How to convert list to string [duplicate]

Question

How can I convert a list to a string using Python?

str(anything) will convert any python object into its string representation. Similar to the output you get if you do print(anything), but as a string. — ToolmakerSteve, Jan 27, 2016 at 20:17
So one way to make this different than that one is to suggest using json to do it like stackoverflow.com/questions/17796446/…. Using json easily allows the reverse process (string to list) to take place. But the OP really did need to explain themselves. Is it for display only or some other purpose? — demongolem, Oct 2, 2018 at 16:58
Use json.dumps(SOME_LIST) if you want [1,2,3] to become "[1,2,3]". For example, if you wanted to insert the list into a data table column that accepts strings. — MattC, Feb 17 at 22:14

Mateen Ulhaq · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-06 04:07:17Z

1970

Use ''.join:

xs = ['1', '2', '3']
s = ''.join(xs)

If the list contains integers, convert the elements to string before joining them:

xs = [1, 2, 3]
s = ''.join(str(x) for x in xs)

Mateen Ulhaq

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answered Apr 11, 2011 at 8:52

Senthil Kumaran

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58

@SenthilKumaran If the resulting string requires separate items such as when passing a list of files to a process, then "" has to be changed to " " (notice the space between the quotes). Otherwise, you end up with a contiguous string ("123" instead of "1 2 3"). This is OK if that was the intention, but needs to be mentioned in the response.
– Bogdan
May 9, 2016 at 19:43
Just gonna point out that the second form works fine on almost any (single-depth) list.
– The Nate
Aug 29, 2016 at 4:03
6

I was looking for this here and found it elsewhere: If you want to have a newline for every list element (might be useful for long-string lists): print ("\n".join(['I', 'would', 'expect', 'multiple', 'lines']))
– Honeybear
Mar 3, 2018 at 11:55
The question may be a duplicate but the answer here is better than there. :) Plus this pops up as the top result on google unlike the other. (which I've noticed a lot with dupes)
– codehelp4
Sep 19, 2018 at 1:14
5

Agree with @Bogdan. This answer creates a string in which the list elements are joined together with no whitespace or comma in between. You can use ', '.join(list1) to join the elements of the list with comma and whitespace or ' '.join(to) to join with only white space
– RSK
Sep 28, 2018 at 6:32

| Show 2 more comments

Mateen Ulhaq · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-06 04:09:03Z

431

>>> xs = [1, 2, 3]       
>>> " ".join(str(x) for x in xs)
'1 2 3'

Mateen Ulhaq

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answered Apr 11, 2011 at 8:53

Andrey Sboev

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I'd recommend to use: >>> " ".join([str(x) for x in L])
– Alexandre Crivellaro
Feb 13, 2021 at 18:53
1

str(anything) will convert any python object into its string representation. Similar to the output you get if you do print(anything), but as a string.
– red-o-alf
Sep 18, 2022 at 17:30

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Mateen Ulhaq · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-06 04:09:41Z

133

xs = ['L', 'O', 'L']
lol_string = ''.join(map(str, xs))

Mateen Ulhaq

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answered Apr 11, 2011 at 8:56

Nathan

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2

it throw TypeError exception,like this: In [15]: L=['1','2','3'] In [16]: print ''.join(map(str,L)) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TypeError Traceback (most recent call last) <ipython-input-16-f3b8e6cb2622> in <module>() ----> 1 print ''.join(map(str,L)) TypeError: 'str' object is not callable
– wgzhao
Jan 6, 2013 at 11:44
17

Since it wasn't specific in the question... If you want to preserve single string quotes on your list items (for sending a query to SQL, for instance), you can do something like this. x = [1,2,3] y = "'" + "','".join(map(str, x)) + "'"
– tandy
Mar 5, 2015 at 16:29
Anyone who is trying to re-use the string after converting the list to string can you this method: list1 = [1, 2, 3] str1 = ''.join('hello world' + str(e) + 'hello world' for e in list1) Output =========== hello world 1 hello world hello world 2 hello world hello world 3 hello world
– PanDe
May 16, 2019 at 5:19
2

str(anything) will convert any python object into its string representation. Similar to the output you get if you do print(anything), but as a string.
– red-o-alf
Sep 18, 2022 at 17:30

Add a comment |

3 Answers 3