Prev |  | Next

## 11.6. Remove

Removing properties and labels from graph elements is done using `REMOVE`.

For deleting nodes and relationships, see Section 11.5, “Delete”.

| Note
Removing labels from a node is an idempotent operation: If you try to remove a label from a node that does not have that label on it, nothing happens. The query statistics will tell you if something needed to be done or not.

The examples start out with the following database:

### 11.6.1. Remove a property

Neo4j doesn’t allow storing `null` in properties. Instead, if no value exists, the property is just not there. So, to remove a property value on a node or a relationship, is also done with `REMOVE`.

Query.

    MATCH (andres { name: 'Andres' })
    REMOVE andres.age
    RETURN andres

The node is returned, and no property `age` exists on it.

Result

andres
1 row
Properties set: 1
`Node[2]{name:"Andres"}`

### 11.6.2. Remove a label from a node

To remove labels, you use `REMOVE`.

Query.

    MATCH (n { name: 'Peter' })
    REMOVE n:German
    RETURN n

Result

n
1 row
Labels removed: 1
`Node[1]{name:"Peter",age:34}`

### 11.6.3. Removing multiple labels

To remove multiple labels, you use `REMOVE`.

Query.

    MATCH (n { name: 'Peter' })
    REMOVE n:German:Swedish
    RETURN n

Result

n
1 row
Labels removed: 2
`Node[1]{name:"Peter",age:34}`

Copyright © 2014 Neo Technology

Prev | Up | Next
| Home |