string erase in C++ (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 26 May, 2026

The string::erase() function in C++ is a built-in function of the string class that is used to remove characters from a string. It can erase a single character, multiple characters, a range of characters, or even clear the entire string.

• Used to delete characters from a string.
• Supports deletion using index positions and iterators.
• Modifies the original string directly. C++ `

#include #include using namespace std;

int main() { string str = "Hello, World!";

// Erase a single character sterting
// from index 5
str.erase(5, 1);

cout << str;
return 0;

}

`

Syntax

The string erase() function provides 5 different overloads for different purposes:

// Erases whole string
s.erase();

// Erases all characters after idx
s.erase(idx);

// Erases k characters after idx
s.erase(idx, k);

// Erases character at itr
s.erase(itr);

// Erases characters in range [first, last)
s.erase(first, last);

Types of string erase() Operations

Erase Single Character from Given Position

string erase() function can be used for erasing a single character from the specific position in the string.

**Syntax:

s.erase(itr);

**Parameters

• **itr: Iterator to the character you want to erase (note that it is an iterator, not index)

**Return Value

• Returns the character now at the position of the removed character.
• If no such character is remaining, returns iterator to the string::end() C++ `

#include #include using namespace std;

int main() { string s("Hello World!");

// Deletes character at position 4
s.erase(s.begin() + 4);

cout << s;
return 0;

}

`

Erase Range of Characters

We can also erase a range of characters from the string using string erase() function.

**Syntax:

s.erase(first, last);

**Parameters

• **first: Iterator to the first element in the range.
• **last: Iterator to one element after the last element in the range.

**Return Value

• Returns the character now at the position of the first removed character.
• If no such character is remaining, returns iterator to the string::end() C++ `

#include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std;

int main() { string s("Hello World!");

// Define the range as the word "Hello "
auto first = s.begin();
auto last = s.begin() + 6;

// Remove the range [first, last)
s.erase(first, last);

cout << s;
return 0;

}

`

Erase k Characters After Given Position

The below version erases all the characters after the given index, but we can also limit the number of characters to be deleted using string::erase.

**Syntax:

s.erase(idx, k);

**Parameters

• **idx: The position (index) at which character deletion begins.
• **k: Number of characters to be erased (including character at **idx).

**Return Value

• This version returns the current string. C++ `

#include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std;

int main() { string s("Hello World!");

// Deletes 5 characters starting from index number 0
s.erase(0, 5);

cout << s;
return 0;

}

`

Erase All Characters After Given Position

string erase() function can also be instructed to erase the characters after some given position.

**Syntax:

s.erase(idx);

**Parameters

• **idx: The position (index) at which character deletion begins.

**Return Value

• This version returns the current string. C++ `

#include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std;

int main() { string s("Hello World!");

// Deletes the word " World!"
s.erase(5);

cout << s;
return 0;

}

`

Erase All Characters

The string erase() function is able to delete all the characters of the string effectively clearing it. The length of the string will be reduced to 0.

**Syntax:

s.erase();

**Parameter

• This version takes no parameters.

**Return Value

• This version returns the current string. C++ `

#include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std;

int main() { string s("Hello World!");

// Erasing string using string::erase()
s.erase();

cout << s;
return 0;

}

`

**Output

_(no output)

string erase() vs string clear()

The string clear() is a function used to erase the contents of the string, but it is a lot different from string erase(). Below is the table that lists the major differences between string erase() and string clear().