Remove an array element in a foreach loop in PHP

This article demonstrates how to remove an array element in a foreach loop in PHP.

1. Using `unset()` function

You can easily remove an element from an array with the help of the unset() function. The following solution demonstrates its usage by iterating over an associative array using a foreach loop and unsetting the array element that matches the given key.

<?php

$array = array('key1' => 'value1', 'key2' => 'value2', 'key3' => 'value3');

foreach ($array as $key => $value) {

if ($key == 'key2') {

unset($array[$key]);

}

print_r($array);

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Output:

Array
(
[key1] => value1
[key3] => value3
)

Here’s another example demonstrating the usage of the unset() function. It iterates over the array of arrays using a nested foreach loop and removes the array element that matches the given key-value pair.

<?php

$array = array(

array("name"=>"Jason", "age"=>20),

array("name"=>"Ben", "age"=>12),

array("name"=>"Andy", "age"=>15),

);

foreach ($array as $elementKey => $element)

{

foreach ($element as $key => $value)

{

if ($key == "name" && $value == "Ben")

{

unset($array[$elementKey]);

}

print_r($array);

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Output:

Array
(
  [0] => Array
    (
      [name] => Jason
      [age] => 20
    )

  [2] => Array
    (
      [name] => Andy
      [age] => 15
    )
)

2. Using `array_splice()` function

Alternatively, you may use the array_splice() function to remove a specified portion of an array in a foreach loop. For example, the following code removes a specific item from the array of arrays using the array_splice() function.

<?php

$array = array(

array("name"=>"Jason", "age"=>20),

array("name"=>"Ben", "age"=>12),

array("name"=>"Andy", "age"=>15),

);

foreach ($array as $key => $value)

{

if ($value["name"] == "Ben" && $value["age"] == 12) {

array_splice($array, $key, 1);

}

print_r($array);

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Output:

Array
(
  [0] => Array
    (
      [name] => Jason
      [age] => 20
    )

  [2] => Array
    (
      [name] => Andy
      [age] => 15
    )
)

3. Using `array_filter()` function

Before PHP 7, the foreach used the internal array pointer for looping, and this may lead to unexpected behaviour if array keys are removed within a loop. A better solution is to use the array_filter() function, which doesn’t risk non-deterministic behaviour later. The array_filter() function accepts a callback function and conditionally removes array elements that satisfy the predicate, as shown below:

<?php

$array = array('key1' => 'value1', 'key2' => 'value2', 'key3' => 'value3');

$array = array_filter($array, function($value) use($array) {

return $value != $array['key2'];

});

print_r($array);

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Output:

Array
(
[key1] => value1
[key3] => value3
)

Note that the default parameter to the callback is an array value. If you’d rather have the key passed to the callback instead of the value, use the ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY option. Similarly, to have both value and key passed to the callback, you can use the ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH option.

That’s all about removing an array element in a foreach loop in PHP.

Remove an array element in a foreach loop in PHP

1. Using unset() function

2. Using array_splice() function

3. Using array_filter() function

1. Using `unset()` function

2. Using `array_splice()` function

3. Using `array_filter()` function