How to Delete PHP Array Element by Value Not Key

Use the array_search() Function

You can use the array_search() function to first search the given value inside the array and get its corresponding key, and later remove the element using that key with unset() function.

Please note that, if the value is found more than once, only the first matching key is returned.

Let's take a look at an example to understand how it actually works:

<?php
// Sample indexed array
$array1 = array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5);

// Search value and delete
if(($key = array_search(4, $array1)) !== false) {
    unset($array1[$key]);
}

print_r($array1);
echo "<br>";


// Sample eassociative array
$array2 = array("a" => "Apple", "b" => "Ball", "c" => "Cat");

// Search value and delete
if(($key = array_search("Cat", $array2)) !== false) {
    unset($array2[$key]);
}

print_r($array2);
?>