How can I skip the first row in the dataframe?

[dee]

Hello,

The Excel file first row is header line. If skiprows=0 in the following line, is the header line becomes the first data row in the dataframe?
df_Excel = pd.read_excel(filepath, sheet_name="Sheet1", skiprows=0, dtype=str, engine="openpyxl")

If so, how can I delete the header line from the dataframe later?

I need the header line to merge with another dataframe, so I can't have skiprows=1 in pd.read_excel.

Thanks.
Dee

[Larz60+]

set skiprows=1 to skip header

[Pedroski55]

I don't think you can delete the column names of a pandas dataframe. You can rename them.

Why would you want to delete the header line? You need some way of referring to the columns! Better a meaningful name!

The headers row is not part of the data, just names for the columns.

Your data begins with the second row of your XL file. In the df the second row of the XL is default index row zero, 0.

import pandas as pd

data = '/home/peterr/myPython/pandas/xl_files/mexico.xlsx'

# default behaviour is to use the first row of the XL as headers
df = pd.read_excel(data) # no need to delete the column headers
df = pd.read_excel(data, skiprows=1) # now pandas uses row 2 of the XL as headers
# use custom column names
cols = ['col1', 'col2', 'col3']
df = pd.read_excel(data,  names=cols) # now pandas skips row 1 of the XL and uses cols as column names

To delete rows in a pandas dataframe, look up " pandas delete row"

[noisefloor]

Hello,

if the first row in an Excel file is a header, you actually don't need to do anything. The default for Panda's read_excel function is using header=0 (see documentation), which takes automatically the first row as the header. Whether you use the header or not is up to you, but each columns needs some type of label. skiprows is typically used for explicitly skipping rows of data.

In case you ever have an Excel file with no headers, use header=None, otherwise the first data row is used a a header. To ignore the first row of headers explicitly although it contains headers and start using data with the 2nd row, you may want to try header=None, skiprows=0 as arguments to read_excel.

Regards, noisefloor

[Pedroski55]

A pandas dataframe must have column headers, so we can refer to the columns.

Don't you think it would be better to keep the meaningful headers from the XL, instead of just having numbers as column headers?

If I do this (don't use skiprows=0, or you will get the XL column headers as data):

df = pd.read_excel(data, skiprows=1, header=None) # now the column headers are numbers and we just have the data

I have omitted the XL headers and just have numbers as column headers, but you cannot avoid having column headers:

Output:
        0     1       2
0   93512  Chk1  Mexico
1  681593  Chk2  Mexico
2  331574  Chk3  Mexico
3   89153  Chk4  Mexico

[dee]

Thanks Pedroski55 and noisefloor to confirm that the headers row is not the first row of the data, just names for the columns.