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Remove lines starting with a number

Delete every line whose first character is a digit.

Input
Output

Remove lines starting with a number

Paste a list of lines and this tool deletes every line whose first non-space character is a digit (0-9), keeping everything else untouched. It is a quick way to clean up log files where numbered entries need to go, strip stray index lines from an export, or drop measurement rows from a text dump while keeping the surrounding notes.

The check looks at the first character after any leading spaces or tabs, so "42 items shipped" and " 7. Next step" both count as starting with a number and get removed, while a line like "Room 42" or "Step seven" is left alone because the first character is a letter. Lines that are already empty are treated as not starting with a number and are kept as-is, so blank spacing in your list survives the cleanup.

Turn on "Keep only lines starting with a number" to flip the logic entirely — instead of deleting numbered lines, the tool discards everything else and keeps only the lines that start with a digit. That is useful when you want the opposite result: pulling out just the numbered entries from a mixed list, for example to isolate line-numbered output or a numbered outline from surrounding prose.

Everything runs locally in your browser using a simple regular expression — nothing is uploaded, logged or sent to a server, so it is safe to use on internal logs, export files or any text you would rather not paste into a third-party service. The live tally under the output shows how many lines came in, how many remain and how many were removed, and the result is ready to copy, download as a .txt file, or send straight into another tool.

FAQ

What counts as a line "starting with a number"?
A line whose first character, after skipping any leading spaces or tabs, is a digit from 0 to 9. "3 apples" and " 10. Step" both qualify; "Room 3" does not, because the line starts with a letter.
Can I keep the numbered lines instead of removing them?
Yes. Turn on "Keep only lines starting with a number" and the tool discards every other line, keeping only the ones that start with a digit.
What happens to empty lines?
An empty line has no first character, so it is treated as not starting with a number and stays in the output by default.
Does it understand negative numbers or decimals like "-5" or "3.14"?
It only checks the very first character. Since the digit comes first in "3.14" that line is treated as starting with a number, but "-5" starts with a minus sign, so it is left in place unless the character right after the space is itself a digit.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. The filtering runs entirely in your browser using a regular expression — your text never leaves your device.