Python Pandas DataFrame fillna to fill NA or NaN values by using input methods

Pandas

fillna(self, value=None, method=None, axis=None, inplace=False, limit=None, downcast=None)

Return the Modified DataFrame ( if inplace=True ).

`value`	Value to be replaced. Can be 0. We can use method to replace NaN data also
`method`	How to use the fill, values are backfill, ffill, pad
`axis`	0 or 1 or Column, the axis to be used for replacement
`inplace`	Boolean , along with method if value is True then original ( source ) dataframe is replaced after applying fillna()
`limit`	Number , along with method this is the maximum number of replacements allowed.
`downcast`	what to downcast if possible

Examples using options

We will fill all the NaN and None values with D. Here is the code.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np 
my_dict={'NAME':['Ravi','Raju','Alex',None,'King',None],
         'ID':[1,2,np.NaN,4,5,6],
         'MATH':[80,40,70,70,82,30],
         'ENGLISH':[81,70,40,50,np.NaN,30]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data=my_dict)
print(df) # output without replacing 
df=df.fillna('D') # output after replacing
print(df)

Output is here , both outputs are given for better comparison.

print(df) df=df.fillna('D')
print(df)

   NAME   ID  MATH  ENGLISH
0  Ravi  1.0    80     81.0
1  Raju  2.0    40     70.0
2  Alex  NaN    70     40.0
3  None  4.0    70     50.0
4  King  5.0    82      NaN
5  None  6.0    30     30.0

   NAME ID  MATH ENGLISH
0  Ravi  1    80      81
1  Raju  2    40      70
2  Alex  D    70      40
3     D  4    70      50
4  King  5    82       D
5     D  6    30      30

method

We will use method option to tell how to fill the NaN data. We will use different available values method='backfill' , method='ffill', method='pad'
Each column we will apply different methods to replace the data. Check this code and output below it.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np 
my_dict={'NAME':['Ravi','Raju','Alex',None,'King',None],
         'ID':[1,2,np.NaN,4,5,6],
         'MATH':[np.NaN,80,70,70,82,30],
         'ENGLISH':[81,70,40,50,np.NaN,30]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data=my_dict)
print(df)
df['ENGLISH']=df['ENGLISH'].fillna(method='backfill')
df['NAME']=df['NAME'].fillna(method='bfill')
df['MATH']=df['MATH'].fillna(method='pad')
df['ID']=df['ID'].fillna(method='ffill')
print(df)

For ENGLISH column we have used method='backfill', so the value at row 5 ( value = 30 ) is used at row 4 to replace NaN value.
For NAME column we have used method='bfill' value at 4^th row is used to fill value at 3^rd row.
For ID column we have used method='ffill' , here value at 1st row is used to fill value at 2nd row.

Note that the last value of NAME column and first value of MATH column is not replaced. ( Why ? )

For MATH column we have used method='pad' , it is same as ffill and as there is no value before it and for NAME column this the last row and there is no data after 5th row ( we used bfill ) , these two data are not changed.

axis

Using axis=1 we can fill the data in row. We will use method='backfill'

my_dict={'NAME':['Ravi','Raju','Alex',None,'King',None],
         'ID':[1,2,np.NaN,4,5,6],
         'MATH':[np.NaN,80,70,70,82,30],
         'ENGLISH':[81,70,40,50,np.NaN,30]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data=my_dict)
df=df.fillna(method='backfill',axis=1)
print(df)

Output

   NAME  ID MATH ENGLISH
0  Ravi   1   81      81
1  Raju   2   80      70
2  Alex  70   70      40
3     4   4   70      50
4  King   5   82     NaN
5     6   6   30      30

limit

Along with method, limit is the maximum number of NaN values are to be replaced. Let us check the code below. As we used axis=0 so in each column only 1 ( limit=1 ) value is replaced.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np 
my_dict={'NAME':['Ravi','Raju',None,None,'King',None],
         'ID':[1,np.NaN,np.NaN,4,5,6],
         'MATH':[np.NaN,80,70,70,82,30],
         'ENGLISH':[81,70,40,np.NaN,np.NaN,30]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data=my_dict)
df=df.fillna(method='bfill',axis=0,limit=1)
print(df)

Output is here ( note that only one data is replaced in each column ) , the data which are not replaced are highlighted.

   NAME   ID  MATH  ENGLISH
0  Ravi  1.0  80.0     81.0
1  Raju  NaN  80.0     70.0
2  None  4.0  70.0     40.0
3  King  4.0  70.0      NaN
4  King  5.0  82.0     30.0
5  None  6.0  30.0     30.0

inplace

By default the value is False. By using inplace=True , the original DataFrame ( source ) is changed. If inplace=False then the original DataFrame is retained.

df = pd.DataFrame(data=my_dict)
df.fillna('D',inplace=True)
print(df)

Output

   NAME ID  MATH ENGLISH
0  Ravi  1    80      81
1  Raju  2    40      70
2  Alex  D    70      40
3     D  4    70      50
4  King  5    82       D
5     D  6    30      30

Counting and identifying NaN values

We can count and display records with NaN by using isnull()
isnull()

Removing rows or columns by using dropna()

Rows or columns can be removed by using dropna()
dropna()

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Pandas DataFrame fillna()