How to Remove the Last Character from a String in PHP

You may need to cut the last character from a string if it shows by mistake in PHP.

That may be a comma or a period. Also, it can be a slash in a URL. That mistake can ruin the result.

Sometimes the data comes from a loop or a user. Or even an API, and it adds one extra mark that you do not want.

This fix keeps your output clean and avoids problems in layout or file paths.

Here are the common cases:

• Remove a trailing comma after the loop through a list
• Fix slashes in folder paths
• Trim a character before sending text to a database
• Clean up user input before display

These are small changes that can fix bigger issues in logic.

Use substr() to Remove the Last Character from a String in PHP

You can use substr() to return part of a string. It lets you set where to start and how long to keep.

Here is the syntax:

substr($string, 0, -1);

For example:

$name = "David#";
$clean = substr($name, 0, -1);
echo $clean;

This removes the last character (#) and returns David. It takes all characters from the start to the second-to-last one.

Let’s move on to the following section to see how to achieve the same result with another built-in function in PHP.

Remove the Specific Trailing Characters from a String in PHP with rtrim()

You can also use rtrim() when you want to remove a certain character, not just any last one. It removes a set of characters from the end.

Here is the syntax

rtrim($string, "characters_to_remove");

For example:

$url = "example.com/";
$cleanUrl = rtrim($url, "/");
echo $cleanUrl;

This removes the slash only if it is at the end. It keeps the rest of the string.

You just saw how to clean up targeted characters. In the following part, you will learn how to handle special characters using mb_substr().

Remove the Last Character from a String in PHP with mb_substr() for Multibyte-Safe Character

The mb_substr() works like substr() but supports multibyte characters like emojis and non-English letters. It doesn’t cut a character in half.

It helps you when you work with UTF-8 strings or input from different languages.

Here is an example:

$text = "ありがとう😊";
$short = mb_substr($text, 0, mb_strlen($text) - 1);
echo $short;

This cuts the emoji and keeps the full Japanese word. Without mb_substr(), PHP might break the character.

Let’s take a look at how regular expressions can help in advanced cases.

Remove the Last Character from a String in PHP with preg_replace() and Regex

Regex lets you match patterns and remove the last character only when it matches. It gives you more control.

For example:

$code = "ABC-";
$fixed = preg_replace('/-$/', '', $code);
echo $fixed;

This removes the dash only if it is at the end. If the dash appears elsewhere, it stays untouched.

Examples of How to Remove the Last Character from a String in PHP

Remove trailing period only if it is alone:

$sentence = "Done.";
if (substr($sentence, -1) === ".") {
    $sentence = substr($sentence, 0, -1);
}
echo $sentence;

This checks for a dot at the end and removes it. It does not change if the dot is inside a word.

Clean a tag list like “php,html,css,”:

$tags = "php,html,css,";
$tags = rtrim($tags, ",");
echo $tags;

This trims the last comma but keeps the list readable.

Remove the last character of a path unless it ends with a file:

$path = "/user/data/";
if (is_dir($path)) {
    $path = rtrim($path, "/");
}
echo $path;

It checks if the string is a directory and then removes the slash. It avoids breaking file paths.

Wrapping Up

In this article, you learned how to cut the last character from a string in PHP. You also saw different PHP functions that can do this in more than one way.

Here is a quick recap:

• Use substr() for simple cuts
• Use rtrim() for specific character trimming
• Use mb_substr() for UTF-8 safe trimming
• Use preg_replace() for pattern-based cleanup

FAQs

$text = "Hello!";
$result = substr($text, 0, -1);
echo $result; // Hello

$text = "Hello!";
$result = rtrim($text, "!");
echo $result; // Hello

$text = "مرحبا!";
$result = mb_substr($text, 0, -1, "UTF-8");
echo $result; // مرحبا

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