Reindexing PHP Arrays: Using array_values, array_merge, and Manual Loops

This article demonstrates how to convert a PHP associative array with non‑sequential numeric keys into a zero‑based sequential array.

1. Recommended method: array_values – works for both indexed and associative arrays.

$arr = array(
    1 => 'apple',
    3 => 'banana',
    5 => 'orange'
);
print_r(array_values($arr));
$arr1 = array(
    'name' => 'jerry',
    'age' => 16,
    'height' => '18cm'
);
print_r(array_values($arr1));

Output:

[root@localhost php]# php array.php
Array
(
    [0] => apple
    [1] => banana
    [2] => orange
)
Array
(
    [0] => jerry
    [1] => 16
    [2] => 18cm
)

2. Using array_merge – reindexes only when the input array has numeric keys, so it is suitable for purely indexed arrays.

$arr = array(
    1 => 'apple',
    3 => 'banana',
    5 => 'orange'
);
print_r(array_merge($arr));
$arr1 = array(
    'name' => 'jerry',
    'age' => 16,
    'height' => '18cm'
);
print_r(array_merge($arr1));

Output:

[root@localhost php]# php array.php
Array
(
    [0] => apple
    [1] => banana
    [2] => orange
)
Array
(
    [name] => jerry
    [age] => 16
    [height] => 18cm
)

3. Manual iteration (loop) – the most explicit but verbose way, creating a new array by iterating over the original.

<?php
function resetArr($arr){
    $temp = array();
    foreach($arr as $v){
        $temp[] = $v;
    }
    return $temp;
}
$arr = array(
    1 => 'apple',
    3 => 'banana',
    5 => 'orange'
);
print_r(resetArr($arr));
$arr1 = array(
    'name' => 'jerry',
    'age' => 16,
    'height' => '18cm'
);
print_r(resetArr($arr1));
?>

Each method successfully resets the keys to a continuous numeric sequence (0, 1, 2, …). The article also includes promotional details for a PHP online training class.