PHP ltrim() Function

The ltrim() function removes whitespace or other predefined characters from the left side of a string.

Related functions:

  • rtrim() - Removes whitespace or other predefined characters from the right side of a string
  • trim() - Removes whitespace or other predefined characters from both sides of a string
string ltrim ( string $str [, string $character_mask ] )

Strip whitespace (or other characters) from the beginning of a string.

Example -

The above example will output : -

string(32) "        These are a few words :) ...  "
string(16) "    Example string
"
string(11) "Hello World"

string(30) "These are a few words :) ...  "
string(30) "These are a few words :) ...  "
string(7) "o World"
string(15) "Example string
"

ParameterDescription
strRequired. Specifies the string to check
character_maskYou can also specify the characters you want to strip, by means of the character_mask parameter. Simply list all characters that you want to be stripped. With .. you can specify a range of characters.

Return Values

This function returns a string with whitespace stripped from the beginning of str. Without the second parameter, ltrim() will strip these characters:

  • " " (ASCII 32 (0x20)), an ordinary space.
  • "\t" (ASCII 9 (0x09)), a tab.
  • "\n" (ASCII 10 (0x0A)), a new line (line feed).
  • "\r" (ASCII 13 (0x0D)), a carriage return.
  • "\0" (ASCII 0 (0x00)), the NUL-byte.
  • "\x0B" (ASCII 11 (0x0B)), a vertical tab.