How do I remove multiple elements from a list in Java?

A List extends a collection that is used to store elements in a sequential manner. Let's learn how to remove multiple elements from a list in Java. The following are a few ways to do that:

• Using a for Loop
• Using removeAll() Method
• Using Stream API

Using a For Loop

To remove multiple elements from a list using a for loop. We will iterate through the list and check if each element is in the list of elements to be removed. If it is, we will remove it from the original list.

Example

Following is an example of removing multiple elements from a list using a for loop:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class RemoveMultipleElements {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<>();
      list.add(1);
      list.add(2);
      list.add(3);
      list.add(4);
      list.add(5);
      System.out.println("Original List: " + list);
      List<Integer> elementsToRemove = new ArrayList<>();
      elementsToRemove.add(2);
      elementsToRemove.add(4);

      for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
         if (elementsToRemove.contains(list.get(i))) {
            list.remove(i);
            i--;
         }
      }

      System.out.println("List after removal: " + list);
   }
}

Output

Following is the output of the above code:

Original List: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
List after removal: [1, 3, 5]

Using removeAll() Method

The removeAll() method is a built-in method of the List interface in Java. It is used to remove all elements from a list to another collection. The filter() method is used to eliminate elements based on a criterion.

Example

In the below example, we will create a list of integers and then use the removeAll() method to remove multiple elements from that list.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class RemoveMultipleElements {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<>();
      list.add(1);
      list.add(2);
      list.add(3);
      list.add(4);
      list.add(5);
      System.out.println("Original List: " + list);
      List<Integer> elementsToRemove = new ArrayList<>();
      elementsToRemove.add(2);
      elementsToRemove.add(4);

      list.removeAll(elementsToRemove);

      System.out.println("List after removal: " + list);
   }
}

Output

Following is the output of the above code:

Original List: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
List after removal: [1, 3, 5]

Using Stream API

Now, let's use the Stream API to remove multiple elements from a list. The filter() method will filter out the elements that we want to keep and then collect the results into a new list.

Example

Following is an example of removing multiple elements from a list using the Stream API:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
public class RemoveMultipleElements {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<>();
      list.add(12);
      list.add(42);
      list.add(34);
      list.add(41);
      list.add(25);
      System.out.println("Original List: " + list);
      List<Integer> elementsToRemove = new ArrayList<>();
      elementsToRemove.add(25);
      elementsToRemove.add(41);

      List<Integer> filteredList = list.stream()
         .filter(e -> !elementsToRemove.contains(e))
         .collect(Collectors.toList());

      System.out.println("List after removal: " + filteredList);
   }
}   

Output

Following is the output of the above code:

Original List: [12, 42, 34, 41, 25]
List after removal: [12, 42, 34]