content/snippets/python/s/trim-whitespace.md
---
title: How do I trim whitespace from a string in Python?
shortTitle: Trim whitespace
type: question
language: python
tags: [string]
cover: organizer
excerpt: Oftentimes you might need to trim whitespace from a string in Python. Learn of three different way to do this in this short guide.
listed: false
dateModified: 2021-12-13
---
When working with Python strings, a pretty common question is how to trim whitespace from a string. Whitespace characters are the space (` `), tab (`\t`), newline (`\n`), and carriage return characters (`\r`). Here are 3 different methods to trim whitespace from a string in Python.
## Remove leading and trailing whitespace characters
Use the `str.strip()` method to remove whitespace characters from both the beginning and end of a string.
```py
' Hello '.strip() # 'Hello'
```
## Remove leading whitespace characters
Leading whitespace characters are the whitespace characters at the start of a string. To remove them, use the `str.lstrip()` method.
```py
' Hello '.lstrip() # 'Hello '
```
## Remove trailing whitespace characters
Trailing whitespace characters are the whitespace characters at the end of a string. To remove them, use the `str.rstrip()` method.
```py
' Hello '.rstrip() # ' Hello'
```