Delete Node by Position (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 29 Aug, 2025

Given the **head of a singly linked list and a position (1-based index), delete the node at that position and return the updated head of the linked list.

**Note: Position will be valid (i.e, 1 <= position <= linked list length)

**Example:

**Input: position = 1

**Output: 2-> 3 -> 1-> 7 -> nullptr
**Explanation: After deleting the node at the 1st position (1-base indexing), the linked list is as

**Input: position = 5

**Output: 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5 -> nullptr
**Explanation: After deleting the node at 5th position (1-based indexing), the linked list is as

Try It Yourself

[Approach] Single Traversal Deletion - O(n) Time and O(1) Space

Deletion at a specified position in a linked list involves removing a node from a specific index/position, which can be the first, middle, or last node.

To perform the deletion, If the position is 1, we update the **head to point to the **next node and delete the current head. For other positions, we traverse the list to reach the node just before the specified **position. If the target node exists, we adjust the next of this previous node to point to next of **next nodes, which will result in skipping the target node.

C++ `

#include using namespace std;

class Node { public: int data; Node* next;

Node(int data) {
    this->data = data;
    this->next = nullptr;
}

};

Node* deleteNode(Node* head, int position) { Node* temp = head;

// Head is to be deleted
if (position == 1) {
    head = temp->next;
    delete temp;
    return head;
}

// Traverse to the node 
// before the one to be deleted
Node* prev = nullptr;
for (int i = 1; i < position; i++) {
    prev = temp;
    temp = temp->next;
}

// Delete the node at the position
prev->next = temp->next;
delete temp;

return head;

}

void printList(Node* head) { while (head != nullptr) { cout << head->data << " -> "; head = head->next; } cout << "nullptr" << endl; }

int main() { Node* head = new Node(1); head->next = new Node(2); head->next->next = new Node(3); head->next->next->next = new Node(4);

int position = 3;
head = deleteNode(head, position);

printList(head);

return 0;

}

Java

class GfG {

static class Node {
    int data;
    Node next;

    Node(int data) {
        this.data = data;
        this.next = null;
    }
}

static Node deleteNode(Node head, int position) {
    Node temp = head;

    // Head is to be deleted
    if (position == 1) {
        head = temp.next;
        return head;
    }

    // Traverse to the node before 
    // the one to be deleted
    Node prev = null;
    for (int i = 1; i < position; i++) {
        prev = temp;
        temp = temp.next;
    }

    // Delete the node at the position
    prev.next = temp.next;

    return head;
}

static void printList(Node head) {
    while (head != null) {
        System.out.print(head.data + " -> ");
        head = head.next;
    }
    System.out.println("nullptr");
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Node head = new Node(1);
    head.next = new Node(2);
    head.next.next = new Node(3);
    head.next.next.next = new Node(4);

    int position = 3;
    head = deleteNode(head, position);

    printList(head);
}

}

Python

class Node: def init(self, data): self.data = data self.next = None

def deleteNode(head, position): temp = head

# Head is to be deleted
if position == 1:
    head = temp.next
    return head

# Traverse to the node before 
# the one to be deleted
prev = None
for i in range(1, position):
    prev = temp
    temp = temp.next

# Delete the node at the position
prev.next = temp.next
return head

def printList(head): while head is not None: print(f"{head.data} -> ", end="") head = head.next print("nullptr")

if name == "main": head = Node(1) head.next = Node(2) head.next.next = Node(3) head.next.next.next = Node(4)

position = 3
head = deleteNode(head, position)

printList(head)

C#

using System;

class Node{ public int data; public Node next;

public Node(int data){
    this.data = data;
    this.next = null;
}

}

class GfG { static Node deleteNode(Node head, int position){ Node temp = head;

    // Head is to be deleted
    if (position == 1){
        head = temp.next;
        return head;
    }

    // Traverse to the node before
    // the one to be deleted
    Node prev = null;
    for (int i = 1; i < position; i++)
    {
        prev = temp;
        temp = temp.next;
    }

    // Delete the node at the position
    prev.next = temp.next;

    return head;
}

static void PrintList(Node head){
    while (head != null){
        Console.Write(head.data + " -> ");
        head = head.next;
    }
    Console.WriteLine("nullptr");
}

static void Main(){
    Node head = new Node(1);
    head.next = new Node(2);
    head.next.next = new Node(3);
    head.next.next.next = new Node(4);

    int position = 3;
    head = deleteNode(head, position);

    PrintList(head);
}

}

JavaScript

class Node { constructor(data) { this.data = data; this.next = null; } }

function deleteNode(head, position) { let temp = head;

// Head is to be deleted
if (position === 1) {
    head = temp.next;
    return head;
}

// Traverse to the node before the one to be deleted
let prev = null;
for (let i = 1; i < position; i++) {
    prev = temp;
    temp = temp.next;
}

// Delete the node at the position
prev.next = temp.next;

return head;

}

function printList(head) { let curr = head; while (curr !== null) { process.stdout.write(curr.data + " -> "); curr = curr.next; } console.log("nullptr"); }

// Driver Code

let head = new Node(1); head.next = new Node(2); head.next.next = new Node(3); head.next.next.next = new Node(4);

let position = 3; head = deleteNode(head, position);

printList(head);

`

Output

1 -> 2 -> 4 -> nullptr