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LinkedList removeFirst() Method in Java

Last Updated : 11 Jul, 2025
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In Java, the removeFirst() method of the LinkedList class is used to remove and return the first element of the list.

Example 1: Here, we use the removeFirst() method to remove the first element (head) of the LinkedList of Integers.

Java
// Java Program to demonstrate the 
// use of removeFirst() in LinkedList
import java.util.LinkedList;

class Geeks {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
      
        // Creating an empty list
        LinkedList<Integer> l = new LinkedList<>();

        // use add() to add 
        // elements in the list
        l.add(100);
        l.add(200);
        l.add(300);
        l.add(400);

        System.out.println("" + l);
      
            // Removing the First element 
            // form the list
            System.out.println("Removed First element: " + l.removeFirst());

        System.out.println("" + l);
    }
}

Output
[100, 200, 300, 400]
Removed First element: 100
[200, 300, 400]

Syntax of LinkedList remove() Method

public E removeFirst()

  • Return Type: The method returns the first element (head) that is removed from the list.
  • Exception: If the list is empty, calling removeFirst() will throw a NoSuchElementException.

Example 2: Here, the removeFirst() is going to throw an NoSuchElementException if the list is empty.

Java
// Handling NoSuchElementException with removeFirst()
import java.util.LinkedList;
class Geeks {
  
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // Here we are trying to remove 
        // first element from an empty list
        try {
            LinkedList<String> l = new LinkedList<>();
           
            l.removeFirst();
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Exception caught: " + e);
        }
    }
}

Output
Exception caught: java.util.NoSuchElementException

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