Last Updated : 17 Mar 2025

The array_shift() function is an inbuilt function of PHP. The array_shift( ) function is used to remove the first element from an array, and returns the value of the removed element. This function was introduced in PHP 4.0.

Syntax

Parameter

Return type

The array_shift( ) function returns the value of the removed element from an array. If the array is empty, it will return NULL.

Important note: If the keys are numeric, all elements will get new keys, starting from 0 and increases by 1.

Example 1

Output:

testArray
(
    [0] => one day
    [1] => t20
)

Example 2

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => math
    [1] =>english
    [2] =>hindi
)
Science

Example 3

Output:

200Array
(
    [sehwag] => 400
    [ganguly] => 500
    [yuvraj] => 100
)

Example 4

Output:

TCSArray
(
    [0] => Infosys
    [1] =>Mindtree
)