The Array method shift() in Apps Script

The Array method shift() removes the first element from an array and returns it.

Syntax

array.shift()

Parameters

Not applicable.

Return value

The shift() method returns the first element from an array. If the array is empty, the shift() method returns null.

Example

The code below uses the shift() array method to remove elements from the beginning of the array colors.

var colors = ["red", "blue"];
Logger.log(colors);
Logger.log(colors.length);
var color1 = colors.shift();
Logger.log(color1);
Logger.log(colors);
Logger.log(colors.length);
var color2 = colors.shift();
Logger.log(color2);
Logger.log(colors);
Logger.log(colors.length);
var color3 = colors.shift();
Logger.log(color3);
Logger.log(colors);
Logger.log(colors.length);

Output

[red, blue]

2.0

red

[blue]

1.0

blue

[]

0.0

null

[]

0.0

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to use the shift() array method to remove elements from the beginning of an array.