Replace Value of Data Frame Variable Using dplyr Package in R (Example)

In this R post you’ll learn how to use the dplyr package to change particular values in a data frame column.

The table of content is structured as follows:

2) Example: Changing Certain Values in Variable Using mutate() & replace() Functions

Here’s how to do it!

Example Data & Packages

We use the following data as basement for this R tutorial:

data <- data.frame(x1 = c(1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2),    # Create example data
                   x2 = "XX",
                   x3 = 66)
data                                               # Print example data
#   x1 x2 x3
# 1  1 XX 66
# 2  2 XX 66
# 3  3 XX 66
# 4  2 XX 66
# 5  1 XX 66
# 6  1 XX 66
# 7  2 XX 66

The previous output of the RStudio console shows the structure of our example data frame: It has seven rows and three columns.

In this R programming language tutorial, we’ll also have to install and load the dplyr package:

install.packages("dplyr")                          # Install dplyr package
library("dplyr")                                   # Load dplyr package

Now, we can use the functions of the dplyr package to modify specific values in our data frame.

Example: Changing Certain Values in Variable Using mutate() & replace() Functions

In this example, I’ll show how to replace particular values in a data frame variable by using the mutate and replace functions in R.

More precisely, the following R code replaces each 2 in the column x1:

data_new <- data %>%                               # Replacing values
  mutate(x1 = replace(x1, x1 == 2, 99))
data_new                                           # Print updated data
#   x1 x2 x3
# 1  1 XX 66
# 2 99 XX 66
# 3  3 XX 66
# 4 99 XX 66
# 5  1 XX 66
# 6  1 XX 66
# 7 99 XX 66

As you can see in the previous output of the RStudio console, each 2 in the variable x1 was replaced by the value 99.

Video & Further Resources

Do you need further information on the R code of this article? Then you may watch the following video of my YouTube channel. In the video, I’m explaining the R programming syntax of this page.

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

In addition, you could have a look at some of the other articles on my homepage.

Summary: In this R tutorial you learned how to replace values using the dplyr package. Let me know in the comments section, if you have additional questions.

8 Comments. Leave new

Sandra
March 7, 2022 9:34 am

Hi again, looks like some of my text in the previous comment was deleted, I paste here my comment again:

How would you apply, two replace cases, in a column based on rows from another column? For example, giving the next data frame

data <- data.frame(x1 = c(1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2),
x2 = c(4, 36, 45, 22, 36, 1, 11, 12, 31, 22))
x1 x2
#1 1 4
#2 2 36
#3 3 45
#4 2 22
#5 3 36
#6 1 1
#7 2 11
#8 3 12
#9 3 31
#10 2 22

I want to apply 2 conditions:
If X1 = 1 then replace its corresponding value in X2 by YES
If X1 = 2 then replace its corresponding value in X2 by NO
Leave all the other values unchanged, keep the original values in X2

How would you replace multiple cases without repeating the "replace" function? I wanted to use case_when for this but I did not find a solution. I used the mutate option then, but it replace the values I wanted to leave untouched by blanks

data %
mutate(x2 = case_when(
x1 %in% 1 ~ “YES”,
x1 %in% 2 ~ “NO”))

And what I obtained:
x1 x2
#1 1 YES
#2 2 NO
#3 3
#4 2 NO
#5 3
#6 1 YES
#7 2 NO
#8 3
#9 3
#10 2 NO

Thank you in advance

Reply
- Joachim
  March 10, 2022 8:15 am
  
  Hey Sandra,
  
  I’m sorry for the late response, I just got back from vacation. Do you still need an answer to this question?
  
  Regards,
  Joachim
  
  Reply
George Dontas
March 17, 2022 2:44 pm

How could I replace those values WITHOUT creating a new data frame?

Reply
- Joachim
  March 18, 2022 7:34 am
  Hey George,
  
  Please try the following R code:
  data <- data %>% # Replacing values mutate(x1 = replace(x1, x1 == 2, 99))
  Regards,
  Joachim
  Reply
Alexey
April 6, 2022 8:59 am

How could I replace several values in one column?

Reply
- Joachim
  April 6, 2022 11:01 am
  
  Hey Alexey,
  
  Please have a look at this tutorial, it explains your question.
  
  Regards,
  Joachim
  
  Reply
Banan
June 4, 2023 7:52 am

Your channel and this site are really helpful. Thanks a lot!

Reply
- Matthias (Statistics Globe)
  June 5, 2023 8:56 am
  
  Hi Banan,
  
  thank you very much for your comment! It’s great to hear positive feedback. Thanks for your support!
  
  Regards,
  Matthias
  
  Reply