How to remove all numbers from string?

Question

I'd like to remove all numbers from a string [0-9]. I wrote this code that is working:

$words = preg_replace('/0/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/1/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/2/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/3/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/4/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/5/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/6/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/7/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/8/', '', $words ); // remove numbers
$words = preg_replace('/9/', '', $words ); // remove numbers

I'd like to find a more elegant solution: 1 line code (IMO write nice code is important).

The other code I found in stackoverflow also remove the Diacritics (á,ñ,ž...).

* See also [Open source RegexBuddy alternatives](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/89718/is-there) and [Online regex testing](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/32282/regex-testing) for some helpful tools, or [RegExp.info](http://regular-expressions.info/) for a nicer tutorial. — mario, Jan 09 '13 at 13:24

dan-lee · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-09T16:01:40.853

182

For Western Arabic numbers (0-9):

$words = preg_replace('/[0-9]+/', '', $words);

For all numerals including Western Arabic (e.g. Indian):

$words = '१३३७';
$words = preg_replace('/\d+/u', '', $words);
var_dump($words); // string(0) ""

\d+ matches multiple numerals.
The modifier /u enables unicode string treatment. This modifier is important, otherwise the numerals would not match.

edited Feb 09 '16 at 16:01

answered Jan 09 '13 at 13:22

dan-lee

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score 57 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 09 '13 at 13:22

57

Try with regex \d:

$words = preg_replace('/\d/', '', $words );

\d is an equivalent for [0-9] which is an equivalent for numbers range from 0 to 9.

answered Jan 09 '13 at 13:22

hsz

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This is smarter and shorter than the accepted solution, no? – kasimir Jun 25 '14 at 07:11
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What you need to know is that \d is all numbers in UTF-8 not only 0123456789 but also that in other languages. – PhoneixS Sep 23 '14 at 08:07

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 14 '23 at 16:49

7

Use Predefined Character Ranges also known as Character Classes:

echo $words= preg_replace('/[[:digit:]]/','', $words);

edited Apr 14 '23 at 16:49

brasofilo

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answered Aug 12 '16 at 06:00

Naveen DA

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I know I can google it anyhow it would be nice to have in the answer what are PCRs... Does this catch the Western Arabic chars mentioned in other answer? – brasofilo Apr 14 '23 at 03:11
1

You can use the PCR [:nd:] instead of [:digit:] – Naveen DA Apr 14 '23 at 06:02

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 09 '13 at 13:23

6

Use some regex like [0-9] or \d:

$words = preg_replace('/\d+/', '', $words );

You might want to read the preg_replace() documentation as this is directly shown there.

answered Jan 09 '13 at 13:23

Veger

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`+` after `\d` is exessive. It's obvious that zero digits cannot be replaced – vladkras May 30 '16 at 07:53

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 19 '21 at 22:53

-1

Alternatively, you can do this:

$words = trim($words, " 1..9");

answered Jul 19 '21 at 22:53

Bohdan Pukhovskyi

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What? Trim only works on the beginning and the end of a string. It would not cover cases like `hello12 world`. – Eduard Feb 25 '22 at 21:48
I agree this unexplained answer is not reliable if a number exists in between two non-numbers. – mickmackusa Nov 11 '22 at 03:50

score -2 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 16 '15 at 09:46

-2

Regex

   $words = preg_replace('#[0-9 ]*#', '', $words);

answered Apr 16 '15 at 09:46

Dimpal Gohil

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This answer removed numbers and spaces, but the asker does not want that behavior and never asked for it. – mickmackusa Nov 11 '22 at 03:49

How to remove all numbers from string?

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