How to Set Column As Index in Python

In this article, you will learn how to set a column as an index in Python.

Let’s say you have a DataFrame of food.

# Import pandas module
import pandas as pd

# Create DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame({"Name": ['Pizza', 'Burger', 'Waffle'],
                   "Price ($)": [10, 5, 6],
                   "Availability": [True, False, True],
                   "Delivery": [True, True, True],
                   "Pickup": [True, True, False]})

Set Column As Index in Python

In order to set a column as an index, you can use the DataFrame.set_index() method.

# Import pandas module
import pandas as pd

# Create DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame({"Name": ['Pizza', 'Burger', 'Waffle'],
                   "Price ($)": [10, 5, 6],
                   "Availability": [True, False, True],
                   "Delivery": [True, True, True],
                   "Pickup": [True, True, False]})

 
# Set column "Name" as index column
df.set_index("Name", inplace = True)
 
# Display DataFrame
print(df)

Note: The DataFrame.set_index() method functions by setting the supplied column name as index column. The inplace parameter functions by making the changes if the supplied column name exists in DataFrame.