How to Break Out of Multiple Loops in Python

1. Break Out of Multiple Loops With the return Statement in Python
2. Break Out of Multiple Loops With the break Keyword in Python

In this tutorial, we will discuss methods to break out of multiple loops in Python.

Break Out of Multiple Loops With the return Statement in Python

In this method, we can write the nested loop inside a user-defined function and use the return statement to exit the nested loops. The following code example shows us how we can use the return statement to break out of Python’s multiple loops.

list1 = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]


def search(n):
    for x in range(3):
        for y in range(3):
            if list1[x][y] == n:
                return "Found"

    return "Not Found"


result = search(10)
print(result)

Output:

Found

In the above code, we first initialize a 2D list and define a function search(n) that uses a nested loop to search for a specific value inside the list1. The return statement is used to exit the nested loop. The function search(n) returns Found if the value is found in the list and returns Not Found if the value is not found in the list.

Break Out of Multiple Loops With the break Keyword in Python

We can also use the for/else loop for exiting a nested loop. The else clause executes after the successful completion of the for. If the for loop is broken, the else is not executed. The following code example shows us how we can use the for/else loop to break out multiple loops in Python.

list1 = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]

n = 6

for x in range(3):
    for y in range(3):
        if list1[x][y] == n:
            print("Found")
            break
    else:
        continue
    break

Output:

Found

In the above code, we first initialize a 2D list and run a nested loop to search for a specific value in list1. The outer loop is just a simple for loop. The inner for loop has an else clause with it. The code breaks out of the nested loop if the value is found, and keeps on going until completion if the value is not found.