Remove

In this lesson, you’ll learn two key operations for managing Bash arrays:

1. Removing a specific element by its index
2. Clearing all elements in one command

Removing a Specific Element by Index

To delete a single entry in a Bash array, use unset with the array name and the target index:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
declare -a servers=("server1" "server2" "server3")
unset 'servers[1]'
echo "Remaining elements: ${servers[@]}"

Running this script produces:

$ ./removing.sh
server1 server3

To view both values and their indices after deletion:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
declare -a servers=("server1" "server2" "server3")
unset 'servers[1]'
echo "Values : ${servers[@]}"
echo "Indices: ${!servers[@]}"

$ ./removing_indices.sh
Values : server1 server3
Indices: 0 2

Clearing All Elements

If you need to empty an array completely, omit the brackets when using unset:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
declare -a servers=("server1" "server2" "server3")
unset servers
echo "After clearing: ${servers[@]}"

$ ./removing_all.sh

No output appears because the array has been removed.

Summary of Removal Operations

Links and References

• Bash Array Basics
• Shell Parameter Expansion
• Bash Scripting Guide