonstrations Project](http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/)) |