CODEWITHSUNDEEP
python-3.xpandasindexing
DanONS
DanONS

Reputation: 215

How do I set an unnamed column as the index?

In all the examples I have found, a column name is usually required to set it as the index

Instead of going into excel to add a column header, I was wondering if it's possible to set an empty header as the index. The column has all the values I want included, but lacks a column name:

enter image description here

My script is currently:

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv('file.csv')
data

Upvotes: 11

Views: 15919

Answers (4)

Kirti Nikam
Kirti Nikam

Reputation: 2206

You can do as follows:

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv('file.csv',index_col=0)
data

Upvotes: 3

Kyle
Kyle

Reputation: 2894

You could also just select the column by id with iloc:

data = data.set_index(data.iloc[:, 0])

Or when you call pd.read_csv(), specify index_col:

data = pd.read_csv('path.csv', index_col=0)

Upvotes: 16

whateveros
whateveros

Reputation: 61

When I have encountered columns missing names, Pandas always name them 'Unnamed: n', where n = ColumnNumber-1. ie 'Unnamed: 0' for first column, 'Unnamed: 1' for second etc. So I think that in your case the following code should be useful:

# set your column as the dataframe index
data.index = data['Unnamed: 0']
# now delete the column
data.drop('Unnamed: 0', axis=1, inplace=True)
# also delete the index name which was 'Unnamed: 0' obviously
del data.index.name

Upvotes: 0

StefanK
StefanK

Reputation: 2180

You don't need to rename the first column in excel. It's as easy in pandas as well:

new_columns = data.columns.values
new_columns[0] = 'Month'
data.columns = new_columns

Afterwards, you can set the index:

data = data.set_index('Month')

Upvotes: 7

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