Last Updated : 11 Jul, 2025
The Python pop() method removes and returns the value of a specified key from a dictionary. If the key isn't found, you can provide a default value to return instead of raising an error. Example:
Python
d = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}
v = d.pop('b')
print(v)
v = d.pop('d', 'Not Found')
print(v)
Explanation:
dict.pop(key, default)
Parameters:
Returns:
Example 1: In this example, we remove the key from the dictionary using pop(). Since the key exists, it will be removed and its value will be returned.
Python
d = {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 25}
val = d.pop('age')
print(val)
print(d)
25 {'name': 'Alice'}
Explanation:
Example 2: In this example, we try to remove the key 'country' from the dictionary using pop(). Since the key does not exist and no default value is provided, Python will raise a KeyError.
Python
d = {'city': 'Delhi'}
val = d.pop('country')
Output
Hangup (SIGHUP)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/guest/sandbox/Solution.py", line 2, in <module>
val = d.pop('country')
KeyError: 'country'
Explanation: pop('country') tries to remove key 'country', but it doesn't exist in the dictionary, so it raises a KeyError.
Example 3: In this example, we repeatedly remove the first key-value pair from the dictionary using pop(). We use a while loop that continues until the dictionary is empty.
Python
d = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}
while d:
key = list(d.keys())[0]
val = d.pop(key)
print(f"Removed {key}: {val}")
Removed a: 1 Removed b: 2 Removed c: 3
Explanation: while loop repeatedly removes and prints the first key-value pair from the dictionary using pop() until the dictionary is empty.
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