Python provides a variety of built-in list methods that allow you to manipulate, modify, search, and organize your lists with ease.

These methods make list handling powerful and efficient.

Python List Method Summary

Here's a table of the most commonly used list methods:

Examples of List Methods

1. append()

Adds an item to the end of the list.

fruits = ["apple", "banana"]
fruits.append("cherry")
print(fruits)

Output:

['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']

2. extend()

Adds elements from another list or iterable.

a = [1, 2]
b = [3, 4]
a.extend(b)
print(a)

Output

[1, 2, 3, 4]

3. insert()

Inserts an item at a given index.

fruits = ["apple", "banana"]
fruits.insert(1, "orange")
print(fruits)

Output:

['apple', 'orange', 'banana']

4. remove()

Removes the first occurrence of a value.

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "apple"]
fruits.remove("apple")
print(fruits)

Output:

['banana', 'apple']

5. pop()

Removes and returns the item at the given index (or last item if index is not provided).

numbers = [1, 2, 3]
removed = numbers.pop()
print(removed)
print(numbers)

Output:

3
[1, 2]

6. clear()

Removes all elements from the list.

items = [1, 2, 3]
items.clear()
print(items)

Output:

[]

7. index()

Returns the index of the first matching element.

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(fruits.index("banana"))

Output:

1

8. count()

Counts how many times an element appears.

numbers = [1, 2, 2, 3]
print(numbers.count(2))

Output:

2

9. sort()

Sorts the list in ascending order.

numbers = [4, 2, 1, 3]
numbers.sort()
print(numbers)

Output:

[1, 2, 3, 4]

10. reverse()

Reverses the order of elements.

items = [1, 2, 3]
items.reverse()
print(items)

Output:

[3, 2, 1]

11. copy()

Returns a copy of the list.

original = ["a", "b", "c"]
copied = original.copy()
print(copied)

Output:

['a', 'b', 'c']

Tips

• Mutable: Lists can be changed after creation.
• Chaining: Avoid chaining append() or sort() with assignment (list = list.append(...)) — these return None.